Handling the Cold...HOW DO YOU DO IT?

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You DON'T solve the problem of inverters on a company truck. Powerful inverters require hard wiring to the batteries by a competent electrician. Many a truck has burned to the ground from badly installed inverters. That's why you will be terminated immediately if they catch you installing an inverter in the truck.

Until you get your own truck or work for a company that has installed inverters you should avoid using anything that requires a big draw on the electrical system. Ditch the electric blanket and get comforters.

 

Those 12V mattress heaters are the way to go. Eliminates the need to insulate under the mattress, and they draw little current. I could comfortably sleep with truck off in temps down to the point where you had to worry about starting in the morning, say 15° or so. This was in pre-APU days, mechanical motors. They didn't start as easily in the cold as the electronic motors.

 

With any company that is using inverters most are part of an inverter/APU/bunk heater setup, and the problems are solved already. Most APUs have a large enough alternator in them to both keep the battery's charged, provide ample power to the inverter (through the battery of course) as well as run the sleeper AC system. I am sold on APUs to the point I told my last company while waiting to be assigned a truck that if it was not APU equipped I was going home. These statements about fires is VERY true. Remember there are 2 figures you MUST take into account when using an inverter. The total wattage and the current. For every 500 watts you pull off an inverter you are pulling a bit over 41 amps at that battery! That is 500 divided by 12. Because according to Ohms law wattage divided by voltage = amps. You use 3000 watts on that inverter and you are pulling 250 amps AT THAT BATTERY! You use too small a wire going from that battery back to the inverter pulling that much current AND YOU WILL FINALLY BURN IT INTO and if that weak spot is close to combustible material your going to have a fire. Don't believe my figures? OK click on this link and do it yourself. Remember to use 12 volts not 120.

 

invest in some warm clothing also

 

Cold? My driver trainer wears shorts all the time it was 5 out the coldest place we traveled. Everyone looks at him.like he's nuts.

 

You need to shop smarter....

Howes @ Walmart is $9

Lucas Anti-Gel @ Walmart is $11.99

I bought a few jugs of each today...saved a bunch.

 

I run a 2010 Cascadia with an after treatment system that absolutely hates to idle. At 0 or below I keep it running, anything above that and I shut it off.

I have a really thick mattress with a pillow top, flannel sheets, a thin fleece blanket, and a thick comforter. Last week I went to sleep and woke up with the temperature at -5, INSIDE my cab, snug as a bug in a rug.

If your batteries are good, you run a quality synthetic blend motor oil, and treat your fuel properly, there is no reason your truck shouldn't start right up even at temperatures down to -15 or -20 farenheit.

I personally like the cold and would rather be cold than hot any day. On really frigid days the worst part is climbing out of the bunk to fire the truck up, but it never gives me a problem, and in a half an hour or so my cab is nice and warm and old Betsy is ready to roll.

I'm only 50 years old, but I still remember winter trips to the outhouse as a kid when I would visit my grandparents home in the country, waking up in a cold truck ain't nothin' but a chicken wing, gets the blood flowing.

Jesus loves you... and ELD's suck.

 

I think your correct about Ohm's Law, but I think your mistaken about the use of the Inverter. An invertors intended use is to take 12 volts DC and convert it to 110 Ac.
That being said, coffee maker, Microwave oven, TV, electric blanket, etc etc mostlly run off 110 AC. You can find them that run off 12v but, their usually quite a bit more expensive then the their AC counterparts.
Anyway, say you have a Microwave that pulls 9 amps, you would take 9 times 110 to get your total wattage. So in this case you would need a minimum of a 1000 watt invertor to handle the power load. Amps X volts equals watts. An invertors intended use is to convert 12 DC to 110 AC.

 

No. Your forgetting at the battery it is only 12 volts. Remember there is 2 sides. Total wattage stays the same on both. Trust me on this. There are hundreds of fires a year because inverters over draw the wires capacity.

 

Show your work. I've been out here for 12 years and only seen one truck fire and that was from a gas stove in a truck