What have you done to your HMMWV today/lately

[Bravojmc]

we have a winner!

I like the vomitron answer though too. And, no jeffy777, not trying to make you look bad.

Bulldogger

and the winner gets a $1000 gift card to.....?

 

[Wire Fox]

We have a winner!

I like the Vomitron answer though too. And, no Jeffy777, not trying to make you look bad.

Bulldogger

I just paid $15 for a new one from Eric's Military Surplus with new lanyard cord and everything. Only problem is it slid on so nice and perfectly that I can't get it off to save my life. I apparently should have lubricated it and somehow added on a pull handle (the lanyard cord tabs would easily bend and snap).

 

[jeffy777]

We have a winner!

I like the Vomitron answer though too. And, no Jeffy777, not trying to make you look bad.

Bulldogger

An Electronic Space Modulator is a slave cap, it modulates how many electrons can flow through that space. Take the Electronic Space Modulator off and electrons can flow through the slave cable.

I think you might have thought I meant the Ammonium Q-36 Space Modulator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuUJfYcn3V4 .

 

[Bravojmc]

I fabbed a bracket today to hold my 24 V to 12 V converter and a 12 V fuse panel and 24v fuse panel.

 

[3jacks]

productive day on the hmmwv front: (2) ammo cans installed for storage and one houses my switch center and battery montitor. Going to put a lock on the passenger side one like the drivers side. Installed the pulsetech distribution system as well. so much to do and not enough vacation days...

 

[NormB]

drained transmission fluid overnight, took pan off this AM, cleaned, and I mean cleaned it inside out. No chips, just a little metal sludge/dust on magnet (it's a 3L80). took a steel brush to the pan, some steel wool, acetone, air, and hit it with some black zinc primer and 383 green spray paint. reinstalled pan in afternoon (so paint would dry) with lube locker gasket - I had a regular gasket but that RTV is a mess to work with much less get it OFF - filled with 6 qts ATF and it's holding okay so far.

Got a little later in the day than I thought (had other things to do in between like run the dogs), will drain, flush, fill, bleed power steering tomorrow morning and - hopefully - head out to mission barbeque for some brisket.

 

[Mario]

productive day on the hmmwv front: (2) ammo cans installed for storage and one houses my switch center and battery montitor. Going to put a lock on the passenger side one like the drivers side. Installed the pulsetech distribution system as well. so much to do and not enough vacation days...

What is this pulsetech distribution system you speak of?
Is it basically a fuse box with leads, or is there more to it in a basic, box only configuration?
I see several on fleaBay for cheap, and wondering if I should get one since I need to figure out my 12V and 24V distribution system anyway for USB charger, dome light, radio and off road light bar.

It looks like its part of a whole charging system, but when utilizing only the box, is it still worth it? I can't drop $520 bucks right now for fancy solar panel kit which this pulsetech distribution system seems to be a part of.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[Bulldogger]

I fabbed a bracket today to hold my 24 V to 12 V converter and a 12 V fuse panel and 24v fuse panel. View attachment 683825

I have had a converter sitting around for a while not happy with my thoughts on where to mount it. I have a first aid kit in this spot at the moment, but it can be relocated. This gives me some ideas. Thanks!

BDGR

 

[Wire Fox]

What is this pulsetech distribution system you speak of?
Is it basically a fuse box with leads, or is there more to it in a basic, box only configuration?
I see several on fleaBay for cheap, and wondering if I should get one since I need to figure out my 12V and 24V distribution system anyway for USB charger, dome light, radio and off road light bar.

It looks like its part of a whole charging system, but when utilizing only the box, is it still worth it? I can't drop $520 bucks right now for fancy solar panel kit which this pulsetech distribution system seems to be a part of.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

It is a power-distribution fuse box. It includes self-resetting (12V) and manually-resettable (24V) circuit breakers that you can shuffle around, depending on your application. It's a very simple system that just have a positive lead that goes to the series of batteries (24V) and a positive lead that goes to a single battery (12V) with the same reference point (ground), so to prevent a charge imbalance if using 12V accessories, it's essential to install either a battery balancer or a 12V charging lead from a dual-voltage alternator. The convenient part about this box is it's water-tight and it offers numbered leads for all of the circuits it provides, and there are conical quick-connectors to allow you to quickly create a water-resistant connection without permanent splices.

The unit is also a pulse charger, so it is supposed to pull a small amount of energy from the batteries and provide a very minor de-sulphating pulse as the vehicle sits. You can optionally connect a remote battery tester, so that in one button push, you know the charge state of the batteries. Last item in the line is a 200mA, 24V solar panel that would then plug into the remote battery tester. Early, I had written a break-down of the connector used (standard 3-pin DIN) and how to wire in a solar panel (pin 1 = +28V, pin 2 = ground, pin 3 = no connection), so that you should be able to wire in any 24 (technically, 2 V solar panel that you wanted to use.

I had earlier written that I was extremely concerned with the size of the ground lead used (about 16 AWG, at the best), but thought again about what this device is. It is a distribution box, distributing the connection to the positive battery terminals to auxiliary devices. That high-amperage function of it isn't really a full circuit, just a breaking switch. A typical circuit breaker would have absolutely no ground since it's not a full circuit, but this one has it for just two reasons: battery testing and pulse charging. That 16 AWG wire should actually be A-OK.

 

[3jacks]

Wirefox, did you install a battery balancer? If so...recommendation? thanks for replying to the question, you know a boatload more about the unit than I do.

A few months back, for giggles, I called pulsetech to see if I could buy the solar panel (or its modern equivalent). That was an interesting conversation...short answer was "no" and the long answer was "no".

 

[Wire Fox]

Wirefox, did you install a battery balancer? If so...recommendation? thanks for replying to the question, you know a boatload more about the unit than I do.

A few months back, for giggles, I called pulsetech to see if I could buy the solar panel (or its modern equivalent). That was an interesting conversation...short answer was "no" and the long answer was "no".

I did not install one. Another member had mentioned having one installed and expressed good results. I'm sorry, but I don't recall what thread that discussion was in. Instead, I have my 200A dual-voltage alternator with +14V lead installed to provide a balancing charge to the rear battery. That should keep the batteries in close balance, albeit somewhat imperfectly.

If you wanted to do a makeshift panel setup, just snag up some solar cells to wire together in series to get yourself up to a 28V working voltage with about 100-200mA load current. Run a two-conductor wire to your battery tester (available cheaply on eBay right now) and have that wired into a 3-pin DIN connector. I think all-in, you'd be out about $75 to build the panel with wire, connector, and some kind of insulated board to RTV/epoxy all of the cells to. If you looked around long enough, you might actually find some seller actually has a 28V panel ready-made that you'd just have to put a connector on.

Pre-made alternative... there's a few other Pulsetech 28V maintainer systems on eBay. There's one that has both a solar panel and AC power cord...you could pull that panel (same voltage, same connector) and connect it to the PDU battery tester and you'd have a solar charging setup, plus you'd have a spare maintainer that you could use on another vehicle that you don't mind leaving tethered to a wall.

 

[NormB]

A few months back, for giggles, I called pulsetech to see if I could buy the solar panel (or its modern equivalent). That was an interesting conversation...short answer was "no" and the long answer was "no".

I found TWO of the 28V solar panels on fleabay for under $50 each in the past year. $35 plus about $6 priority S&H for the first, IIRC. One for MEP-802A genset, other for this HMMWV. It's the same panel. Has desulfating/pulse unit with the kit.

I don't understand why the whole kit runs so high when components can be had for so little. Except for that little switch/breaker box unit. Market principles. Low demand, relatively high production cost, laisse faire.

 

[NormB]

What I did with MY HMMWV today:

Ran out to ACE to pick up a 4" aluminum expandable dryer vent hose, fabricated a fancy hook out of a coat hanger to connect to the spash shield (I seem to recall seeing something like this in the motor pool around 1980-something), wrapped a wet towel around the joint and ran the hose out the side window in the garage. MUCH better working environment, OSHA would be proud.

Then I bled the power steering fluid.

Something I forgot to do after replacing the TC.

Fluid had smelled a little "toasted marshmallo-ey" so I drained it, replaced it, followed the instructions.

Curiously, while you can suck OUT 28 ounces of fluid (I measured, carefully, used brake vacuum bleeder set)), you can't put it all back IN. Not at once anyway. Makes a funny splooshing sound dripping off the PS tank and frame. So I spent some time cleaning up ATF. Next round I put about HALF the fluid in, went through the steps, then added some more fluid to just below the full-hot line.

Even though I went through the steps one by one to bleed the system, I got ahead of myself and turned the wheels lock to lock while up on the jack stands - WITH THE CAP OFF - and heard this wet gurgling/splashing sound over the engine noise. Did some more mop-up and started over again so I actually replaced the fluid twice. Now that I made clean spots on the garage floor, I may need to steam-clean the whole thing.

Second time around the funny noise at the end of the turn went to inaudible.

Got truck out of garage, mirrors adjusted, triple checked for drips, went out to Mission BBQ for lunch, about an 18 mile round trip. Uneventful except for the bumps in the road I never notice with my Tacoma. Radials, 45 PSI. I'm thinking they might have run-flats. I'll pull them next week when i change out the diff and hub gear oil and weigh 'em.

Truck runs smoothly, quietly. A lot quieter than before. Can't even feel it shifting. Transmission/fluid filter change yesterday made some difference. That NP218 is a little broken inside, I think. If I can't give it away I'll disassemble it and recycle it one bolt and gear at a time.

 

[ari]

What is this pulsetech distribution system you speak of?
Is it basically a fuse box with leads, or is there more to it in a basic, box only configuration?
I see several on fleaBay for cheap, and wondering if I should get one since I need to figure out my 12V and 24V distribution system anyway for USB charger, dome light, radio and off road light bar.

It looks like its part of a whole charging system, but when utilizing only the box, is it still worth it? I can't drop $520 bucks right now for fancy solar panel kit which this pulsetech distribution system seems to be a part of.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

I used a c4isr box I got from a member here http://www.uec-electronics.com/?s=c4isr it works quite well. I built a stereo box and in the box is a 24v to 12v step down which powers the radio speakers and charger on one switch. Most off road led lights have a operating range between 10v to 32v so my front and rear leds are wired to the c4isr box with no converter and do just fine. I also got a military 24v dome light but since it gets ground from whatever its bolted to I ran a fused wire directly from the light to the positive on the battery.I had this set up for quite awhile now and it works great. Only draw back is now I have a bunch of unused switches to add more things i dont need. View attachment 683954

 

[Another Ahab]

Even though I went through the steps one by one to bleed the system, I got ahead of myself and turned the wheels lock to lock while up on the jack stands - WITH THE CAP OFF - and heard this wet gurgling/splashing sound over the engine noise. Did some more mop-up and started over again so I actually replaced the fluid twice. Now that I made clean spots on the garage floor, I may need to steam-clean the whole thing.

As an alternate, you could mop the WHOLE garage floor with the fluid, so it all looks uniform and like it was planned.

You know. Just an idea.

 

[NormB]

As an alternate, you could mop the WHOLE garage floor with the fluid, so it all looks uniform and like it was planned.You know. Just an idea.

Thought had crossed my mind, but ATF is slicker than snot on teflon. Had to clean it up.

 

[Bulldogger]

I just paid $15 for a new one from Eric's Military Surplus with new lanyard cord and everything. Only problem is it slid on so nice and perfectly that I can't get it off to save my life. I apparently should have lubricated it and somehow added on a pull handle (the lanyard cord tabs would easily bend and snap).

I actually had to resize and print mine twice, so third time was the charm, but the price of all three attempts is on the order of $0.50 total. Similar to your situation Wire Fox, the second one almost fit, but I knew I'd never get it back off if I pushed it on hard. Mine has no lanyard, but nothing prevents me from putting one on. The kicker for me is that I got it as fast as I could print it, after less than 15m design time. Even Amazon can't beat that. Another 800 $0.50 events like that and the printer will have paid for itself! (I kid, I've actually sold quite a few small items I've designed and printed, like keychains of a 3D version of my company logo I whipped up. I've another verbal contract for 100 keychains, and if another few design ideas I have been fiddling with works the printer will probably pay for itself by year's end. It'll never be a substitute for my 9-5 and medical benefits, but it's fun.)

Bulldogger

 

[Wire Fox]

I actually had to resize and print mine twice, so third time was the charm, but the price of all three attempts is on the order of $0.50 total. Similar to your situation Wire Fox, the second one almost fit, but I knew I'd never get it back off if I pushed it on hard. Mine has no lanyard, but nothing prevents me from putting one on. The kicker for me is that I got it as fast as I could print it, after less than 15m design time. Even Amazon can't beat that. Another 800 $0.50 events like that and the printer will have paid for itself! (I kid, I've actually sold quite a few small items I've designed and printed, like keychains of a 3D version of my company logo I whipped up. I've another verbal contract for 100 keychains, and if another few design ideas I have been fiddling with works the printer will probably pay for itself by year's end. It'll never be a substitute for my 9-5 and medical benefits, but it's fun.)

Bulldogger

Definitely wish I had one of those. I had access to one in my high school introductory engineering classes, but all of its parts it produced were too brittle to consider using for anything other than a visual model or test-fitting a component for size only. As for the cap I bought, it went on easy. I was very surprised that it wouldn't come off. I think it made and air tight seal, because I heard a rush of air at the last moment and of course now it won't go anywhere. Not too worried about it right now, but I'll figure out a good fix shortly to prevent it from stopping me from a jump start or connecting my inverter when I need it.

 

[SublimeMudTime]

Wirefox, did you measure Vout of the panel? Im wondering if its actually a 12v one.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

 

[Wire Fox]

Wirefox, did you measure Vout of the panel? Im wondering if its actually a 12v one.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

I did, actually. It was 28V with moderate sun, open circuit. It's probably 32-36V under full sun, open circuit. (voltage will display lower when a battery load is attached)