Anyone use the APU Center in Missouri?

I bought my used tripac at the apucenter.com they do have 2 phone numbers though, 1 is for sales other for service.
They treated me good, got no complaints at all about them or their work.
As I said before my apu had 9000 hours on it when I bought it, now has almost 30,000 hours.
I change oil in apu at same time I do truck pm. I do truck around 16,000 miles approximately 1000 hours for apu

 

Any alt or alt wire issues with it. I really would like a tripac but I'm being indecisive on new or used

 

If I was doing it all over again with limited funds I would buy a used one as long as the engine ran good enough for maybe $1,500. My first goal would be to make sure the alternator worked to keep the batteries charged. That's the number one thing to make sure it works. That keeps your batteries charged and allows you to use your inverter without worrying about dead batteries.

From that point on you can buy replacement parts here and there as you get the money. You can easily turn a piece of crap looking APU into a brand new looking one.

The heart of an APU is the engine and most have a diesel CAT, Perkins or other type . These engines pretty much run forever.

 

I've had it now for 4 years I think, changed out the alternator and compressor think it was last year. But for the money I've saved in fuel that was a small price to pay for replacing these parts.
Almost 30,000 hours on the unit now I figure changing these 2 parts out is nothing with that many hours.
I've had a couple of little things go wrong with it also, some switch in the main unit. It was an easy fix.
Buying new or used is always a gamble, there's always a lemon out there.

 

I had one tripac that was perfect then I switched trucks and it was a nightmare and 8 times was the alt wire disconnecting. Mechanic said it was from the bumps in the road. Now I'm ready to put one on my truck and hate to run into that again. But one guy said the advantage of having a TK was being able to get it serviced all over.

 

I guess I jinxed myself. #### ac won't cool compressor doesn't kick on doesn't throw Any codes. Guess it's probably that thingymajig switch again. Got it booked into TK first thing in morning.
I have to have it cold in the sleeper I have temp set at 62 and normally have 2 fans blowing in me. I had to break down a little bit ago and Idle the truck

 

I feel you. The first company truck I was spoiled. It was nice and quiet other than my tv and the tripac only ran half the time depending on where I was at. The second truck was idle one night then use the apu the next. It would never work for more than a week and a half. Now I got my own truck and I have to idle all the time unless it's less than 60 outside. Hopefully it's something minor with yours

 

Freon leak. Leak found and fixed. Getting glow plug changed out on espar heater. Figured I may as well get it all done while I was at TK.

 

My tripac is six years old bought it new one alternator two years ago the only repair. You figure 3000 dollars a year in fuel savings that's 18000 dollars cost 8900 new installed by Detroit TK almost 9000 in my pocket plus less wear my main engine is the main reason I did it. Idling kills diesel engines.

 

I've posted this before, but here you go from another fan of the TK. Mine was heavily used when I got it and required a good bit of restoration to become reliable again. The fact it has about 27,000 hours, and runs as well as it does now, has sold me on it. I would buy another TK before I'd go with anything else. Looks like others with rigmasters and other less pricey apus have had better experience by being religious with maintenance and repairs. My TK had definitely not gotten much love in it's life and still a good unit LOL. Nearly everything I've had to do has been a result of neglect, with a few minor things just due to age.

I bought my truck in Feb '13 and it had one on it, apparently installed when the truck was new. a/c wasn't working, but it ran ok. The truck had been run up north before I got it, and the apu seemed to take to the salt the hardest. I had to go thru it and change out the a/c fittings/hoses that are outside in the elements. Also had to replace the expansion valve under the bunk. As with any proper a/c repair, I also installed a new dryer while I had the system open. A few months later the muffler fell off (rust). After a year, it developed a no-start problem. That turned out to be a ground cable terminal crimped with a hammer, with nothing to protect from corrosion. So the installer's fault, not TK. I fixed that and cleaned up all the rest of the wiring underneath.

Upon purchase, for the Espar heater, the only thing I had to do was replace the intake and exhaust tubes under the cab. They were in bad shape and I didn't want to die from CO poisoning. It smoked on start, but otherwise ran ok. First time it got cold, it got real cold. Of course that's when I woke up from the head freeze to no heat and -5º outside. That was just lack of maintenance on the Espar heater. Who knew? LOL. Turns out the smoke on startup is a warning sign for that. Replaced the glow pin screen and cleaned out the air passage in the cavity it fits in. Worked great after that. A few months later, it's little electric fuel pump failed. It too was a ball of rust. Surprisingly expensive for original parts, but it sure looked a lot like the $15 one sold at auto parts stores. It was cold, I was going somewhere colder, and did not have time to shop around. So I bought the gold plated one at TK for about $200 and put it on at the truck stop. Next time I opened it up, I installed a new glow pin just to be safe. So far so good.

I service it every 1,000 hrs. Works out to about once a year. Engine service is two fuel filters, oil and air filter, and a gallon of Delvac. There is a dust filter in the evap box under the bunk too. I take the Espar out of the truck and disassemble and clean it on my pickup tailgate. From TK, the filter service kit is around $150 and the glow pin screen and a few gaskets are about $30, once a year. There are two issues remaining I will attend to one of these days.

On the first service I observed a crack in the alternator case. It has not gotten any worse in 2.5 yrs and still works. Maybe it got dropped, or possibly overtightened. Doesn't seem to be related to vibration or assembly. I'll probably do one of the Delco conversions I've seen here and there when it finally fails.

The bottom case half is just about to dissolve into rust. The bottom service cover almost fell off last year and I fixed it, probably for it's last time. One of these days maybe I'll call one of these used apu dealers on a trip thru Springfield MO and see if they have a bottom cover in the spare parts pile. Or maybe just make one. It hasn't fallen off yet and isn't loose, so no big hurry LOL.