Thanks for posting that catalog. It looks like they test extensively for moisture issues. I think there may have been problems with the ECP connectors in the earlier testing, which was on the N&W, as I recall. But I suspect all the problems were solved by just upgrading the design to meet all of the needs for survival.
Based on my experience with connections, your skepticism is warranted. The relatively high voltages (IIRC ~ 220VDC) should cut through some of the corrosion, but…
One thought is to have replaceable cables on the car ends - think the electrical equivalent of air brake hoses. The idea is that the car to cable connection would be undone rarely and thus last longer than the connections between the cables coming from the cars. This would require some quick way to ascertain whether a connection is good - perhaps a light on the cable itself?
From the perspective of a employee on the ground in dealing various defects that routinely happen in getting a train over the road - knowing the there is a live 220v line that is now active on the train would be rather offsetting when dealing with the trains issues in wet or snowy weather.
The document I cited earlier shows exactly that.
There is a twist-lock connector on the car end. The connector that connects to the next car has specs for being able to be pulled apart. This actually makes the cable very similar to the brake hoses. They would have to be “made,” but will pull apart when the car is uncoupled.
It does mean that in addition to a brake hose or two, each crew will have to have a stock of the cables available.
With respect to working in wet weather, one option is to cut the ECP power when a cable needs to be changed out. OTOH, it would be possible to design the connector housing to remain grounded until after the ECP contacts have fully disconnected.
I would be very wary of dealing with a frayed cable with an exposed conductor even in dry weather.
We don’t even think of touching the HEP unless it’s confirmed to be down.
Yes, HEP is 480 VAC (or 408), and the ECP is reported as 220v (maybe even DC?). But you can weld with lesser voltages…
ECP is nominally 220VAC at 60Hz (with powerline data modulation), and ‘supposedly’ the fancy standard connector (I’ve forgotten the standard # and am not going to look it up on a phone) is safe to connect and disconnect in poor weather. Personally I would not buy it for a quarter once a little time and grime and typical railroad maintenance have become involved, even with ‘railroad-issue’ safe PPE gloves…
Hey Mod I thought the ECP powerlink ran at 230VDC?
What voltages are involved in the locomotive MU cables? Those get plugged/ unplugged all the time without any special precautions to power them down.
I don’t specifically know, however, I doubt that they are anywhere near 220v. Also MU cable connection are manually broken when necessary to swtich engines out of the engine consist.
According to this, 74 volts DC. Something else to consider, I believe the MU cabling is all signal and control, and not providing significant power to anything so wouldn’t provide much current, whereas the ECP brake cable would have to provide enough current to power 200+ brake controls.
I just asked someone who would know, but he’s not here on the forum. I’d guess nothing over 72VDC.
Edit: MU cables carry 74 VDC control voltages, at least in the old stuff we run. I’d have to believe we could still MU our old ALCOs with anything modern.
74VDC. And they don’t carry for more than a dozen or so connections, reliably. RRs have rules about how many locos can be MUed. Also, you have to do a continuity check every time you build a consist.
MU connectors and cable do fail and get burned contacts, but they are pretty reliable - they also “fail safe”.
All depends on what the definition of SAFE is.
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR0202.pdf
Because of MU failure engineer only had Dynamic Braking on the lead unit, not all three units like he thought.
When an engine is acting up for no obvious reason, pull the MU cable and see if that helps. Many engines now have a dummy receptacle for both ends of the MU cable. Sometimes leaving one end plugged into the live receptacle, even with the other end in the dummy slot can cause strange things to happen.
Jeff