carrier apu's

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I can only speak for ThermoKing but if it's diesel fired you should get at least 13,000-15,000 hours out of it. I had a TK with 13,xxx hours and it worked fine. If I was shopping for a used one I would be looking for 4,000-5,000 or less hours on it.

If it has an alternator to tie in with the truck batteries you could use an inverter for your 110V and still have AC.

Them Carrier's are too noisy for me. They're twice as loud as a TK. But if the price is right....

I'm sure a few Carrier's will post soon.

 

I have a Pro Heat Gen 4, the predecessor to the Carrier's Comfort Pro. I bought my unit after talked to a old timer 8.5 yrs ago that had the Proheat ICE with 32,000 hr

1, you can run both the apu and the truck at the same time, I've done it several times.
2, It all depends on the maint like everything else... I have 11,000 hrs (8 yrs old) and its still running strong, uses no oil between oil change (400 hrs)
3, The only time the 110 is turned off is when you put it on high heat (3000 watts) but you can over ride this by hooking up the gen directly to a outlet box. and then run the power to the box in the sleeper.

I highly suggest you call Mark at ELW in Grove City Oh... The man knows these units like the back of his hand... its mainly all he works on & installs.

 

I own a Carrier ComfortPro 6000. The reason i bought it was the condition of surviving Proheat units i encountered on the road; they seemed to be bulletproof. So far my Carrier APU, after 4000 hrs, is in worse shape than the ten year old RigMaster i once had on the same truck. Rust on the APU covers and frame, vibration damage to generator unit, failed alternator (corrosion), weak starter, two failed motherboards, and a new cable to the control panel (bad install, cooked by Espar outlet). None of these failures were covered by warranty except for the motherboard and cable. An expensive toy that i'm still trying to get to work right.

*** Most others on the road seem to have had MUCH better results than I with the same model APU. Perhaps I received my traditional 'turkey'?

The Carriers are noisier than ThermoKings despite having pretty well the same Z-482 Kubota, as the Carrier version runs at a constant high rpm to make generator available at all times. If you're good with gadgets, you can rig the unit to manually run slower to keep charging batteries overnight, but generator and its associated functions will not be available until you throttle the engine back up to speed. Some owners have successfully rerouted their mufflers to decrease noise.

On the plus side, it's a great deal easier to work with than the Rigmaster; with upper and lower covers off, most every engine component is accessible and engine service intervals are ten times longer. There are sites online that will give you replacement/equivalent numbers for filters and belts, as Carrier has one hellacious markup on these. The generator unit powers the sealed AC in the bunk, so no freon lines to the APU. My unit was capable of running at any time, truck engine on or off; came in handy when truck alternator went south; unit has a small 60 amp alternator that can handle most of the truck needs. Many setting options in the control panel for timers, engine temp, cabin temp or battery level.

As mentioned previously, high hours aren't that important if they've been regularly maintained. Otherwise, your biggest issues will be vibration and corrosion. Now that I know what to keep an eye on, I'd get another one (but used).

 

I've managed to cut the apron strings from Carrier... its a Kubota engine, there are plenty of after market suppliers for ALT, Starters, ect and I installed a rooftop.

I agree about the rust comment... I just finished spending $400 on having new covers mfg because they rusted out and another $100 finishing it... new they sell for $700. APU's are like anything else... it requires maint which includes painting. In fact I just noticed yesterday that I need to replace all my rubber mounts.

 

I'm rebooting this thread with the ? Of how many hours do you have on your carrier ? And how long are these little kubota engines known to go ?
Mine is a 2015 model I bought with 7600 hours on it and it's now at 23000 ...runs like a top with no oil consumption.
Religiously maintained on full synthetic oil with all filters replaced and oil drained no later than 700 hours .

 

23k hours, wow!! That's a testament to good maintenance and synthetic oil !!