Christian P. Koop

One of the worst situations an emergency response vehicle (ERV) driver/operator can find himself in, when called on to respond to an emergency, is when an engine won’t start because the batteries are low or dead.

Pushing the starter button and hearing the tell-tale click-click-click sound of a starter solenoid that won’t engage because the batteries are low is never a good thing! This should not happen with ERVs, but it does and more often than you would think. For ERVs to be reliable, the charging system - alternators, batteries, and onboard shoreline charger - must be system-matched. Think about it as the trinity, a phrase coined to express how important it is to understand how these three critical components need to be properly matched so they can operate as a complete and balanced system in a cohesive manner.

This is something that should be accomplished when ERVs are being manufactured; however, there are many rigs that leave the factory with alternators, batteries, and shoreline chargers that don’t make for a happy marriage and are destined to be unreliable until a solution is found. Some of these units could be the result of poorly written technical specifications while others could be from wiring that is the wrong gauge or from a poorly designed charging system circuit that has built-in high-resistance connections that create excessive voltage drops. Many reading this can probably relate to and think about rigs that have had problems in this critical area. This article will delve into the basic types and operation of alternators, batteries, and vehicle-mounted shoreline chargers to help explain the importance of how these components must be matched to become a balanced system where the components can support each other.

Alternators

Alternators are the main power source of the electrical system when a rig’s engine is running. Not only do they keep the batteries charged when the rig is not connected to shore power, they also provide the current to keep the electrical accessories operating properly when the engine is running. To do this, alternators must be sized properly to produce enough current or amperage to maintain all the connected loads used during an emergency. I refer to this as the total connected load, and it will vary from rig to rig depending on the specified 12-VDC electrical accessories. When ERVs are specified, a load analysis must be done based on the electrical accessories that will be used to determine what size alternator is needed. Although switching from incandescent lighting to LED lighting has reduced the lighting load considerably, more and more 12-volt accessories are being added. This, in turn, requires higher-amperage alternators to keep up with power demands. If memory serves me, I believe 500-amp alternators are now available. Back when I started working on apparatus, the biggest alternators in use were between 100 and 160 amps. Matching the size of the alternator to the loads that will be imposed on it is critical for proper accessory operation and longer alternator and battery life. Think trinity.

Keep in mind that although alternators do keep batteries charged, they are not battery chargers. They were never designed to charge dead batteries, and when you have six very low or dead batteries in a pack and jump start before recharging, you can overheat the alternator and shorten its useful life. In a nutshell, alternators generate alternating current (AC) when magnetism produced by a rotating direct current (DC) field coil is induced into a stationary stator and rectified to D

By Chris Mc Loone

It is always amazing to see the new technology available to the general public in their personal vehicles.

Vehicles drive themselves, stop themselves, are connected to the Internet, and are trackable in the event of a theft. Thirty years ago, though conceivable, these options seemed a long way off. Yet, here we are. It is very conceivable then that some features available to the general automotive market would be available to fire apparatus customers. No, we’re not quite at the stage yet where a fire apparatus will drive you and your crew to the scene of an incident itself. But, we do have fire trucks that will slow themselves if an object is detected in front of them, and we’ve had electronic stability control for some time.

In recent years, fire apparatus cabs have become more modern, and the rigs themselves have gotten “smarter” by virtue of a variety of electronic controls. Pump panels have been shortened by using electronic valves, and sometimes consolidating all the information we’re accustomed to receiving - pump intake and discharge pressures, handline pressures, deck gun pressures - into a single touch screen at the pump panel, eliminating the analog gauges traditionally found on fire apparatus. Returning to the cab, more and more vehicle controls are performed at the touch of a button. As technology has evolved, so has how information is presented and what information can be presented.

There is now a cab console that can be as customized as the rest of the apparatus it controls. It was introduced at FDIC International 2017, features integrated touch-screen controls, and is offered by HME Ahrens-Fox.

Development

The innovation is called the “Glass Cockpit.” The sweeping arc of the front console provides essential truck instrumentation for the driver in an accessible and easy-to-read format. The driver’s console also features a right-hand panel with additional touch-screen switch controls. The officer’s side of the console features a left-hand touch-screen panel. Both panels feature adaptive touch-screen technology that can be configured to support individual apparatus command and control demands, as required. “When you take a look at the automotive industry, it has gone to a lot of liquid crystal displays and LED displays in vehicles,” says Ken Lenz, vice president, director of engineering, at HME Ahrens-Fox. “And, it gives them a host of customized options that they can provide to the user where they can go through screens, make changes to different things, and put those custom items in various menus. That’s what we’re looking at: having the ability to develop custom solutions for customers that are going to be very cost-effective because software is where we have the customization; the hardware is always the same. So, instead of having to buy an exhaust gas temperature gauge and then have wires that run it go into the dashboard and then make a knee dash panel to mount it, we could simply give it a screen, put a sensor on the data bus, and we’re done.”

Developing a product like this takes time and isn’t an overnight process, but HME was already slightly ahead of the curve. “The development actually started with our aerial products,” Lenz says. “The aerial was about two years ago, and it came out exclusively with a glass screen. So, we’re really adapting knowledge that we gained with the aerial device into the cab.” Lenz adds that the technology is already in the aerial platform and turntable, and he expects it to be available at the pump panel in early 2018.

“The new cab console design complements the development of our own, proprietary touch-screen command and control technologies,” he says. “The cab console module will be incorporated throughout our custom fire apparatus line, as well as in evolv

By Chris Mc Loone

It is always amazing to see the new technology available to the general public in their personal vehicles.

Vehicles drive themselves, stop themselves, are connected to the Internet, and are trackable in the event of a theft. Thirty years ago, though conceivable, these options seemed a long way off. Yet, here we are. It is very conceivable then that some features available to the general automotive market would be available to fire apparatus customers. No, we’re not quite at the stage yet where a fire apparatus will drive you and your crew to the scene of an incident itself. But, we do have fire trucks that will slow themselves if an object is detected in front of them, and we’ve had electronic stability control for some time.

In recent years, fire apparatus cabs have become more modern, and the rigs themselves have gotten “smarter” by virtue of a variety of electronic controls. Pump panels have been shortened by using electronic valves, and sometimes consolidating all the information we’re accustomed to receiving - pump intake and discharge pressures, handline pressures, deck gun pressures - into a single touch screen at the pump panel, eliminating the analog gauges traditionally found on fire apparatus. Returning to the cab, more and more vehicle controls are performed at the touch of a button. As technology has evolved, so has how information is presented and what information can be presented.

There is now a cab console that can be as customized as the rest of the apparatus it controls. It was introduced at FDIC International 2017, features integrated touch-screen controls, and is offered by HME Ahrens-Fox.

Development

The innovation is called the “Glass Cockpit.” The sweeping arc of the front console provides essential truck instrumentation for the driver in an accessible and easy-to-read format. The driver’s console also features a right-hand panel with additional touch-screen switch controls. The officer’s side of the console features a left-hand touch-screen panel. Both panels feature adaptive touch-screen technology that can be configured to support individual apparatus command and control demands, as required. “When you take a look at the automotive industry, it has gone to a lot of liquid crystal displays and LED displays in vehicles,” says Ken Lenz, vice president, director of engineering, at HME Ahrens-Fox. “And, it gives them a host of customized options that they can provide to the user where they can go through screens, make changes to different things, and put those custom items in various menus. That’s what we’re looking at: having the ability to develop custom solutions for customers that are going to be very cost-effective because software is where we have the customization; the hardware is always the same. So, instead of having to buy an exhaust gas temperature gauge and then have wires that run it go into the dashboard and then make a knee dash panel to mount it, we could simply give it a screen, put a sensor on the data bus, and we’re done.”

Developing a product like this takes time and isn’t an overnight process, but HME was already slightly ahead of the curve. “The development actually started with our aerial products,” Lenz says. “The aerial was about two years ago, and it came out exclusively with a glass screen. So, we’re really adapting knowledge that we gained with the aerial device into the cab.” Lenz adds that the technology is already in the aerial platform and turntable, and he expects it to be available at the pump panel in early 2018.

“The new cab console design complements the development of our own, proprietary touch-screen command and control technologies,” he says. “The cab console module will be incorporated throughout our custom fire apparatus line, as well as in evolv

By Chris Mc Loone

It is always amazing to see the new technology available to the general public in their personal vehicles.

Vehicles drive themselves, stop themselves, are connected to the Internet, and are trackable in the event of a theft. Thirty years ago, though conceivable, these options seemed a long way off. Yet, here we are. It is very conceivable then that some features available to the general automotive market would be available to fire apparatus customers. No, we’re not quite at the stage yet where a fire apparatus will drive you and your crew to the scene of an incident itself. But, we do have fire trucks that will slow themselves if an object is detected in front of them, and we’ve had electronic stability control for some time.

In recent years, fire apparatus cabs have become more modern, and the rigs themselves have gotten “smarter” by virtue of a variety of electronic controls. Pump panels have been shortened by using electronic valves, and sometimes consolidating all the information we’re accustomed to receiving - pump intake and discharge pressures, handline pressures, deck gun pressures - into a single touch screen at the pump panel, eliminating the analog gauges traditionally found on fire apparatus. Returning to the cab, more and more vehicle controls are performed at the touch of a button. As technology has evolved, so has how information is presented and what information can be presented.

There is now a cab console that can be as customized as the rest of the apparatus it controls. It was introduced at FDIC International 2017, features integrated touch-screen controls, and is offered by HME Ahrens-Fox.

Development

The innovation is called the “Glass Cockpit.” The sweeping arc of the front console provides essential truck instrumentation for the driver in an accessible and easy-to-read format. The driver’s console also features a right-hand panel with additional touch-screen switch controls. The officer’s side of the console features a left-hand touch-screen panel. Both panels feature adaptive touch-screen technology that can be configured to support individual apparatus command and control demands, as required. “When you take a look at the automotive industry, it has gone to a lot of liquid crystal displays and LED displays in vehicles,” says Ken Lenz, vice president, director of engineering, at HME Ahrens-Fox. “And, it gives them a host of customized options that they can provide to the user where they can go through screens, make changes to different things, and put those custom items in various menus. That’s what we’re looking at: having the ability to develop custom solutions for customers that are going to be very cost-effective because software is where we have the customization; the hardware is always the same. So, instead of having to buy an exhaust gas temperature gauge and then have wires that run it go into the dashboard and then make a knee dash panel to mount it, we could simply give it a screen, put a sensor on the data bus, and we’re done.”

Developing a product like this takes time and isn’t an overnight process, but HME was already slightly ahead of the curve. “The development actually started with our aerial products,” Lenz says. “The aerial was about two years ago, and it came out exclusively with a glass screen. So, we’re really adapting knowledge that we gained with the aerial device into the cab.” Lenz adds that the technology is already in the aerial platform and turntable, and he expects it to be available at the pump panel in early 2018.

“The new cab console design complements the development of our own, proprietary touch-screen command and control technologies,” he says. “The cab console module will be incorporated throughout our custom fire apparatus line, as well as in evolv

Editor’s note: Pumps can be mounted and controlled from almost anywhere on a pumper. This month, Editorial Advisory Board members Bill Adams (left) and Ricky Riley (right) discuss whether they have a preference for the pump location on a pumper and, if so, what the operational reason for that preference is. Do you have a topic for FA Viewpoints? E-mail it to Chris Mc Loone (chrism@pennwell.com).

This viewpoint is addressed with biased personal opinion from a nontechnical perspective without substantiating data or corroborating documentation. Midship pumps are the most common. Rear pumps, my favorite, are not. Front-mounted pumps are only used for job-specific applications and are not addressed. Full-bodied manifolded (double suction) pumps and unmanifolded end suction (single-suction) pumps have different characteristics. Both are used in midship and rear applications. Apparatus or pump design engineers are the best resources for “which pump to use where.”

Except for operational requirements to draft at maximum capacity, a pump’s physical location is irrelevant. The closer a centrifugal pump impeller is to the water, the more efficient the pump will draft. Midship pumps drafting from auxiliary front or rear steamer suctions are not going to achieve maximum efficiency. Ask the apparatus and pump manufacturers or have salespeople substantiate claims with documentation. Requesting certified flow tests by an independent third party (i.e., Underwriters Laboratories) separates fact from fiction and ensures compliance. Add the requirement to purchasing specifications. Some purchasers are content to draft limited gallonage through front and rear steamers in scenarios where tanker relays may not sustain a pumper’s rated capacity. Just remember, you’re limited to that reduced flow from draft forever.

The location of end suction pumps is immaterial if always supplied from a pressurized water source. They usually terminate with a four-inch discharge that can be piped to wherever the discharge manifold or operator’s panel is desired and not necessarily in the same location. Some naysayers claim rear pumps “throw off the weight balance” on a pumper. Requesting certified weight certificates of delivered units will substantiate or disprove verbal claims. With today’s computer-generated weight and balance software programs, engineers can easily calculate weights for proposed units with pumps in alternative locations. Just ask.

Unfamiliarity and disinterest are possible reasons salespeople and manufacturers (OEMs) don’t promote rear pumps. Financial is another reason. If 95 percent of an OEM’s pumper production includes midship pumps, a rear or front mount in the assembly line could reduce efficiency and add labor hours, increasing cost. Having to fabricate a nontraditional body design could contribute to OEM angst toward the concept. From my limited exposure with them, I have found rear-mounted pumps allow shorter wheelbases with comparable compartmentation.

Midship and rear pumps can be powered by a split drive shaft arrangement in the chassis driveline or via power takeoffs (PTOs). Early PTO-driven volume pump installations were constrained by PTO “life expectancy” and horsepower limitations. Previous bad press, justified or not, is hard to overcome. Today, 1,500 gallon-per-minute pumps are regularly PTO powered. Skeptical? Ask vendors to explain continuous duty and heavy duty in PTO applications and if PTOs have to be replaced or tested after so many hours of actual usage. Europeans have been using rear pumps, albeit not high-volume, for eons. Critics claim they’re just another European fad. Other European “fads” include fully enclosed crew cabs, sexless couplings