Your thoughts of having an APU (Auxilary Power Unit)

Got any info on that grant?

 

Can anyone tell me what one of these units weighs, full of fuel? We have to be able to haul #50,000 of sand, and my truck has a blower for the pneumatics we pull, as well as a wet kit for the end dumps we also pull. If I am full of fuel, I'll tare weigh right at #30,000 with my pneumatic on, so any more weight and I would have to play games with fuel to be where I need to be.

 

Sounds like you are playing with the weight already.

 

An APU generally adds 500 pounds to the truck. Now depending on the jurisdiction, you may get a break on the weight added. I've heard you need to have a weight certification or something declaring the APU weight.

 

Interesting. That makes it sound pretty interesting.

 

I got the grant through cooperation with a company called Cascade Sierra Solutions, of 4750 Village Plaza Loop, suite 100, Eugene, Oregon ...541-302-0900.
you can try and see if there's any grant money left or is still in place. I've no idea, but good luck.

 

The APU saves the main engine, Idling is the hardest thing on the engine, many places you get a weight exemption on the APU, even if you are only in the truck sometimes, you go to a cold truck and start the APU it will charge your batteries, heat the main engine, you can even have an electrical block and oil pan heaters hooked up. When you buy a new truck you tell them what ever APU you have and the manufacture of the new truck to fit your unit, and they will transfer it to the new one.
They save the main engine, save you in fuel, if you save one emergency call, or one lost load you are away ahead of the game, and what is you or your drivers comfort worth?
I have seen many trucks come in and when you print out the history it has 70% idle time, we had about a dozen trucks that came in regularly with APU's and they would have less than 5%
Just a thought!

 

Since it's an oilfield forum, I would assume your truck will be doing some infield work with that APU you're asking about. I have spec'd a truck that I'm about to purchase and it has an APU. After doing tons of research on all of the APU makers, I had to keep in mind weigh and size of the unit, constant off road shaking, dust, mud, ability to provide tons of heat (I'm running north Alberta), engine preheat, lesser the AC.

The one I choose, was the Rigmaster new LG200 self contained APU, no condenser fan installed on your sleeper wall. It is small, 325LB. in weigh, with 13.500btu of heat and 24.000btu AC. It is TriPac type of APU which requires inverter installed in your truck. It takes only 19.5" of your frame compared to TK or Carrier 26-28". Most importantly it is designed for US military transport and totally sealed in aluminum inclosure, extra insulation on top of that is also available for additional $600 USD. They also running this particular unit in Australia dirt roads with great results. Finally the price is around $8000 installed and includes 2 years warranty with enough hours. TK Tripac or Carrier Comfort Pro is around $13-14K CAD here in Canada and weigh 475-500lb. Those two wouldn't be able to withstand all the shaking and dust of the oil field, they are not sealed like LG200.

 

The truck will not be staying at an oil field and run in a dirty environment. It will be parked at a parking lot when driver will be sleeping. So if i were to use this apu, it would be good to cover it up while in the oil field to keep it clean. Does anyone here cover up their apu when not in use? And what cover do you use. Im assuming diy can be made for this.