Who makes the best APU.
 

Looking at buying but I want to get people who own them to give me opinions.

I am thinking about buying a gas powered generator from Harbor Freight . com, They have some good rebuilt gas jobs on the cheap, and I figure with an air conditioner from walmart, a power strip, and some misc. nuts and bolts, I would have an apu for under a $1,000.

I can tell you NOT to buy an ATrans unit, it's a decent unit if you like high maintinance, but the company went belly up so,....not under warranty anymore.

You should put this question on the regular forum,...it will be seen more. Only gearheads come to this section.


As for the Harbor Freight unit,..it will be very loud. A 2000watt honda and a small AC unit will work for about the same price.

I like the sytems that use an inverter rather than a generator. If you run where its hot & muggy with a bigger sleeper try to get more a/c capacity & how the system is installed can affect the cooling performance.

I've mostly seen the RigMaster & see quite a few belt problems, alternators & a few generators too & i understand the a/c isn't
adequate in hot weather

The thermoking tripac & Comfortmaster seem like decent units i think but i don't have a lot of history with them. An espar or webasto heater makes a lot of sense to me for staying warm even with an apu. (Tripac includes an espar)

Hope this helps a bit

Thank you.
Question #2
Do you suggest the one that ties into the trucks current systems or stand alone?

I use a 3,600watt diesel generator with a roof mount AC unit, today I had the sleeper down to 55 degrees to test it out for the summer. The generator uses 1/10th gallon of fuel per hour (2400rpm constant). It's also tied into the truck cooling system and fuel tanks.
For heat I used a catalytic propane heater for the winter. I used around $100.00 for propane in 5 months and only idled the main engine 5 nights during that time. I used the generator during the winter only once to pre-heat my engine on a brisk Missoula morning.. The sleeper was kept between 65 and 75 degrees. It's a 100" sleeper with a 75" roof height.

There's nothing wrong with tieing into the cooling system imho. some people refer not too. As long as the hoses are routed properly & secured there shouldn't be any more risk than the bunk heater hoses. Make sure there are shutoff taps installed though to be able to isolate the apu in case of a coolant leak.

I wouldn't want a system that ties into the trucks a/c system though........

Here's what I did before I bought one,walk around a truck stop lot and listen to them run.This will without a doubt convince you not to buy a rig master.Another thing is look for what the big fleets are running,they have more money to spend on R&D and are not going to buy junk.They have tried all there is on the market and it seems most of them go with the Thermo-King.These things are quiet,dependable and service is availble all over North America.

I have finally decided to go this route. I just purchased a 6000 watt diesel generator from Eastern Tool & Equipment ($809 with shipping), and am purchasing a used RV AC unit locally. The generator will supply me with power to run the AC, 120V shore power, plus 12V to charge the batteries. I'll be building an enclosure for the generator, and mounting it to the frame rail. For heat, I have my Webasto diesel bunk heater already installed in the truck. I think you'll beat me a bit on the fuel usage, because I'm running more wattage (the generator is rated at about 0.3 GPH at full load). The bunk heater uses 0.01 per hour (that means I can sleep an entire night on about $0.50 worth of diesel). The major difference is that my system is air cooled, so I will be adding a small 12V radiator fan to the enclosure to allow plenty of air flow to the generator. Plus, at current fuel prices, this system will pay for itself in about a month and a half.

The reason I went this route is that I just can't justify the markup that the APU manufacturers are putting on those units, especially for the BTU (or lack thereof) that their systems provide. If I were to purchase an APU, however, it would be a Comfort Master. While Thermo King, Rigmaster, etc. provide 13,000 - 15,000 BTU of AC, the Comfort Master provides 33,000 BTU. Plus, it is more self contained than the competition. No ugly condenser fan on the back of the sleeper.

The odd thing I found was that the 3 cyl APU systems were rated at around 62 dB at 21 feet, and this 1 cyl open sided generator is rated at 70 dB at 21 feet. I would have thought that 2 extra cyl, plus closed sides would provide better sound insulation than that.

Another thing to consider is getting the unit serviced. If you get a Thermo-king or Carrier there are service centers all over the country. You may be able to service it yourself but will need to take it to a dealer for warranty work. 8) 8)