Climate Control for a Semi

The biggest thing I have noticed is that the cab's need to be insulated a lot better and sealed up better. I have an 07 model, yet going down the road, I can feel air coming in around the door handle. They have got the HVAC working great, just stop the heat or cold from leaking in.

 

Are you talking about setting the temperature you desire in degrees, then letting the system keep it at that temp? (Some of the) Volvos have this.

 

This can actually be done with the same digital thermostat you would use at home which uses a 12/24 volt transformer to turn on your home heat/ac off and on. IE perfect fro a 12 volt system in a truck. You would need to splice into the fan switch to turn the fan off and on and your A/C compressor clutch just like at home. If you have a stand alone APU with an electric start it would need to be wired through a relay to start the unit.

 

Depending on what type of "fridge" you are using it won't kill the batteries. A normal frige (factory or aftermarket installed) can run for days. My Pete has a fridge and it stays on all the time unless I'm out of the truck for 2 or more days. If you have the igloo "fridge" (basically a heat exchanger) they can run for about a day and a half to two days. You should have three or four batteries in your truck and that is a lot of power until you start drawing hotel loads. From a owner stand point, if a driver came to me with what you said, I would put a normal fridge in and ask you to curb your idleing as much as possible.

 

Yes I hate having to constantly adjust the temp in the truck. Heat cold heat cold I can never get it at one temp I can deal with all the time.

Someone needs to come out with something.

 

yep, even with fan switch "OFF" it still pulls outside air in, i guess for protection from carbon monoxide?

 

Boy is this right up my alley! If I had to list the worst problems with a W900, you have just named #1,
(the lack of a turning radius #2)

I put an adjustable thermostat on the AC, which helps some, but in this kind of Lousy-ana weather, (cold at night and early mornings, then going to 70+ degrees F by mid day,) you are constantly adjusting. Add to the aggravation, my cable for the temp control must be bent, feels funny when you turn it, and always either not enough or way too much.

Notarps4me,
sounds like you are sleeping with my wife; LOL!
If someone would come across an aftermarket kit for the Climate Control, PLEASE let us know!,
Also would be interested to learn how one works in a big rig.

 

If you remove the padding from your door panel, and notice that clear plastic sheet that is usually held to the inner panel with dum-dum. Stopping the air flow is the reason for that clear plastic. Most people usually leave that off when re-assembling, which causes the air flow from the door drains.

I learned this years ago, when replacing a window regulator on an older truck I owned. The dum-dum had lost it's sticky, so I just tossed the clear panel. An older, much wiser fellow informed me of the reason for it, and I commented that there couldn't be THAT much air getting in from the door. (The next day I went "dumpster diving" for a peice of clear plastic.)

 

Sounds great for the AC part, but wouldn't you also need something to regulate the amount of heat coming into the cab from the heater core box?
I previously posted (griped) about a cable being bent on the backside of the heater/AC control panel, and I THINK that is the purpose of the cable and knob, which goes from the blue to red for hot to cold.

I guess if I had an electric control, instead of that cable, the home thermostat would work great.