THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE - DFO gets a truck and hops on Schneider's IC Choice Program

Well I probably won't be looking at a glider if I can find an older used truck. As nice as a new glider would be if I can find a good used truck for 1/5 of the price I think i would rather go that route.

91H20B8 ready to armchair engineer a redneck APU? I have some ideas.

I'm not going to spend 8-10 grand on an APU to put on an older truck. The TriPac is generally considered to be the best of the best when it comes to reliability, as well as having the ability to have it serviced at any Thermo King dealer if something goes wrong. The downside with the TriPac is that it does not produce 120v electricity, requiring an inverter. While this isn't a big deal, I don't like the fact that I can't, say, plug in my block heater. Trying to run a block heater through an inverter would just not work, no way the APUs alternator (even the 120 amp version) would keep up with it. While the APU does circulate coolant through the engine block, the little diesel really doesn't produce much heat to aid in heating the block of the big engine. It helps, for sure, but I don't feel like it works as well as a block heater does.

Carrier makes an APU that does produce AC electricity as well as has an alternator to produce DC voltage to charge the batteries. While not as popular as the Tripac, I would venture to guess that Carrier makes a quality product, they've been around for a long time. But again, just not looking to spend that kind of money.

Other cheaper APUs exist to accomplish what I want to accomplish, but the off-brand ones tend to be noisy, can only be worked on in a few select places, may be unreliable, etc.

So what do I want in the ideal APU:

1. 120v electricty powerful enough to run a microwave
2. Charging of the tractor batteries
3. Seamless shorepower capability (ability to plug into 120v wall socket with an extension cord and provide power/charging capabilities)
4. Heating/Cooling
5. Heat main tractor engine

So, here is my idea.

For power we start with a Yamaha EF2400iSHC generator. This generator is similar to the more popular Honda inverter generators but has a feature set that makes me prefer this one over the Hondas. The biggest thing is that this generator is capable of starting a 13,500BTU AC unit, the type that are commonly seen on RVs. The smallest Honda inverter generator that can run an AC unit like this is the EU3000i which is a bigger unit and a little overkill for my needs. The generator is pretty small and compact and could easily be mounted in a sidebox or in a box on the catwalk. The generator would provide power directly to the AC unit in the summer, and directly to the block heater in the winter. The Yamaha generator also has a 3 year warranty for both residential/commercial use, whereas the Honda was only 2 years for commercial use.

These generators are not at all like the generators you might purchase at Home Depot, etc., that sound like a jackhammer running next to the truck all night. They are incredibly quiet, its possible to have a normal level conversation right next to them. They are quieter than the APU that I have on my Cascadia right now, too.

I found a picture that gives a good idea of the size of this unit.



Next I want a way to charge the batteries of the tractor as well as provide 120v power without needing to start the generator.

For that a Xantrex Prosine 2.0 inverter/charger accomplishes EXACTLY what I want. It has a 2000w continuous/4500w surge sine wave inverter for AC uses. It also has a 100 amp charger that would be used to charge the truck batteries, or if I preferred, could be used to charge a separate bank of batteries besides the starting batteries, like you see on a boat. It will automatically balance the charge rate and inverter load to prevent from overloading the AC source (such as the generator), and can even be used with very small generators (<1000w). I was looking in the manual and they said they tested it with as small as 700w generators without issue. When provided with AC power it will simply pass the AC power through without drawing from the batteries. If I had a large enough battery bank it would actually be possible to run the AC unit through this inverter as well, though I doubt I would be able to fit enough batteries on the truck to power a 13,500 BTU AC unit for 10 hours LOL.





So now that we've got power sorted I still need heat and AC. I'm planning on purchasing a mid roof tractor (or at least something with a FLAT roof like KW's studio sleeper) so that if I ever decided to pull tanks or flatbeds it would not be an issue. This also allows me to install an RV AC unit right on top. Honestly, a unit like this is probably overkill for the cab of a tractor and the sleeper, but this seems like the best way to go about it. I've seen a fair number of tractors with these units installed on them so I can't be the only one thinking this is a good idea. This unit from Dometic provides 13,500 BTU heating/cooling and can run off the generator I want to use. Since it provides electrical heat, whenever I was plugged into shore power (or wanted to run the generator) I could use this unit exclusively for heat. However, I would still install an Espar diesel-fired heater because I really like them. I can't find a good place to buy these from other than eBay, prices seem to be in the $850-1000 range depending on the unit.

The cool thing about a setup like this is that (especially since I drive at night and sleep during the day) solar power would definitely be an option for charging batteries during the day. During my break when I am asleep during the winter I would just use the Espar heater to heat the cab. Since the heater draws so little power, I would have no reason to run the generator. I could easily install a solar panel on the roof of the tractor as well that would keep everything topped off.

So, now it comes down to cost.

Generator - $1219
Inverter/Charger - $1187
HVAC Unit - $437
Espar Heater - $900

Total Cost - $3,743

Now of course there will be some additional costs, I'd have to build a box to house the generator in, run some wiring, install the AC unit on top of the sleeper, etc. I'd also need to install a small external gasoline tank that I could fill up maybe once ever week or two for the generator. All that work I could do myself but materials aren't free.

Say by the time its all said and done I spend $4500, I still come out WAY ahead and have a setup made of very high quality components that does exactly what I want it to do with no compromises.

In short, basically turn the truck sleeper into a camper, LOL.

 

Oh come on moosc edited his post I liked the original one better LOL



Not quite moosc but I'm getting there... LMAO

This is a actually a really cool video if you got time to watch it. Those Russians have some crazy environments to deal with.

http://www.deweyelectronics.com/assets/pdfs/spec-sheets/MEP-531A-120V-AC-Specification-Sheet.pdf like that one?

Looked a little but don't see many around. Good idea to check some yards and look for a good used AC unit.

And 52D... [h=1]Power Generation Equipment Repairer?[/h]