wallytrucker1
Expert Expediter
I recently saw a battery powered apu in the parts dept at Phx freightliner.. Has anyone seen or heard of these or better yet, owed one. They were quoting $4000.00 plus labor and batteries. Any feedback appreciated.
Battery powered apu
- Thread starter wallytrucker1
- Start date
Most likely it's good for an OTR truck taking a 10, not so much for an expediter that will sit for days at times.
Was it just an A/C unit? Did you see a brand name?
Freightliner along with a lot of other truck dealers is selling a battery powered A/C unit called the NITE system. I have a fleet friend who has about 15 of them and if you put in good batteries, they work really well. The problem for an expediter with a battery system is layover time. Most of these systems assume the driver is going to sleep for 10 hours and then get up and drive for 6 or more to recharge everything. The other issue is these units are designed to cool a standard bunk. So if you have the big 120" hotel, these units ain't gonna do it.
Battery power is the way to go though, battery technology has come a long way and the costs are coming way down. Even if you have to replace 8 batteries every 2 years it is cheaper than what some have spent on here for engine style APU's. And.....it's CARB legal!
Very soon I will be posting a report of a system that a company in Ingersoll ON has come up with along with my own kinda hybrid power system to run it. The A/C part of the system will be sold at Espar in Michigan (they had one on display at the Louisville show) and the power system can be a do it yourself deal if you are mechanically inclined. Granted, I'm putting it on a Sprinter but it will work for a big truck too. It has the best of both and will be "long layover freindly" as well as CARB legal. We hope to have it fully running by mid May.
Freightliner along with a lot of other truck dealers is selling a battery powered A/C unit called the NITE system. I have a fleet friend who has about 15 of them and if you put in good batteries, they work really well. The problem for an expediter with a battery system is layover time. Most of these systems assume the driver is going to sleep for 10 hours and then get up and drive for 6 or more to recharge everything. The other issue is these units are designed to cool a standard bunk. So if you have the big 120" hotel, these units ain't gonna do it.
Battery power is the way to go though, battery technology has come a long way and the costs are coming way down. Even if you have to replace 8 batteries every 2 years it is cheaper than what some have spent on here for engine style APU's. And.....it's CARB legal!
Very soon I will be posting a report of a system that a company in Ingersoll ON has come up with along with my own kinda hybrid power system to run it. The A/C part of the system will be sold at Espar in Michigan (they had one on display at the Louisville show) and the power system can be a do it yourself deal if you are mechanically inclined. Granted, I'm putting it on a Sprinter but it will work for a big truck too. It has the best of both and will be "long layover freindly" as well as CARB legal. We hope to have it fully running by mid May.
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RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Hey redy ......
Just how many years ago was that ?
I wouldn't be so quick to write the idea off - battery technology is constantly improving .....
I installed a 12v AC unit in my Sprinter almost a year ago (from Espar of Michigan) .... runs off of four marine/deep-cycle batteries I bought from Walmart. These are not true deep-cycle batteries (hybrid/starting batteries) and are not the best for the application (but plenty cheap enough at about $350 for 4) Better batteries would likely provide better performance/longer run times (but I have been able to go anywhere from 8 to 12 hours) Hafta run after that though, to recharge.
I'm in the process of partitioning off my sleeper bunk to restrict the cooling only to the bunk area (instead of the entire vehicle) I suspect, based on how the unit has operated thus far, that I will be able to stay plenty cool while I sleep, once that is done.
cruzer
Not a Member
The Hino salesman at Interstate Truck Source in Romulus Mich. can tell you every thing you need to know.He told me the battery system works best with roof top units giving heat and air,he said he had put 12 on the road with zero failure vs. constant failures with APU he had sold.He said you would get 24hrs. service with a five hour recharge time.I guess if you allready have a APU you could use it to recharge that system on long layovers.They were ment for day cabs sitting at the dock waiting thats why without the roof top there not so great.Call him he's very informative.
DougTravels
Not a Member
I've thought a few times about adding a 3rd battery with a switch to disc. it from the truck. Then hooking my invertor to it with a small elec heater for my coffin sleeper, in the winter I usually have 4 heavy quilts (thanks mom) and don't have to idle much (maybe only below 20 or so)the thing is pretty well insulated.
It handles hot days pretty well too without idleing, I've got a little fan and a window on 1 side with a vent on the other. If I can park with no one to my window side and any little breeze I can handle pretty hot days also. You can see the little window in my sig pic.
It handles hot days pretty well too without idleing, I've got a little fan and a window on 1 side with a vent on the other. If I can park with no one to my window side and any little breeze I can handle pretty hot days also. You can see the little window in my sig pic.
I wonder what the weight offset would be for all those batteries? A good true deep cycle weighs about 70lbs each. That would ad 280lbs to your weight. Many would have to watch where they added that weight to thier truck. Layoutshooter
How well do they heat? Are there any out there yet that would work in a large sleepers that some of know and love? Layoutshooter
mjolnir131
Veteran Expediter
our deep cycles are in the font of a belly box wish they would have mounted them in the back of it might have taken a little weight off the front axle
That would be my problem. I would be looking at using the Trojan 225 battery if I went that rout. They do need watered but they are a very good battery. Layoutshooter
I'm wondering why there aren't simpler versions of shore power, a la idleaire, at truckstops.......especially the bast***s that gouge you for a night's stay.
Like an RV campground, with just a stubby pole and an outlet. I'm considering going to one this weekend for just that reason.
Why couldn't some ambitious TS owners, such as the ones who live in areas with abundant sun exposure, provide solar-powered electricity, for a fee....say $10 per night? Don't we burn similar dough in fuel if an APU runs all night?
BTW, I really like the battery idea. I'm an alternative energy geek.
Anyone ever drive through Indian Hills in Texas, and see the giant windmills that have electric power lines travelling right to an oil well pump? Should a phot of that NOT be placed in the dictionary next to irony?
Like an RV campground, with just a stubby pole and an outlet. I'm considering going to one this weekend for just that reason.
Why couldn't some ambitious TS owners, such as the ones who live in areas with abundant sun exposure, provide solar-powered electricity, for a fee....say $10 per night? Don't we burn similar dough in fuel if an APU runs all night?
BTW, I really like the battery idea. I'm an alternative energy geek.
Anyone ever drive through Indian Hills in Texas, and see the giant windmills that have electric power lines travelling right to an oil well pump? Should a phot of that NOT be placed in the dictionary next to irony?
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Look around a truck stop in the morning, do you see a place that can safely have stubby poles that will be there a few days later?
Most truck stops can't control the idiot drivers who take out fuel pumps (and why is there a 6 inch diameter metal pipe filled with cement buried three feet in the ground in front of the fuel lanes?), so how do you expect them to maintain these electrical outlets?
I've got two batteries sitting in the truck and have almost everything ready to mount a small engine with a 150 amp alternator to recharge them. Later I will put the bigger generator on the truck for the A/C but now I only need 12 volts in the sleeper.
Every Swift truck would have so many of these poles dragging behind them you'd think they were newlyweds.
There it is folks, that's all the "funny" I can muster at 1 in the morning
They could put the outlets at pavement level, like ParknView did. Electrification has been talked about for years and gone nowhere.