Ration Heater, Mounted Troops

[parafireboy]

Hey everyone,

I picked up a new, old-stock 24V ration heater, mounted troops on eBay for a great price, and it arrived yesterday, its the one that has four slots for retort pouches. My big challenge was finding a way to utilize it in my truck, which is the standard 12V DC system. I decided to just take off the 24V military utility connector and put on a standard 12V male connector and give it a try. This morning I had to run a few errands, so I plugged it in and put a FSR filled french toast in it for breakfast. After 10-15 min it was steaming hot. I'm relieved I don't have to rig up a 12-to-24V step-up system, it works perfectly with 12V.

I know this topic has come up in the forums before, so I apologize for being redundant, but I wanted to provide some evidence that it will indeed work fine on 12V. I have no way to test it on 24V to see if there is a temperature difference or just a difference in time-to-peak-temperature, but it got it steaming hot, so I'm very pleased with it. This thing is going to get a lot of use!

Have a a great week rationeers!

Ration Heater Before Swapping Ends

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[elandil]

sounds like a good deal. Wonder if it makes a difference with a full entree vs the french toast timewise.

[parafireboy]

Here's a pic after replacing the connector.

New 12V male connection.

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In action. Sorry for the funky red lighting, I use red lighting in my dome lights. The green light = ration delight!

In action.

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[rabidwolf]

How much did it set you back?

[parafireboy]

It was only $25 with shipping, not bad at all. They come up on eBay pretty often. Sometimes they have a buy it now price between $45-$60, which I think is still a pretty good deal. If I remember right, the government pays about $120 each for them.

[housil]

I bought mine from ebay USA too. Great catch

[parafireboy]

Thanks Housil! The more I fiddle with it, the more I like it. The magnetic bottom is handy for keeping it upright, and the insulation in the top and walls seems quite adequate. The indicator light is a nice feature so you can know at a glance if it is on and working. Also, the cord stows in a side pocket, and there is a separate pouch that is perfect for keeping spoons or seasonings for when you're ready to eat. I see why you like yours Housil!

[elandil]

so how hard was it to convert over?

[parafireboy]

so how hard was it to convert over?

Not hard at all elandil. All I did was disassemble the 24V military utility plug on the end of the power cord and replaced it with a 12V "cigarette lighter" plug. Any auto supply store should sell these plugs. You can either just splice the wires or solder the heater's wires to the contacts in the 12V plug. I chose to go the soldering route, so there was no weak point in the wiring due to a splice. I'm certainly not an electronics wizard, and I was able to do the job start to finish in less than half an hour and have it working. Hope this help!

[rattattoo]

Makes me a dite pissy that the ciggie-lighter in my truck crapped out last year.
I think I could like this setup. I had no idea that you could get away with jst switching out the plug...