opti-idle or apu for o/o?

why 5 years? an apu will pay for itself in a year or 1 year and a half .

 

Totally depends on your type of operation.

 

The APU will also add resale value to the truck. Should be a good investment anyway.

 

APU is better hands down. There are a lot of options out there now too. In my book battery does not last long enough and not enough power.

TK, Carrier and Dynasys are pretty much the big three out there with big support networks. They all have pros and cons but Dynasys just switched to a CAT engine. I saw them at MATS and they have a no generator system now too. Not sure of the specifics but could be worth checking out.

Not sure which one is which but with TK and Carrier one system ties into your truck system. You don't want that because one system could possibly take the other out.

 

Check with TK in Chattanooga. They sell refurbished apus and are great people.

 

if your not heating your engine and charging your batteries
your wasting money having an apu

 

There is also a place in Chattanooga called Southeast Diesel. They are good guys over there.

 

Even heating, and in extreme cold, you can operate without an APU. I comfortably shut down in -40 weather. My last truck had Espar/Webasto for both engine and bunk. The engine heater has a three event timer. Anything above -10 I would just set it for two hours before I planned to start. Below -20 I might set it for two consecutive events of up to two hours each, or two-to-three events throughout the 8-12 hours I might be shut down. Same for a reset, or weekends off, I would just set the timer for when I was coming back. The bunk heater was more than sufficient to keep a comfortable temperature even at -40. VERY good truck batteries are important though as in the extreme cold 10-12 hours will put a big strain on them. If I had been keeping the truck I would have looked at installing an additional 2-3 RV batteries. The only time I didn't shut down was if it was below -30 and I was by myself in a remote area with no cell coverage.

I did have a truck with an APU and I found that I didn't use it as much as I thought I would for several reasons. First, it was a RigMaster. They have a number of performance and reliability issues, chief among them being loud and overheating. Second, I can comfortably tolerate a pretty wide temperature range, but more oriented towards the cold side. Having said that, even in the southern U.S. summer I would most often sleep with the bunk windows open and a fan blowing across me and circulating air. I don't like truck stops so I was usually parked at a rest stop or some other out-of-the-way place. I would often even drop my trailer and go find a hidey-hole that was dark and quiet.

In my experience, having operated with an APU, without, and with alternate anti-idle measures, I don't quite agree with the APU marketing and payback timelines. If I was operating in areas where high temperatures (and therefore cab/bunk cooling) was the primary issue and/or strict and severe anti-idle rules are in place, then I think an APU is more justified. Even then, a nicely done "home brew" of very high capacity alternator, some additional deep cycle batteries, small gas generator and (roof top) air conditioning can be just as effective and very significantly cheaper.

YMMV.

 

Why run a 500 HP heater? Besides engine wear you are wearing the ac compressor, fan clutch, ps pump, air compressor,main shaft in trans and alt. I'll run my gen set and be comfortable and save the big motor for what it was made to do.

 

Hate to bring up and old thread, but for the guys that have Optimized Idle in their trucks, how does that system get treated in No Idle states like the N.E ?

Thanks Stan