Best new APU for the money?

What's wrong with using the generator and a battery charger?

 

And as he says a float charger or tender will keep the batteries topped off when generator is running and shut itself of when fully charged.

 

I’ve had great luck with the TK products. My last one, on the truck I traded, was an old one and had a lot of hours but still performed great. I have a new truck with an Evolution and, other than a recall on a fuse, has been trouble free with 3100 hours on it now.
Carrier recently updated their ComfortPro and if it had been out when I got my new truck I might have got theirs. What I like about the Carrier is it’s full electric HVAC and if you get the stand alone option, you can have an electric block heater on the truck for it to power, if you cook in the truck, you can plug in directly to the Carrier 6000kw generator and not tax the batteries. So, the APU, itself, really does do everything.
The TK is fully belt driven and you have to use diesel fired heater products for heating but you can plumb it into the truck coolant and it will keep it at 60 degrees. And for accessories, like cooking, you need an inverter which taxes the batteries.
The TK has worked great for me but Inreally like the updated ComfortPro. The new Carrier also matches the TK in BTU output, it didn’t before.

 

The 2 downsides of a Carrier from drivers I spoke to was, in the coldest part of winter when you had to run the heat on high (in a century class, uninsulated truck) it took all it's power for the heat. So if you were gonna cook a meal, you had to turn down the heat so you had power for the appliances. The other was the fact that you only had power when the unit was running. If you were driving, it had to be off so tossing some chops or a roast in a crockpot meant you had to have a seperate inverter big enough for a normal size crockpot. Although their Carrier units had 120 plugs wired in behind the tv and microwave areas which was nice...no heavy duty extension cords.

 

The old ones had a 4000 watt generator, the new one has been out almost a year and has a 6000 watt generator. The BTU heating and cooling is also up a couple thousand. If they have one that’s over a year old, it’s has a lot less power than the new ones.

 

I have had absolutely no problems with the battery charger I've linked. When I'm at home and park the truck for a week in freezing conditions, it keeps it topped off. When I'm over the road and stop for the night, I can move the loads from the inverter to the generator, run the bunk heater off the truck batteries, hook up the charger, and wake up in the morning to 12.6-13.1 volts.

The generator might not be able to handle all of your electric needs simultaneously. But that just means you turn off the climate control while cooking and manage your energy use. The alternative would be to get a slightly larger unit. But that means more weight and space it takes up.

Another cool thing about the setup is that you can take it off the truck and use it elsewhere if you wanted.

 

Here is what I use. Remote start is convenient. It's kind of bulky to lift, but the handle that folds out makes it easy to roll. Changing the oil kind of sucks. You have to tilt the generator and drain it from the fill port.
https://www.amazon.com/Champion-310...&qid=1549164727&sr=8-1&keywords=champion+3100

I've also got a friend who powers his RV with one of these. He seemed to like it, but it was still brand new. I'll ask him tomorrow if there's anything he doesn't like about it. He was borrowing mine until he got this one. Oil changes on this one seem simpler, with a bolt at the bottom to drain it.
3500 Watt Super Quiet Inverter Generator

 

I'm in the market for an apu too, I was thinking about getting a carrier comfortpro but I just found out that when u want to use heat, the comfortpro stays running to provide heat, but on the tripac if u want to use heat, the tripac will use the espar bunk heater instead of running the apu.

The tripac bunk heater will use way less fuel compared to the comfortpro running the apu. Again I'm still researching but this finding alone leans me towards tripac

 

• I have a Xantrax inverter with 55amp 120v shore power/ charger.

 

You're over-analyzing the purchase. There are two actual reasons for buying/installing an apu:

1. Driver comfort.
2. Reduced idle hours on the main engine, aka reduced emissions system problems and extended time to overhaul.

All the financial calculations are just advertising fluff. If you want to consider a good investment, look at real estate not apus.

I buy used Tripacs then maintain and repair myself mostly. Most TK dealers will have 5-7k hour units for around $5-6,000 installed.

I can't speak to other solutions, just this that works for me. You'll spend around $200/yr for one PM and a belt replacement. $100 more if you have the dealer do it.

About every other year you should clean up the electrical connections. Truck battery maintenance time is also a good time to do the apu as well. Or just wait till it quits then do it. Problem is, that will happen when you're starting a 34 somewhere it's 110º outside. Or -20º.

There are a few ways to avoid buying gold plated TK service parts. You can find posts right here. Probably the most common is swapping in a $75 105A Chevy alternator versus the $200 40A TK original.

New ones will break down too. The warranty is only as good as the dealer network that services that brand, and how long you have to wait for it when needed. TK has an excellent dealer network, and I have a good working relationship with my local dealer.

Honestly, if I had to rely on a dealer for everything apu related, I don't know if I'd even have one. I'm reminded of this every time I spend a few hours fixing my own stuff right now versus losing a day or three at a dealer.

I see someone in the Dynasys fan club has chimed in. They make a nice unit, a little less expensive than the big two TK and Carrier. I almost bought one, then decided not to. I chose the TK because of the low run hours compared to generator models like Dynasys and Carrier. I also like having the coolant plumbed into the truck for not so frigid starts in sub freezing weather.

Other people like the generator style setups, as well as those with an isolated cooling system. My advice is take a look at your use case and then buy the one that fits your operation best.