2deuce
Well-known member
- 1,479
- 154
- 63
- Location
- portland, oregon
Are the cables that plug into J1, J2 on the generator proprietary? or can you buy the plugs and make your own?
-
Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!
Drash generators
- Thread starter 2deuce
- Start date
- 6,059
- 4,424
- 113
You can buy them, but be prepared for sticker shock...
2deuce
Well-known member
- 1,479
- 154
- 63
- Location
- portland, oregon
I have seen the cables for sale, and yes I felt the shock. That was why I asked about buying the plug ends. I haven't found them for sale...I take it that is also shocking? Are they controlled parts?
- 6,059
- 4,424
- 113
The cheapest path to a cable is to buy one of the surplus ones, and yes I'm aware they're $550-$1300. There's one in California on ebay that's priced far below value, but the guy won't ship it.
The plugs themselves are $250-$400. It's been 2018 since I priced them. And then you'll need 5 conductor cable of the appropriate gauge.
They aren't restricted. I pulled part numbers off my J1 port and used that to find the manufacturer. I got lucky and @beltfed1934 had a couple of used cut off plugs and I bought them and used them to make an adapter for my welder (in 201
.
- 16,701
- 23,937
- 113
- Location
- Burgkunstadt, Germany
Another good way to find these cables and plugs is this. They are normally turned in as electrical scrap. If you can find a friendly fellow at DRMO, or where even they dispose of scrap, ask them who bought the last load of electrical cable scrap. If its someone local, take a look see. We used to make some of our own cables, just like that. It was sometimes nice to have a longer cable for the gen set, so you could put the gen set farther away from your hooch.
Poccur
Active member
- 203
- 134
- 43
- Location
- Roanoke, VA
You can buy and make your own cables. They are Class L connectors and usually made by Amphenol. The cost is because they are mil standard (had hammers dropped on them, immersed in boiling salt water etc..) and the cable is mineshaft rated cable, super tough. End result is a cable that is almost soldier proof...I watched someone drive off with the cable attached to the vehicle and the stationary generator. Pulled the power panel off the generator but the cable was undamaged.
It might be easier and cheaper to swap to plastic IEC 60309 connectors on the power panel and then use them to make your cables too (some folk call them pin and sleeve connectors) you can get those on Amazon and it is still technically a Mil connector as the Marines use them on their MEPDIS-R power cords...
rainey knight
New member
- 9
- 5
- 3
- Location
- knoxville tn 37918
has anyone tried to replace the sockets on the Gen Set to a more economical one-----then use a standard cable set from there.?
- 2,531
- 2,058
- 113
- Location
- Efland, NC
I have not done this on one of these generators but I have converted several S280 enclosures to twist lock. It required using a small square of metal since a twist lock is smaller than the military connectors. Overall a straight forward procedure. I expect the generators would be similar.
I went out and bought the correct crimper with dies and had about 75 sets of new male and female plugs. I made a few sets for my personal use when I first started buying my gen sets. A vendor offered me a attractive price for a good portion of the plugs but I possible have enough to spare if anyone would be interested. This was several years ago and I don't remember for sure how many plugs I kept. If you had old plugs that had damaged cable I can rebuild them as the replacement pins are available. I ordered the cable from a wholesale distributor out of Chicago I believe. No part of the cables are cheap but they can be made, I'm here in Tampa area of Florida Just thought I would throw that out there
2Pbfeet
Well-known member
- 425
- 758
- 93
- Location
- Mt. Hamilton, CA
I haven't bought those plugs in a long time, but I remember how pricey they were, and the crimper was an investment.
Stay safe!
Good luck with Milton. Storm surge is not something to have a discussion with.
All the best,
2Pbfeet
I tried to find cables, they were needed for a project I was doing, and I only had a certain time frame to work in. I couldn't find them and decided I needed to just bite the bullet. The correct cable, the plugs and needed tooling all add up quickly but having the generators and not being able to use them wasn't the option I could live with. The storms have made for a busy last couple of weeks, I'm looking at a direct hit Thursday morning from Milton, just went thru the flooding and storm damage last week from Helene in both Florida and western NC. I've never seen something like this before, but we will get thru it and without a doubt, storm surge and flash flooding does not play around, there is no stopping it Thanks for the thoughts!!!