1944 C-15A-Wire-5 Restoration

[David Dunlop]

Hi Bruce.

To the best of my knowledge, the intent of the original Generator compartment in the 2K1 WIRE 5 was the lower chorehorse was a permanent mount to one side of the y-pipe in the floor, with all solid pipe. The pipe exited through the floor with a 90 degree elbow and a long, sausage shaped muffler about a foot long pointed straight to the right rear corner of the body.

The Generator box was designed and insulated like a fridge. The edges were all screwed to the walls and floor and sealed with pitch/tar. The door had dual fridge latches and heavy rubber gaskets. The lower chorehorse was the go/to unit for operation in the vehicle. I ran a chorehorse in mine out of curiosity and it was actually quite quiet.

If an Onan was installed in the truck, due to the presence of a 19 HP in the truck, it became the fixed lower unit. It was always my understanding that the actual model Onan used in the WIRE 5 was fully dual 110 and 12 volt dc capable for the purposes of running the two different sections of the 19 HP.

The chorehorse on the upper shelf in all 2K1’s was the portable unit. It was intended for humping into the field with the flex exhaust. The one I had came with the mushroom muffler fitted to the chorehorse and a flex pipe with a second muffler fitted was part of the supplied kit. It was also possible to semi permanently mount the upper chorehorse to the Generator exhaust plumbing via the flex pipe. My guess is, the nitty gritty details of installation/use were left to the individual truck crews,

David

[Robert Bergeron]

These are the switches on the generator cabinet ( fridge ) . When equiped with both Chorehorses you use Charger 1 and Charger 2 . When you have an Onan 110 V 1000 Watts Geny you use the 110 V AC switch and one of the 300 Chargers and that would be the No 1 ( upper ) Charger . The wiring diagram confirms this . The 12 V power source on the Onan only charges the Onan generator dedicated batteries that are near le left foot of the radio operator under the radio table . This is also confimed by the diagram inside the control / fuse box .

[Robert Bergeron]

David , this is your diagram . I have an unfair advantage now trying to figure out this complex truck .

[Robert Bergeron]

The devil is in the details . Here is the weird gizmo now installed . We also see a transplanted latch or bracket under the panel handle . I took it off my other box . It obviously there to lock the handle with a paddle lock because there is a hole in it .

[Robert Bergeron]

I sealed the charging compartment door ( fridge door ) and adjusted the hinges and handle to make a good seal . I also sealed the holes were the armoured cables come in with mastic ( glazing compound ) , what we used to seal glass panes in window frames . Posted the warning sign so now we are ready for another function test with both generators running . Too bad i don’t have a Decibel meter . ...

[Robert Bergeron]

This is the sealer that was used to seal windows and just about everything else before silicone .Glazing compound .

[Robert Bergeron]

Here is a pano of the interior . Still a lot to do ( too long to list ) but getting there.

[Wayne Hingley]

Originally Posted by Robert Bergeron

Too bad i don’t have a Decibel meter . ...

Hi Robert: if you have a smart phone you can download decibel meters for free. I have one called Decibel X. I’m sure it is not 100% accurate, but the readings seem consistent and in the right range with what would be expected. I think it’s quite close.

[Robert Bergeron]

Thank you so much Wayne . That’s an excellent App . Here we have the truck with both Chorhorses running and charging up the batteries . Next i will report on the noise both inside and outside .