Electric APUs?

Not today!!! In the winter!!! But it is calling for snow in wyoming across 80 tomorrow night through friday!

 

Im also getting ready to get a floor unit for this computer room, but will hold off on it now that my building has spent 3000 dollars replacing the entire 30 year old heat/air system in my place. I simply route the bulk of it into this computer room from the main room. Radiators cool my computer's CPU well enough. The rest of it is disposed of by a dozen or so fans Which dumps air that needs to be disposed of as waste heat.

I don't see the advantage of a Electric APU. It's essentially a very large battery, or a set of controlled batteries capable of providing quiet power overnight without killing the main batteries preserved for the main engine start come morning. Copper theft comes to mind downtown. They managed to hit the Union Pacific DD40x class engine which features several hundred pounds of copper wound traction motors on her 8 axles a few years ago. The Jenks shop decided there is no point in installing new motors unless another DD40x in corporate service should go down hard. These engines are used for ultra high speed (Relatively speaking, when you apply 8000 horse power against a string of 400 tons Luxury Plush Board of Superintendents type train on the UP System) mountains and grades are meaningless.

 

Checked this morning it is a maxxpower APU that is factory installed on the prostars works pretty well along with an auto start to charge batteries every 6 to 12 hours depending on use

 

I had one for 2 years in 2 different trucks and now complaints.

 

Google this: dual hose portable air conditioner

I would think with a flat top you would do fine with a 8k unit and a 14 would likely be to much. They run from about $250-500 some with free Shipping or local pick up option (Lowe's, Home D)

With a flat top another option although more expensive and a much more permanent type install you could always go with a RV rooftop unit. $800-1200

I have found 2 units designed for under the bunk mounting that are powered by 110 volt AC (generator or shore power) but those are in the $2,000-2,200 range. Although expensive, they offer no hole in the roof and no loss of human usable floorspace but you do loose most of your under bunk storage.

Lastly, a few years ago when I had my dually I found a unit that mounted 100% outside and had 2 hoses (4" diameter) that worked like the 2 hose unit above but instead of moving air to cool the unit it moved the cabin air in and out. It also did heat. It was a small cube, about 20-24" not exactly but almost square.

It was actually pretty cool what happened. I found a new company that had intended to make build it as part of an option to a traditional APU for those of us who wanted conditioned air but didn't want to spend $15,000 to get it. You provide the generator, they supply the A/C heater.

I called the main office to get technical information on the unit. Seems I was the first trucker to call and ask as many in-depth questions as I did.

I ended up talking directly to 1 of the owner/partners. Since the thing was brand new to the market they were hungry for trucker specific information they paid my expenses to come to their office to meet with their engineering and design people.

We talked for several hours about what was needed, options to fill that need and so forth. They provided me a unit at no charge to test. It was really cool to be involved like that. To bad more companies don't take that kind of interest when designing stuff for a specific market. Anyway, I'm drifting off the topic here so...

I took out the center glass of the back window, made an aluminum plate (with holes for the 2 ducts) to fit the opening and secured the unit (and generator) in the bed of the truck. It worked fantastic for about a month. I went through 3 brand new units (under warranty) in 4 months. They were just no where close to tough enough to survive bouncing down the road in a pickup truck (dually). On a semi it might have lasted 2 weeks. Great concept but not so great execution in the ruggedness of the design and build at the factory.

The company built (In China) and imported 2 or 3 containers full of these things. I don't think they are still being made. To bad really because had it worked it would have sat on your catwalk, 2 duct holes (with a nice interior trim ring to dress it up) in the back wall of the sleeper and presto, instant air. They were to retail for about $300-500.

 

I was going to bury you in questions. But you answered many.

First off, would these air conditioning (Or heat generators or both depending on cycle of season..) units withstand Marine Ocean going or riverine applications on say 40 foot? Trucking is on land however there is some situations it's salt water on the coasts.

Second, where on the tractor would your unit go? I find it credible that the Tractor trailer has a potential to defeat a installed unit through shaking and stresses imposed upon it.

Third, over and over again I have devoured with some interest industry trade articles in trucking itself where theoratically someone has made availible two connections to the back of the sleeper cab at a suitable location that provides a form of safety and physical seperation of human activity and the incoming/outgoing heat-cold and maybe even 120 volt house power generated by a Reefer Unit on the trailer.

Forth, I must return to the concept in which Stirling Engines run on. If you had a cap at one end that physically touched a hot heat source you were able to convert by using certain gasses in a sealed vessal inside one part of the engine to expand due to the heat contact with a good sized thermal source to create a mechanical power source to the rest of the engine which then produces a variety of output power limited by our own imaginations and technology of the time.

Fifth, I don't understand why to this day there has not been a relatively simple induction engine made miniture and installed in a robust can to attach to a axle housing and via a planetary reduction system able to transmit power to the axle group fed off very high exhaust heat source during a big pull. Any time you can have a boost power applied to the drive axle group of the tractor (And possibly even the steers for the first time..) as well as the trailer tandem or spread axle group.

Such a boost power applied to the tires, wheels and axle where available would take away a certain amount of fuel burn per hour or even per mile on a small downgrade such as say Limon CO eastbound almost all the way to Albeline on 70. Those of you who have been out that way understands that gravity combined with strong easterly winds that wont quit provides a oppertunity here. I have seen my 2001 century with the 500 plus detriot heavily loaded go from 6.5 miles to gallon in real time past Limon and hit 12 something by the time Kansas showed up. Then reached towards what I consider a form of insanity and fantasy best not shared with anyone around 15 miles to gallon for a few minutes a time when the winds reached a point greater than our forward progress at 63 mph sustained breeze. That was in drive, with the computer's cruise on and jacobs on stage 3 which it was all the time. The RPM values presented by such a situation hae to be witnessed to be believed. Otherwise most of you will laugh, hoot and throw things at me for such a tall tale.

A 30 to 50 miles per gallon tractor trailer would most certianly cause profits in the excess of billions if not create the first trillion dollar annual revenue fleets in our life time. Unfortunately pricing will never fall. Shippers will still pay to landbridge the containers to europe in a few days via rail or team truck. It's had two months to cross the pacific. A few more days in between ocean journeys wont hurt none.

I managed to drift a little bit off topic, but when you get into power sources for a variety of oppertunities I see many goodly things in it. I still wont have Ottos take the human out of the cab. We still need that human. Until we somehow remove all humans from the interstate.

 

I got a duel hose system in my truck.. I never hooked up the other hose.. because the outside air stinks lol

 

Yeh I'm not sure id want my ac pumping in outside air from a peelot in the middle of the summer....

 

I have an electric APU. Its freightliners system. Works great for 10 hr breaks. Restarts generally require i use the the idle management system in conjunction with the APU.