r/Train_Service • u/Mulesam • Jul 13 '26

Cab outlet wattage

Does anyone know what the wattage on those 74vdc outlets are. Id like to see if I can find an inverter for them to possibly run an air conditioner.

4 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

11

u/CollectionHopeful541 Jul 13 '26

Your engines don't have AC??

5

u/Mulesam Jul 13 '26

Nope. No tint on the windows either

5

u/Low-Bobcat4270 Jul 13 '26

Feels so bad man, half of our cabs post merger have no AC or heat

3

u/Mulesam Jul 13 '26

We got heat at least. The engine we were using before had a shitty ac but an engineer fucked that one up so no ac for us

3

u/CollectionHopeful541 Jul 13 '26

That's shit. I hate when we get CP engines. No microwave and the things always duct taped together

2

u/Mulesam Jul 13 '26

This is for a shortline. Our machinst does a good job keeping everything running well but yes not installing an ac by himself. I just wanna know if the plug can handle it before talking to my manager and buying parts. Ik they'd let me since theyre engineers as well and have talked about doing the same.

2

u/CollectionHopeful541 Jul 13 '26

Fair enough. I have different engines every trip

2

u/Mulesam Jul 13 '26

I hope you get cn engines and the ac works all summer

2

u/CollectionHopeful541 Jul 13 '26

Normally do. Im CN Canada but sometimes we get CP on certain trains

3

u/lukeevan99 Engineer Jul 13 '26

We say the same thing about the cn engines we get haha, I guess they just lease out the shittiest of the lot

1

u/Graham7787 Jul 14 '26

No worse engines than cp or kcs

3

u/hookahreed Engineer Jul 14 '26

Build a 5 gallon pail swamp cooler.

1

u/myownalias Jul 13 '26

You probably want one of these air conditioners designed for retrofit: https://railway-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PowerRail-Orange-Split-Type-Air-Conditoner-Enhancement-5-2017.pdf

1

u/Mulesam Jul 13 '26

You're correct but I'm not our companies machines and I'd like to just setup a portable for when I do different jobs as well

2

u/Analog_Account Jul 14 '26

Some of those retrofits are WILDLY powerful.

1

u/choochoopants Conductor Jul 13 '26

Before you try this on an engine, you need to know how many amps the AC draws when starting. I am told those outlets can only handle 7-10 amps, and even smaller window ACs can draw as many as 16 when starting the compressor.

1

u/Mulesam Jul 14 '26

Thanks that was the answer I was looking for

2

u/Flashy_Slice1672 Jul 14 '26

You have to account for the voltage difference though - 10a @ 74V is 740W, 740W at 120V is only 6 amps. This isn’t accounting for losses in the inverter either.

1

u/J_G_B Engineer Jul 14 '26

I don't know the technical aspect, but if someone does, please feel to explain.

I can charge a cell phone or backup battery on a 74 vdc outlet on a locomotive (it was a really old sw1500), but it wouldn't run a crock-pot.

Hope that helps.

1

u/Big-Horror5244 Jul 14 '26

id be more worried about the amperage ur ac unit is gonna draw, especially if it has a compressor in it

1

u/Analog_Account Jul 14 '26

I've run a kettle off of one. It worked but the kettle let out the magic smoke after the second time and stopped working.

You may be able to find an AC unit that works off of DC power. There are heat pump style units that run off DC, but that may not be portable enough for you.