Are APU's worth the money?

Its every 1000 hours not 100. I've got an APU it takes awhile to get to 1000 hours and I use mine religiously.

 

I noticed companies have quit using them i have a friend working for a company thats has them on there trucks there gonna keep using them till the break then there pulling them off the trucks. they say drivers arent maintaining them and there tired of the expense. so there going back to #####ing at drivers for their idle time and expect them to sleep in a truck thats 120 degrees and if they idle too much they just fire them.

 

Yes 1000hrs is the norm. It may be 100 hours for the _first_ oil change on a new unit.

 

Here is from the Tri Pac Evolution manual: Page 41
https://www.na.thermoking.com/conte...pu/Operators/TriPac EVOLUTION 55711-19-OP.pdf

Engine Oil Change Intervals (Change oil and filters hot)
2,000 Hour Interval - Oil change interval is every 2,000 hours of operation only when using a Thermo King brand oil filter and CJ-4 or better oil. Units with optional DPF require CJ-4 or better oil.

500 Hour Interval - Oil change interval is every 500 hours of operation when using any other brand oil filter and CI-4 or better oil. Units with optional DPF require CJ-4 or better oil.

 

Savings Calculator

 

I used the calculator and on the road for 300 days a year. MPG 7. cost per gallon $3 a gallon. idle time 10 hours a day. purchase price of $9,000 and in 8.8 months it pays for itself

 

Absolutely I have 2 apu’s now both on 3rd truck both are carriers and both around 13 to 14 k hours I do a mini refurb when changing from truck to truck. That costs about 2500,00 to swap them. They both get 500 hour oil change intervals and have since new. Gallon of oil and 13 dollars in filters is cheap. I don’t understand the mentality of they are so hard to maintain and of expensive. They pay for themselves in less than a year. Not to mention wear and tear on main engine and emissions wear and savings on that system.

 

What about camping generators? Considering many models cost under 1k, could they be a worthwhile alternative to APUs?

 

EPU's are have been an alternative for a few years and I love them. They run the A/C from a bank of batteries which are charged while driving. They are a very quiet, pollution free option. The current truck I drive has a very cool option, if the bank of batteries get down to 20% capacity, the main engine will fire up for about an hour and recharge them back to 80%. This keeps the 1500 watt inverter, fridge and A/C going for an extended time, say if you had to do a 34 hour break deep down in Arizona in July for example.