APU vs idling in very cold weather?

Point, if you add windchill it was -65 (#### you too northern WI) my big problem is my apu has a standalone coolant tank so it doesnt reheat the block. As for power service ive always been leery of that stuff had an old ford that would backfire anytime i added it and its spooked me to this day. Usually i prefer hot shots but i ran out.

 

Yeah that is no good if stand alone. Would not chance it if it was in the 20s for something like that.

 

I shut my DD15 down and it has started at -30 below with apu running. I don’t ever long term idle my engines.

 

It is 17°, so I tell my kids "it's not cold!" "Dad, what is your idea of cold?" "When I'm afraid the truck won't start!"

Not cold

https://youtube.com/shorts/EhHkjL_PyHE?feature=share

 

Good thing my employer uses either Detroit or Cummins engines then. I’m shutdown right now in South St. Paul,MN and the current temperature is 0 degrees (without the wind chill). APU is working just fine with antigel mixed in with the fuel.

 

A couple of questions guys:

1- How much fuel does a truck burn while idling? The Volvo I'm driving has opti-idle. So, I just set RPMs at 700-800 and I'm good to go.

2- If you use winterized fuel, do you still need antigel? I've been sleeping in about 24-degree weather WITHOUT idling and she starts like a champ every morning.

 

Varies but figure about a gallon per hour.
But idling really hard on after treatment and engine.
Winter blended fuel I have never used anti gel. Unless your coming north s fueled down south. It depends where you bought fuel and if it was actually treated. If in doubt treat. I stay north all the time so fuel stops I know are treated.

 

The stuff we use for antigel works quite well. 1 bottle treats up to 200 gallons. I usually use 1 bottle split between both fuel tanks on the tractor and 1/2 a bottle on the reefer fuel tank. Now if it drops down to like 0 degrees or lower then we’ll use 2 whole bottles between the tractor and reefers. The fuel at our company terminals use fuel with antigel mixed in already so that helps but if we’re fueling at a Pilot Flying J where they typically pedal the biodiesel then we put antigel in before fueling so it mixes properly. A bottle of the stuff will literally go a long way.

 

The ThermoKing APU I had heated the engine coolant and would run continuous. I never idled.
And, wind chill has no effect on machinery. It’s ambient temperature you go by.

 

This is true only up to a point. What gets you with windchill and vehicles is windchill will find every nook and cranny to push cold into the truck and pull heat out. If your heater is not quite powerful enough your going to start to freeze in your truck pretty quick also causes all kinds of window fogging. It also can pull a lot of warmth from the engine compartment and anything exposed to the wind a lot faster so if your fuel is not treated enough, has a lot of water or biodiesel, thin exposed fuel lines or your fuel potentially is contaminated, then windchill CAN lead to a gelup in some conditions where it would not on a sunny dead day. For example when my rig gelled it was faceing into the wind and was running at the time. I also had a lot of biodiesel in at the time granted which didnt help at all. The fuel itself didnt gel much. But i had solid ice in the filters that did freeze them caused the fuel to gel around said ice leading to a clog.