How well is your APU working for you

[S. L. Schrader Co]

They want apu's to help reduce fuel usage. If they put the roads in correctly the first time, we would not be stuck in miles of traffic jams for road construction and wasting fuel that way either. We have found it is just as cost effective to put a driver in a hotel for the night, rather than invest in an apu, or idle aire. Idle aire will cost you about 20 or more a night depending on the services you useand the time you are there. The apu we tried must have been a bummer, it would use 2 - 3 gallons or sometimes more in a 10 plus hour stop. So low end 6 - 12 dollars in fuel and no amenities. Start adding in the cost of oil filters and fuel filters and service time required to maintain the unit and the original cost of the unit and installation if you can't do it your self, this is an expensive option. Now I know some states offer assistance in the purchase of this, and some states not. In our case, the unit was tax deductible but over a minimum 7 year span due to the cost. National 9 motels have been great at 25 bucks if you are a CDL driver. Free internet, free shower, free cable tv, a nice comfortable bed and if you need electric to plug in it was also free. If you use a Motel 6 this will cost you about 40 or more if you book online ahead of time. I have heard this new Micro Motel is suppose to be cheaper, but have not tried it yet.

[brian]

I love my apu, so does everybody else I know with one. it costs me about 7$ a night to run, if I left my truck idling it`d cost me about 30$, plus i`m sleeping in my own bed, mine was paid off in less then a year, as far as maintenance goes it was under 100$ for the previous year, 100$ is saved in less then 5 nights of it running instead of the truck, nevermind the wear and tear saved on the engine.

all those cheap motels are kinda like sitting on a dirty truck stop toilet seat without wiping it down and putting a cover on the seat, just plain disgusting.

you ever wonder why they only take the white linens out of a room but never the covers? ITS BECAUSE THEY RARELY WASH THEM!

[S. L. Schrader Co]

Ok, I am looking for answers, and this helps. I must have a bummer like I said. I am in the process of getting another truck into service, and it is hard for me to make another purchase of a 7500 unit. Or almost 10,000 with install. Our accountant says this is going to be hard to justify, and we may not get to use this as a write off. We use to buy our uniforms, We could not write them off because the IRS said we could wear these uniforms anywhere at any time, and yes we must wear clothes. In order to beat this, we had to rent uniforms, and this aloud us to write them off 100% as a business expense. Now on the other hand, I can write my fuel off and any repairs needed for the fiscal year. With an apu, I must take a 7 year depreciation of the unit before it is written off. The fuel is still covered, but the parts and maintenance as well as the unit itself is questionable due to the fact this is considered a luxury item and not mandatory equipment. My accountant is pretty much up on things, and I think a little anal, but I have never had to pay at the end of the year, and generally get a return for overpayment for our quarterly payment schedule.

[Truckdobe]

I can not imagine life without my generator. :shock:

Mine is more than just heating or cooling though.... it's uses
-heat & air roof unit
-hotel load
-tv dvd satellite
-microwave/conv
-fridge
-coffee maker
-computer printer etc
-vacuum
-just about everything from home that you can plug in
-keeps my engine warm
-charges my batteries

I can't even think of all that it does.



This is my 3rd, all have offered excellent service. All of my roof units have been great as well, I don't think I'd like the other AC choices.

Powertech ('92 unit, rebuilt in '97)... my personal favorite, over 15k hours of service (after '97 build) and still doing a great job when the truck was sold last year.

Onan ('07 unit)... way too computerized and 'smart', but did a good job. Didn't particularly like the design, hard to service and picky b/c of computer controls.... but I tend to not like anything that modern. It did it's job well.

Gen-Pac/Double Eagle ('91 unit, rebuilt in '05)... another ancient unit that has offered excellent service. I'm have mixed emotions about sharing coolant with the big engine (neither the Powertech or Onan did), but it works well. I have had some thermostat issues recently with the gen and it's been handy to be able to start the truck and cool everything down until the problem was addressed.


Both the Gen-Pac & Powertech were on million mile+ motors with very few problems, excellent oil samples and extended drain intervals b/c of near zero idling = low soot and other idle issues.

All have more than paid for themselves and required little beyond routing maintenance.

[Doghouse]

If you're going to get an APU,...do yourself a favor and don't cut corners.
I bought an APU from A-Trans, and their customer service is the worst.
The A/C split unit I bought from them with the APU is not even designed to be used for a mobile application (Right from Soleus Airs mouth), yet A-Trans is advertising that its an APU "designed for truckers, by truckers"<... :!:
I ended up getting a roof mount A/C , and putting the split unit in my garage (which it barely cools).
As far as the APU,....well its a Chinese diesel engine,...they told me the RPM's would be 2400, and they are really 3600,..so this thing is a screamer. How long will it last??? who knows,...I don't suspect very long at all.
They have a good web-site and claim to have many happy customers,....but they won't let me contact any of them for a testomonial,...you do the math.
When I try to contact them e-mail or phone,...I get the same guy from Yugoslavia, and can barely understand him. He is the cusomer service/sales/tech guy,.......not a good sign.
So don't buy one until I have a chance to run it more to see how long it will last,.......I see a Rig Master in my near future

[brian]

sounds like your accountant is afraid of messing with the big bad tax man, you need heat and ac but you cant idle your truck in certain places, so its a mandatory business item as far as me and my accountant are concerned.

don`t see what the big deal is about the write off anyways, IT`LL PAY FOR ITSELF IN LESS THEN A YEAR AND START PUTTING A FEW THOUSAND MORE DOLLARS IN YOUR POCKET EVERY YEAR AFTER.

I happened to check out the specs on a Onan generator. I'm getting a Rigmaster next week and fuel consumption for this 6000 watt is .1 gallons per hour. The Onan generator uses .6 gallons per hour for a 5500 watt unit and that's only at 50% load.

[Doghouse]

The RigMaster is more efficient than the Onan, and the Onan is harder to service. The One I chose is supposed to run for 10hrs on 1gallon,...I'll see about that, its hard to judge while the truck is sitting still and I have not fueled it up enough to find out.
It also only puts out 3600 watts, but thats enough for my set up because to solar system provides power for everything except the A/C and heat.

[merrick4]

I keep forgetting to shut mine off and if I drive with it on it blows a fuse in the APU. I'm on my 3rd fuse now so hoping this will be the last.

[Doghouse]

What kind did you get?

[merrick4]

Comfort Pro by Carrier.

[Doghouse]

Thats a good unit, how do you like the way it keeps the sleeper cool?

[merrick4]

Well to be honest I'm not one to have things cool. I keep the temp set at 79. Even at home in South Florida the Merrick family are living on the wild side if we drop the thermometer below 77 degrees. How I spent most of my life in New England, well it wasn't pretty.

But to answer your question, it does keep it at the comfort level I enjoy. Last night I had it on 77 by accident and I kept waking up freezing. I didn't realize it was on 77 til this morning so it works good. One thing is the truck didn't come with privacy curtains and I was going to get some but now I think it worked out better as it is easier to just close the middle curtains and it only has to keep a smaller area cool.

[allan5oh]

I've heard from several sources the thermo-king tripac is about the best out there.

Rigmasters seem to be noisy IMO.

I read a report on different APU's and they listed Rigmaster as the quietest on the market. Rigmaster's A/C is rated at 20,000 btu and that was the highest also.

I tend to be in very extreme places where temps rise over 100. My unit gets installed next week and it won't be long before I'm in a place where it's real hot so I'll he sure to come back and post my findings.

I DO NOT like to be hot

[allan5oh]

Perhaps I'm mistaken, I don't know.

Maybe these were older models.

I do know there are a few brands that are definitely LOUD.

So much so that guys re-route the APU exhaust into the truck exhaust(I would NOT recommend this).

You could be right Allan. I'm guessing maybe it was time for them to replace there muffler.

You can count on one thing though. I will put this thing through the paces by doing different experiments with it like leaving the truck alone in the hot sun after I pull in, eat, then come out and see how fast it recovers.

I'm sure the heat will work fine. That's the easy part.

The noise won't bother me but I may feel it's too loud for others and will do something about it. I'm sure there are many alternative mufflers I could have installed.

[allan5oh]

I remember one time pulling beside a truck that had a LOUD generator running.

It actually caused the panels in my truck to resonate, sort of a "speaker effect".

It was absolutely nauseating. You could feel the pressure fluctuations in your head!

That happens a lot to me. My engine idles so smooth I have to look at the tach some times to see if it's running. Then every so often it sounds real bad until I realize it's the truck next to me causing a harmonic frequency sound between my truck and there's.