THERMO KING Tri-Pak APU

i use senthetic 15w / 40 the same as i have in the motor. just a quart of lucas. the interval for changes is 500 hours or 1000 if you use thermo filters.

 

i have had the same problem-i found the best way to fix my problem was 2 extend the small white wire by 1 or 2inches-the vibrations from rd cause that wire to brake-apu wont wrk w/out it

 

my apu kept shutting down givin the alt code-found out the cause was the small white going to altornator was broken-kept braking til i extended it by 2 inches.wrks like a charm-ive had mine for about 5yrd and other than that the onley other problen ive had was my alt burned out 6months ago

 

oh anothr thing u mite watch out for is the hi-pressure cencor like to burnout-i just bypassed itcn how every 2months i was buying a new 1

 

As far as which oil fill port to use. The lower one next to the dip stick is best. The upper one must be filled much slower.

In cold weather:

Run the unit in "Null Mode" to keep your battery charged and engine block heated, when you are on break or away from your truck for extended periods. To do this, both of the On/Off switches (Left and right side of inside console controls) need to be on. When the display dims set the temperature to its minimum (50 degrees on my unit). Make sure none of the LED's are selected. In other words no heat, air con, fan etc... on either side of the panel is selected. Only the power lights and temp display will be lit. The unit will power on when the battery charge drops below 12.47 volts and will run for 45 minutes minimum. If the battery has not charged above 13.56 at that time, the unit will continue to run until it charges or as long as you let it. Mine runs continuously. I have left the truck for 4 days with out it turning off or having any other problems.
The unit will also run to heat the engine block when the coolant temp drops to 30 degrees.
These units must also be run at max temp (90 degrees on mine) for a minimum of 15 minutes once a month to burn any residue from the basket. Some people let their units come on automatically when there engine is shut down. If you restart the engine in a short time it will tend to build up residue. If to much of a deposit is collected on the basket the unit will not run and the basket will need cleaning or replacement. I turn my unit on and off manually to avoid this. My unit still smokes for a few minutes sometimes after I start it.
Good luck my bros and sisters
Woodport

 

It's best not to use the top oil fill port at all. According to Thermoking if you pour the oil in too quickly it can end up in the cylinders. I talked to a Thermoking rep and he said the reason for the two fill ports was because the yanmar diesel engine they use has other applications that would need the top fill port.

 

How would engine oil get into the cylinders?

 

My bunk warmer runs best in warm weather, and has trouble in cold weather. Seem strange for a unit that has no use in warm weather. For the price paid for this German engineered unit, it really should have a more sophisticated microprocessor to control the burning, get the water and junk out of the fuel, and to clean it's own glow plug before it shuts down. I have an almost continuously used hot water heater at home with a glow plug that's lasted 10 years trouble free. My Thermo King's glow plug was "weak" according to the ThermoKing mechanic, this after only one year of occasional use.

 

Same oil that you put into the truck motor, according to the local Thermo King mechanic I talked to. The Yanmar engine is the best part of the system. The part that Thermo King designed--the package of everything else is the best on the market, which isn't saying much. I've poured more money into my unit that I question the "fuel savings" claimed by Thermo King. But, it is nice to be able to turn off the truck's main engine, and still have power enough to stay comfortable, cook dinner, have cab lights, etc.

 

The savings over idling is considerable. You should hear our guys howl when they have to wait for a Tripac installation - about the fuel bill...