Another Carrier APU Quandry

[ConfusedMuse]

Please feel free to offer intelligent suggestions as to what could possibly be the problem concerning this apu. We are close to the end on the warranty, and are seriously considering tossing 'IT' back to Carrier!

From the beginning of the installation up to now a few months short of the warranty expiring we have had one problem after another on this unit. It didn't run right, didn't heat/or cool correctly, the latest problem has been running since 4 months ago when we finally got into some extreme heat triple digits for several weeks. Since then we have had it to dealers in various places all over the US for a miniumn of 3 attempts each to correct the problem of the APU cooking our truck batteries. It runs fine for 4 to 5 hours then we wake up to the evil smell of rotten eggs, and fire and brimstone, and our eyes are on fire, our lungs burning.
That alone is reason enough to call out the Lemon Law, but, we continue to believe that perhaps it will be dealt with correctly.

AND IT STILL DOESN'T COOL THE TRUCK!

 

[greg334]

It should be straight forward, the batteries are being over charged and it sounds like either the regulator or the control board may both be bad.

What did they actually do to correct the problem?

Did they start with replacing the alternator and regulator, or maybe control module or maybe the wiring harness?

This unit uses the alternator to charge the truck batteries, it is a 60 amp unit if I remember right with an internal regulator. If they didn't replace it, they should have started right there.

As for the A/C, isn't that a separate unit that sits under the bunk. It may be defective or in need of proper work from someone in the A/C business.

The heating of the truck should be not be a problem, the engine is capable of heating a large engine, maybe the thermostat is the wrong one or the piping is not done right.

 

[davekc]

As Greg mentioned, it could be the regulator. With the generator running, turn on the truck but don't start the engine.
If you have over 14V going to the batteries, it is a regulator, or a bad ground. The other option is to but a meter on it to see the voltage. A bad ground could as well be affecting the AC, but they as well could be seperate issues.
I would get the grounding/regulator issue addressed first, and then look at where you are at on the AC.
For a what it is worth, we have had a proheat going on three years. Only repair so far has been a pack of shot bearings on the generator.

 

[ConfusedMuse]

Hmmmm what did they do?? The first ones moved the ductwork, and diddled with the wiring, the second ones added more ductwork( the sleeper looks like swiss cheese), said it was working fine, we didn't know what we were talking about: we should buy a little 12v fan, move the thermostat, said it was only designed to cool the bunk area, nothing else, the last go around, first time it was the trucks fault, not the apu, the second time ( next day) they finally thought it might be the alternator, and replaced that, the 3rd time, they used a current indicator, noticed that the current wasn't correct, moved wires on the batteries, and called it a day.

 

[davekc]

As stupid as it sounds, I believe they have the wires backwards on the batteries.

 

[ConfusedMuse]

Good reply, we appreciate them

wouldn't that burn the alternator and or burn up the diodes?
But both wires going from the generator to the battery are red, go figure,
self installation has it's points

 

[davekc]

wouldn't that burn the alternator and or burn up the diodes?
But both wires going from the generator to the battery are red, go figure,
self installation has it's points

Actually it wouldn't. Two red wires going to the battery doesn't sound correct. Our unit has a red and black going there.
Two red wires doesn't sound right.
What place worked on this?
You could have just one red wire if they grounded the unit to the chassis.

 

[ConfusedMuse]

the dealer that installed it (the original installation, the starting point for all the rest) was the Carrier dealer in Richfield, OH. AND we took it back there several times after the fact, our reefer unit also was installed there and also had problems, that have thankfully been fixed... elsewhere.

 

[davekc]

If you are in OH, I would recommend taking it to TSI. They do pretty good work on the PH's

 

[EASYTRADER]

If you think ou can get out of our carrier apu and lemon law it do it NOW.

I have had nothing but problems with mine. You can look up my past posts.


Replace it with an onan genset and a rooftop AC

As for a good dealer I've yet to find one and I've been all over the country.
The guys in Fontanna Ca aren't as bad as the rest but I do most of the work on it myself now.

I have not tried TSI.

As for our airconditioner.
They are terrible. If it is hotter than ninety five outside it won't cool worth a darn. Depending on the generation apu you have you might have had the refrigerant leak out.

also make sure ou have all four vents from the ac
open usually they only install three of them.

As for the heater that is the only part of the sstem that has been reliable for us. If your heater doesn't work take the cover off it and look at the circuit board connections and the heater element itself.
it is nothing fancy if the heater element is broke it should be visible.

When you look at the control board inside the ac housing oull see lights indicating what the control board is doing.

High heat low heat fan ac
outlet etc.

If ou turn the heater on low and don't see the coresonding dioode light up then most likely is a bad control board.

They have a tendency to get wet and short out the the do all kinds of crazy things.

But look at the lights on the board and go through the various settings on the user control board if the ac control board doesn't corresond with what our telling it to do then you have found your problem.

anway the mechnics at carrier suck. So as an OO
your gonna have to bone up on it ourself otherwise
our gonna be shoving cash out and not getting any results.

anway carrier apus are crapy and it sounds like ou got a bad installation to boot compounded with the tipical carrier service tech who isn't fit to change lawnmower oil.

 

[EASYTRADER]

also it occurred to me that a while back carrier had a run of bad heater elements. There was sort of a silent recall going on
I found out at the Dallas carrier dealer. I noticed a whole box of heater elements in the guys office and he told me they had all been replaced because of a factory defect. So mabe ours sliped through the cracks

 

[ConfusedMuse]

Found this informative statement on the CARB website:
Subject Top Page: Heavy-Duty Vehicle Idling Emission Reduction Program



"For a list of fuel-fired heaters approved for use on trucks equipped with 2007 and newer engines, please see "approved and verified equipment" below. For trucks equipped with 2006 and earlier model year engines, any fuel-fired heater may be used. "

So if your like us and drive a dinosaur your in luck! No need to buy a 10 grand anchor, that lines someone else's pockets with your hard earned money.

Another update from Carrier's Director of Service," The apu does NOT heat or cool the truck cab, just the bunk area with the privacy curtains closed'! Also we are now dealing also with the manufacturer in British Columbia.