USED APU: Worth The Investment??

I have a used Thermo King Tri Pac here on the shop floor. I'll install it on a truck in the spring. For now I think Espar or Webasto heaters are the ticket for the winter.

 

Still going to go with the Honda eu3000 and a roof heat/ac unit, just think that in the long run with all under warranty, I will come out better than a used apu. The only thing to change is the box for it as it opens from the top and I'm going to put it on the frame rails so it won't open, I will go with a diamond plate side box from tractor supply and modify it some

 

If it were me driving I'd do what you're doing. But getting a driver to haul gas to the generator is not gonna happen. What I'll do is when the A/C part of the Tri Pac messes up I'll put a roof top unit on and use the APU for a genset.

 

Well if it actually get the hours it says, I thing I will fill the tank before I go out each week and fill a 5 gallon can the hopefully I will only have to fill it once through the week, but that's all speculation until I get the thing

 

The truck I drive has a Tri-pac with 150hrs on a 2010 truck. Mine might be a lemon cause its on the 3rd alternator and 2nd ac pump and just last week my ac line clogged, shop fixed that and dicovered some switch/valve has to do with the ac is bad and needs replaced. I love it when it works but its the only truck in the fleet with one and the boss said never again since we dont go south much it has so far bin a waste of money. He bought the truck used as is for a Cat engine.

 

I had to fill the tank nearly every day because 90% of the time the generator used too much gas for the 4 gallon tank to make it through the second night. I carried 2 5 gallon gas cans in my headache rack. If I were to do it again I'd design and mount a 15 to 20 gallon gas tank on the frame or in the headache rack. That way I could buy gas once every week or so.

 

Any one herd of or have an opinion on the generator as an alternative to the Honda

http://www.generatoremporium.com/kipor-IG3000.html

its a diesel, specs say a bit louder than the Honda and not so long run time

 

Looked at the specs and it looks like a winner to me. From what I've heard and read Kipor stuff ain't junk. If you can figure a way to plumb the fuel line into the truck tank you have a real inexpensive way to get all the benefits of an APU. I might even sell my used Tri Pac and go with this setup.

 

turms out its gas not deisel. But at $1195 it's half the price of the Honda

 

Personally, I don't think it's worth it- new or used.
Too much weight for one, maintenance and breakdowns, noise, vibration and #1 is initial price are some of the drawbacks for me.

My solution for over a year has been a 2000 watt Honda suitcase generator and a 8000btu portable air conditioner. It will run for 8 hours on a single gallon of gasoline. Most recently paid $3.879 for 2.25 gallons of gas so that works out to about $0.48 cents per hour which is on par with what an APU costs per hour assuming .1 gallon per hour burn rate as they advertise. But my initial cost for my two devices was $1300 bucks compared to an APU at $8500-$10000+ bucks, not to mention lost loads due to weight concerns.