Thermo King APU Condenser Mount

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by OhNoTerry, Mar 1, 2022.

  1. OhNoTerry

    OhNoTerry Medium Load Member

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    I’m having a bit of a hassle with my local Thermo King dealer in terms of having my APU painted but more importantly having the condenser mounted to the APU itself vs the back of the sleeper. I’ll attach a photo of what I’m referring to with this post. Have any of you guys experienced problems or could see problems with it being mounted this way?
     

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  3. Ffx95

    Ffx95 Road Train Member

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    I can see it getting covered in road salt during the winter times. That being so close to the engine it’ll have to deal with that heat.
     
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  4. OhNoTerry

    OhNoTerry Medium Load Member

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    That’s what I’m sort of worried about. The owner of this rig is sitting at 290-300 WB so there’s quite a bit of room from his front drives and his APU. Mine will be a 280 with quarter fenders. He runs western 11 and has said he hasn’t had any issues with this mounted the way he has it. I’m at a loss. I really don’t want to drill the back of my sleeper.
     
  5. 062

    062 Road Train Member

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    What’s Thermo kings problem with mounting it there?
    I can see the heat off the case decreasing cooling capacity. If you run where summer temps are above 100+ it probably will be hard to cool down.
    What about a bracket off the frame to mimic the sleeper location?
    @reeferwrencher ?
     
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  6. Long FLD

    Long FLD Road Train Member

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    Lots of the trucks at the company I run for have them mounted like that.
     
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  7. RedForeman

    RedForeman Momentum Conservationist

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    Could you mount it inside the frame, or under the catwalk? Extra style points if you use steel refrigerant lines.

    By the way, a Tripac case and hardware will turn into a rusty mess in about 5 years anyway. I wouldn't stress over some salty days. You'll be replacing it a piece at a time anyway.
     
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  8. krupa530

    krupa530 Light Load Member

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    There’s plenty that mount them like that. Guy at our place has half fenders to keep most of the ####e of them. He said Thermoking wouldn’t warranty the condenser mounted there though.
     
  9. Arctic_fox

    Arctic_fox Experienced mx13 execrator

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    In fairness i can see why. While unlikely anything will happen, it IS still exposed to spray and flying rocks. Not inconcivable that any number of nasty things can happen to it. Then again i shot a hole in mine with a thrown rock and its mounted to the back of the sleeper....so eh
     
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  10. reeferwrencher

    reeferwrencher Medium Load Member

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    TK has their standard way of doing an install as per Corp. They will be leery of doing it differently because of concerns corp wont cover warranty repairs and trust me if TK corp can get out of paying for anything they will.
     
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  11. RedForeman

    RedForeman Momentum Conservationist

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    Most the time warranty costs you more in downtime and shoddy repairs than it's worth. Those condensers aren't expensive. That plastic condenser fan on the other hand is gold plated ($300 iirc). I'd be more careful to protect that from rocks than the condenser to be honest.
     
  12. 062

    062 Road Train Member

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    Like most everything,there’s a work around. A couple of people have posted using fans from advance etc. costing $70-100. Not all the mounting holes line up, so a little engineering involved. The original spal fan can be found online for about $100 cheaper than the dealer.
     
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