heater caught on fire this morning

so..... my brother borrowed the m1078 to go to work this morning.... and while in route the heater started smoking, and a not so nice orange glow could be seen threw the vents.......- he poured his coffee into the vent, shut off the blower motors, and pulled out the heater breaker, then continued on his way. after pulling apart the face of the heater box, i found, all the wires associated with the heater are fried, including the dash light ones and the light sockets that light up the heater controls.

have any of you guys seen this before? i can say that the spade connectors that are on the blower motor control are crimp on, and don't look factory- but i could be wrong.

and, suprman, do you have a extra heater box right now? i'm not completely done diagnosing how far the problem went to, but am probably going to need all the electrical wiring that is in it.

Maybe just wires rubbed or a short from old age. I have all the parts. Might be time to upgrade to the 1st gen AC heater box. The controls are a lot nicer and you don't have to use the AC feature.

Good point,are they plug and play? do you have one- I wouldn't mind taking the ride down to meet you.

I have them. Not 100% plug and play but close. There are a few
threads on them.

Get one! They fit right in & you have the option of installing a/c if you chose that route in the future. I got one to replace the non functional one that came in my truck! You will not regret it!

Did you have to change your brake valves to the single unit for the install?

No, the panel that came with the unit has two knockouts just like the original. I did change out both valves due their poor shape & age with Haldex KN20025 & KN20035 as suggested replacements from another LMTV owner!

I see there are a couple different styles of newer Ac units- what style is the easiest install?? Or does it not matter? Stratford ct is only about a hour and a half drive from me-( to pick one up from suprman)

I have the first gen ones. I believe they are easier to install and closer to the size of the original unit. The controls are still mechanical just nicer. I have been meaning to swap over one of my trucks just havent had time. I believe you have to make 2 small drain holes in the bottom of the cab under the unit for AC condensation drains. You could prob eliminate them if you are not connecting the AC though.

Go visit Suprman & see what he has (I should have) & save on the shipping charges as these things are heavy, 75+ pounds! The manufacturer of my unit is Red Dot & model # is R-5750-1. USPS delivered mine & it was damaged in transit due to being dropped multiple times(it was shipped in the original card board box after being taken out of the wooden shipping crate). Repair was easy, with nothing showing on the outside case, so it was not returned. I also learned not to lend out my military trucks as other people do not take care of your trucks as well as you do! YMMV!

found this while cruising the PM history (cant sleep again...yay)

https://www.logsa.army.mil/psmag/archives/PS2001/580/580-02.pdf