The building is quoted in amps. The truck is quoted in kVA.
Neither figure compares to the other until one of them is converted, and both manufacturers print the conversion themselves.
- The company switch — rated in amps
Union Connector publishes its outdoor company switch at 400 A, 120/208 V, three-phase four-wire plus ground, in a NEMA Type 3R enclosure. Six Series 16 Cam panel-mount receptacles on the face, six dual-rated mechanical lugs on a copper bus in the connection chamber, and one 400 A three-pole moulded-case main breaker to UL 489, rated 65K AIC at 240 V. The cabinet is 42 inches high by 24 wide by 10 deep. The 200 A cabinet in the same range publishes five receptacles, five lugs and a 200 A main at 40 inches high.
- The towable set — sold in kVA
Multiquip publishes the DCA45SSIU4F at 36 kW (45 kVA) prime and 40 kW (50 kVA) standby, both at 0.8 power factor. The same data sheet prints the output in amps as well: 108 A at 240 V three-phase, 54 A at 480 V three-phase, and 100 A at 120 V single-phase four-wire, behind a 125 A main line breaker. Revision 9 of that sheet is dated 27 June 2024.
A single 400-amp house switch out-supplies the whole silent range below 150 kVA.
Lined up in the same unit, at the same voltage and phase, the panel on the wall carries more than the truck does.
- Towable output at 240 V three-phase, as published
DCA-25SSIU4F, 60 A. DCA-45SSIU4F, 108 A. DCA-70SSJU4i, 168 A. DCA-125SSJU4i, 301 A. DCA-150SSJU4F, 361 A. Every figure comes off the manufacturer’s own six-model comparison sheet.
- What that leaves
The 200 A cabinet covers everything up to and including the 70 kVA set, with room to spare. The 400 A cabinet covers the entire list. So the first useful question on a park site is whether the pedestal is a 200 or a 400, because the answer either removes a truck from the plot or keeps it on the plot, and it can be answered by reading the breaker.
The switch publishes one voltage as standard. The set publishes six and asks which.
The adaptable side of this pairing is the one on the trailer.
- Fixed at the wall
Union Connector lists 120/208 V as the standard rating, with single-phase 120 V and 120/240 V, and three-phase 277/480 V, 208 V and 480 V, all in the options column. Those are ordered at the time the cabinet is built, not selected on the night.
- Switchable on the trailer
Multiquip publishes the DCA45SSIU4F as switchable across 208, 220, 240, 416, 440 and 480 V. A distro assembled around 240 V three-phase meets about thirteen per cent less line-to-line voltage on a 120/208 V house switch, and the generator is the half of the pair that can be moved to match.
- The tie-in happens dead, by cabinet design
Union Connector publishes the connection chamber door as electrically interlocked with the main breaker’s shunt trip: opening the door opens the breaker. The sequence is built into the enclosure rather than left to the person with the cable.
Two figures on the generator sheet have no equivalent on the switch.
A sound level and a fuel tank, and neither of them scales the way a reader would guess from the kVA.
- Sound, published at 23 feet, full load
DCA-25SSIU4F, 65 dB(A). DCA-40SSKU4F, 61. DCA-45SSIU4F, 66. DCA-70SSJU4i, 65. DCA-125SSJU4i, 70. DCA-150SSJU4F, 66. The lowest figure on the list belongs to the 36 kVA machine, four decibels under the 25 kVA machine beside it, and the 150 kVA machine publishes the same 66 dB(A) as the 45 at more than three times the prime output.
- Run time, sold as an option
The DCA45SSIU4F sheet publishes a 79.2 gallon (300 litre) tank and full-load consumption of 2.93 gallons an hour, and publishes no run-time figure at all for the base machine. Run time appears in the options list instead, as sub-base double-wall fuel cells rated at twelve hours and twenty-four hours minimum. Tank size does not follow output across the range either: the 150 kVA set carries 69 gallons against the 45 kVA set’s 79.2.
The property line places the generator before the feeder run does.
Fort Lauderdale measures outdoors at the complainant’s property line, and one towable set clears a daytime residential limit on its own.
- The published table
The city publishes residential outdoor limits of 60 dBA from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 dBA from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; commercial outdoor 65 dBA around the clock; industrial outdoor 75 dBA. Outdoor measurement is taken at the complainant’s property line, and where the city enforces with nobody complaining it measures five feet from the building.
- The arithmetic that follows
A 45 kVA set publishes 66 dB(A) at 23 feet. In free field a point source sheds about 6 dB for every doubling of distance, which puts the same machine near 60 dB(A) at 46 feet, 54 at 92 feet and 48 at 184 feet. Barriers, ground absorption and every other source on the site move all of those, so they are a starting distance to measure from rather than a result. The shape survives the caveat: on a residential boundary the set gets placed by the property line, and the length of the feeder follows that decision.
Every figure above is printed on a manufacturer’s own product page, a manufacturer’s own data sheet, or the City of Fort Lauderdale’s own published noise page, and all were read on 24 October 2026. Product specifications and municipal code are both revised — check the current version before a figure goes into a plot, a load calculation or a permit application.
Where the figures come from
- 400 A company switch: 120/208 V, 3-phase 4W+G, NEMA 3R, six Series 16 Cam receptacles, six dual-rated lugs, one 400 A 3-pole moulded-case main to UL 489 at 65K AIC / 240 V, 42 x 24 x 10 in, chamber door interlocked to the shunt trip; 200 A cabinet, five receptacles, five lugs, 40 in high — Union Connector’s published outdoor company switch pages, unionconnector.com, read 24 October 2026.
- DCA45SSIU4F: 36 kW (45 kVA) prime, 40 kW (50 kVA) standby at 0.8 PF; 108 A at 240 V 3-phase, 54 A at 480 V 3-phase, 100 A at 120 V 1-phase 4-wire; 125 A main line breaker; 79.2 gal (300 L) tank; 2.93 gph at full load; 66 dB(A) at 23 ft; switchable 208 / 220 / 240 / 416 / 440 / 480 V — Multiquip’s published DCA45SSIU4F data sheet, Rev. 9 dated 27 June 2024, multiquip.com, read 24 October 2026.
- Across the silent range at 240 V 3-phase: DCA-25 60 A, DCA-45 108 A, DCA-70 168 A, DCA-125 301 A, DCA-150 361 A. Sound at 23 ft full load: 65, 61, 66, 65, 70, 66 dB(A) for the 25, 40, 45, 70, 125 and 150. Tanks: 41.7, 26, 79.2, 103, 168 and 69 gallons — Multiquip’s published single and three-phase super-silent specification sheet, multiquip.com, read 24 October 2026.
- Residential outdoor 60 dBA 7:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. and 50 dBA 10:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m.; commercial outdoor 65 dBA; industrial outdoor 75 dBA; outdoor measurement at the complainant’s property line, five feet from the building where there is no complainant — City of Fort Lauderdale’s published noise ordinance page, fortlauderdale.gov, read 24 October 2026.