Generator for the tractor

For those of us that run a headache rack, no holes in the rear wall.
For those of us with cabinets on the rear wall of the sleeper, no hole in the rear wall.
For those of us that don't want to lose any room under the bunk, the split system wont work will it?
It took me a LOT of thinking, before cutting that hole in the roof of a brand new Western Star. The reason why I did, is because it is flat out the bet a/c you will ever get. When it is 120 degree's outside, see how that split system mounted to the rear wall, with 12k btu of ac, keeps you "cool". It will have a hard time unfortunately.
Can not deny the physics of hot air rises, cold air falls. Logic then tells us that the best place for an air conditioner is at the top, to allow it to draw in the the warm air, and let the cold air fall.


Martin

 

By Job, I think you've got it! Way to go, Martin! At least someone has thought this thru.

 

Well that ain't gonna work for those of us that have condos.

 

Just mount it on the inside

 

I have seen them on condo's. The ones I have seen, made a plate to level up the ac unit.
What works on my rig, may not work for someone else, and vice versa.
Blanket statements are obviously not accurate though are they? So saying something is "best of both worlds" may fit one person, but not the next.
Efficiency wise, the rooftop ac is the most efficient as the cool air drops naturally.
Styling wise etc, although I see more rooftop ac units every week, it isnt for everyone.

Martin

 

Has anyone thought about the portable light towers?. I found one years ago that had fallen off a trl. It has a 3cyl kubota motor and a 4000 watt generator. Just pulled motor etc from damaged housing runs great. Use it for power outages at the house. Has 17,000 hrs on it now and still going strong, could be made to fit on a trk. I have a tri pak apu on my trk, and it has 26,000 hrs on it 3 trk i've put it on have very few issues with it. Just normal maintenance, a couple alternators and some a/c parts but nothing major. I thnk the biggest problem people have with the apu's is they don't do the routine maintenance on them they kind of forget about them

 

one of the split systems can be mounted withpout cutting a hole in the rear wall, the outside unit can be mounted at height of headache rack or a little above it. ( just like my condenser and fan for my apu, then the tubing to the inside unit can be ran thru small holes in fllo in a sidebox and then up the sidewall in the sleeper to the inside unit. these units are very effiecient also, my son installed them in small offices at his concrete plant, by the scales and loading bays. out in the open with no shade these things cool much better than regular window a/c units he replaced.

 

The split systems I looked at an saw, wouldn't work well for me. I have cabinets on the rear wall of the sleeper and they still took up room under the bunk.
If they do work as well as a rooftop unit though, or a rooftop wont work for other reasons, sounds like a viable alternative.

Martin

 

I went through several generators, including one diesel generator. finally got a Honda EU3000 gas generator and it is really good.
It Is so quiet that once I covered it up and went down the road with it still running. It got overheated but is still ok.
It costs around $2000 new, but is worth it. I found mine on Craigs list for $1600 still new and unused.
I mounted a window air conditioner on the tractor which runs off the generator, and I also have a battery charger which keeps the
batteries up with the refrigerator running. the best 110 volt air conditioner is the roof mounted one that they use on motorhomes.

 

You have me highly interested in the Honda generator setup. I've read all of the posts but still have a few questions that I would greatly appreciate if you could answer them.

1) Do you run the power cord from the generator to . . . where? Fish it through to the cab and a power strip? Run under cab to the shore power plug?

2) Have you crafted the door yet? My concern is road dust getting into the unit over time wreaking havoc with the plugs.