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Engineering battalion keeps lines humming

Nov 9, 2009

By Anthony J. Ricchiazzi (Tobyhanna Army Depot)

TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. - Fifteen Soldiers are making sure that Tobyhanna maintains its power while saving the depot on its light bill.

The Soldiers, from the 249th Engineering Battalion (Prime Power), Fort Bragg, N.C., are conducting routine infrared surveys and maintenance on the depot's electrical substation system. They began work on Oct. 18 and plan to finish by mid-November.

"The depot has several substations that step the incoming high voltage down to useable voltage, 120 volts for typical use like lights and personal computers and 480 volts for other higher power systems," said George Rittenhouse, engineering technician, Public Works Directorate. "Members of the 249th come here every two or three years to perform this work."

The Soldiers inspect substations for serviceability and damage, which includes scanning them with an infrared camera.

"We first look at the equipment through the infrared camera to survey for hot spots," said Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Eshenbaugh. "The camera picks up heat and gives us temperature readings; the hotter an area is, the more likely it needs work, so the camera helps to prevent a costly repair later."

A higher than normal temperature could require an adjustment as simple as tightening a connection.

The Soldiers also test the transformers to make sure settings are correct, and circuit breakers by placing them in a tester that applies fault currents to make sure the breakers function normally.

Circuit breakers interrupt the power to a circuit when the current flow exceeds safe levels. For example, if a radio being tested shorts out, a breaker should 'trip' to prevent damage to wiring.

Their repairs range from replacing circuit breakers to vacuuming substations to prevent dust from causing electrical arcs.

"We can repair just about any problem, except load imbalances," said Sgt. 1st Class Christipher Shetland. "If we found a serious problem, we would first notify DPW. We always defer to DPW before making a repair ourselves. If we cannot fix it, we work with DPW to get the equipment and tools to make the repair."

Electrical load imbalances can cause problems such as heat buildup in personal computers.

Shetland noted that they have not found any major problems at Tobyhanna.
The work is done mostly at night and on weekends to minimize impact to depot missions. The Soldiers say that conducting preventive maintenance here helps with their main missions, supporting electrical systems for Soldiers in the field and disaster relief.

"Our battalion deals with high voltage electrical systems," said Staff Sgt. Michael Smith. "We deploy to install and service power plants and we often go to a site unseen, we have no idea what we're going to find. The experience here helps us to develop our ability to give fast, accurate assessments to commanders in the field."
Rittenhouse said he is pleased with the Soldiers' performance.

"During a weather-related power outage on Oct. 24, I was notified of the electrical problem and contacted Sgt. 1st Class Shetland," he said. "He immediately contacted the linemen in his group and had them meet me here to effect repairs. This was above and beyond what they were contracted for, but without them here the repairs would have taken much longer."

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense Department's largest center for the repair, overhaul and fabrication of a wide variety of electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network. Tobyhanna's missions support all branches of the Armed Forces.

About 5,600 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.