I am trying to spec out a couple of new trucks. As it's been a few years now since I'm off the road and I stay of I95 and usually take the Turnpike in my car and basically everything is close to me anyway, I don't see much trucks.

Anyway, are the big companies still pushing for Tripac use? I have been using the Parksmart (Caacadia) technology but it's not the greatest. I'm thinking of ordering Tripacs. They are $70 more a month, but I think more reliable. What are you guys seeing out there?

Thanks

I would not order a truck without a Tripac. I seriously believe that the biggest issue you will have with your emissions is caused by the excessive idle time drivers put on them. Is it possibly a maintenance issue? yeah, but it's easier to shut down a tripac and run for a short time till you can get it into a shop than loosing time for the big engine failing emissions issues.

I see a $50+ bill go out the window every night I idle my truck. Well worth just getting a motel if I have to.

could not agree more. the only time i idle is when its under -2*. and thats not because i'm worried about the truck starting. my truck has 0 insulation from the factory so it gets a bit chilly. i've had it -8 the truck sitting for 8 hours with wind. the truck fired up like it was summer time.

Thank you both for the input. Are you guys familiar with the new ParkSmart HVAC system that come in the Cascadias?

Thank you

not familiar with ParkSmart at all.

I am very leary about anything based on batteries though.

I just like that pony motor

Had very little problem with the parksmart. Far cry from the nite system. It heats the engine coolant for heat not just blowing hot air from the unit. Park it for three days in minus 0 and its still running and the truck fires right up. The AC works fairly well,you can get 10+hours out of it(if the trucks ordered with an insulation package) No good for sitting days at a time. Most of mine are wired back from the reefer so as long as you're loaded the reefer will supply about 60% of the power used.

heres my thought on the battery systems. they got pro's and cons.

my dad has a nite system in his pete. right now the batteries are stone dead. his friend that has a truck from the fleet he got his from swears by it.

heres my gripe with the battery kits:

just like anything else with a battery they have to be replaced.. though merick.. you lease.
if your drivers do a reset.. they will have to idle to recharge the batteries.
if they need to wait 12+ hours.. they need to idle.
if you have a fridge whats keeping the truck battries charged?

again i will never own a truck that dont have a tripack. my biggest gripe with it is the +-5* thing but i'm having that changed soon. and ontop of that some states give you a 400lb (i hear some are 450?) allowance for the weight.

Some additional comments:

The newer tripac evolution has a bigger oil pan and different housing. The control panel has been dummied down to knobs only. The old style, I can go in AND change settings where as with the new style, you need a couple hundred in software and cable to go in and work on it. Done at the request of big fleets.

The espar D2 heater that comes with the tripac is rated at like 7800 btu output. Unless you have a smaller cab or really good insulation, it will be lacking on a condo or truck with poor insulation in the bitter cold temps. Running at optimum performance, my espar has worked fairly well to -5°f. The D4 heater is a direct replacement and twice the heating btu's, but there's issues with that too.

If you short cycle or idle these things down because it's too warm and the really cut back the output, you can carbon up the flame tube. Run poor quality fuel or too much biodiesel, same thing. To replace the firetube is a $300+ job. I just had mine done last week. The heater itself was replace in Jan 13 because the fan module died and it was a wash to replace the module or the whole unit. A carboned flame tube just means it was over fueled or had raw fuel not burnt and basically flooded when I looked at it.

With the D4 heater, it will cut itself back a lot more than the D2 will. I seriously was considering replacing my D2 with it till I understood the issues. I think the $400+ spent on the bigger heater would be better spent adding better insulation. It will provide better sound control too.

Considering the fussiness of the esbar heater, I might consider an 110v ac space heater. We use one in the car to warm the inside and the windows so we don't have to scrape in the morning. It keeps the inside to about 60° for us. Will have to toy with it and see what the power requirements are. But $900 heater replacements put a lot of money towards something like this. And that pony engine will keep any batteries charged.

The yanmar engine in the tripac is about as reliable as a Kubota diesel like in the carrier and some thermoking reefers. 15,000+ hours should be the norm. I'd even consider 20k+ normal if taken care of. I've put 2000 hours on mine since July 12. Running ac and heat. This winter, it was either the tripac and the arctic kit to keel the engine warm at bitter subzero temps or plug in the block heater. I used the tripac mostly. Even to -20°f temps. It just started every time.

Remember what I said about charging, with a battery based system that needs to recharge in that 10 hour driving window, plan on upgrading you alternator at least 30 amps. There's some T660's in Michigan that have a battery based system in them. That is part of that system.

Weight wise, you either add 400 lbs of engine or 400 lbs of batteries. Plan on replacing those $500 worth of batteries every 18-24 months. Compare that to about $150 worth of oil changes annually on a tripac or similar.

Again thanks for all the detailed responses. I used a Tripac and the Carrier one (that was terrible), but I've been asking the drivers and the all to a fault prefer the Parksmart.

Most complaints about battery system are the base truck.(and the old nite systems) Fleet ordered trucks, little or no insulation. I seldom have to replace the battery's in the three years I own the truck. Tripac will burn more fuel than battery's cost. But the parksmart won't run the AC for days. Heater will run for days before battery's go down. Costwise I've came out far better with the parksmart than I did with the APU's. But my trucks do run an out and back dedicated so they don't sit waiting for loads.