Solution to M1031 generator control system using b4thundr Woodward Apecs controller

[Misfire]

Hi - does anyone know if there are anymore 4500 controllers for sale? If not -are there any other known upgrades/ solutions to fix the m1031 pto electrical system? I have finally finished the wardens home remodeling demands and have her permission to put some time and money into the truck. Lol--I would like to make some progress before her brutally punitive prerogative ensues. Thanks, Chip

 

[Skinny]

I believe b4thundr is still making them, best bet would be to reach out to him. You can use any kind of generator controller but you will have to wire and program it yourself. The Apecs that b4thundr sells is plug and play once you splice the very easy to do harness in.

I found that I was continuously chasing safety switches that were not adjusted correctly or had poor connections at first. Once I resolved all of those it seemed like all my control boxes had intermittent poor connections on the circuit boards. They would work fine if you smashed the box with your hand or pulled on the terminal connections. Every time I went to use it I had the same problem. Spend the money and get a good reliable unit like the one mentioned above even if yours is working fine. That way it works when you need it most which is worth the money.

 

[Rescuman]

When I bought my M1031 March 2012 the generator did not work, but the PTO was fine and spun it. The original controller system was there and everything looked correct with the wiring. I read up on post and found that I had some wires melted due to the exhaust and fixed that. Checked all the connections and bypassed the shift safety as it was just not working and hanging up. All other safety switches are good. After I did all this the generator still did not kick in and the idle never changed. So I just put it off until about a month ago when I had some extra cash to try the solution by b4thundr.

So last week I fixed my M1031 generator with the modern controller that b4thundr has been offering here. It takes the place of all those components next to the electric panel with one simple controller only using 6 wires. All the other parts were fine, throttle actuator and magneto PTO sensor as I noted before. It was very simple to install and only took me about an hour. The unit needs to be programmed to work with the M1031 systems, it cannot just be bought off the shelf, but b4thundr takes care of the programming. My generator only had .6 hours on it when I bought the truck, it now has 1 hours. The 120v works testing a few power tools and also the air compressor works great.

I did some voltage testing and the output is about between 122v and 124v watching it for about 5mins. It did drop to about 117v when I turned on the air compressor, but that can happen on anyone's home when your AC kicks in. I tested the single & three phase 208v outlets individually and each PIN was about 115v, so total combined it would be like 230v. As long as I have good 120v power I am happy and it ran at 60Hz and only bounced do to about 59Hz at times.

So finally my M1031 is complete with working generator. It was not cheap to do this, but a M1031 without a working generator is just a waste of a CUCV maintenance truck.


Before with the old complex system. I tried everything I could to get it working, but nothing.

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After with the Woodward Apecs 4500 controller. Worked immediately, did not have to tweak anything.

View attachment 441979View attachment 441980 -----


Here is a video of the operation of the Woodward Apecs 4500 controller.

How do i buy one of these 10 years later???

 

[wrenchturner6238]

How do i buy one of these 10 years later???

I have been wondering this myself. I have tried to pm b4thundr but have not heard anything as of yet