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Fed up & disgusted!

layoutshooter

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
MY APU went dead, AGAIN! This time they say cracked head or head gasket. That is bad enough. What is worse is NO ONE CALLS ME BACK! No idea what cost for repair is. NO idea what the cost of replacing an engine would be. I called another place about a NEW or used one. Never returned my call.

I bet they then complain that business is bad. :mad:
 
Rollinout2

Rollinout2

Seasoned Expediter
Fleet Owner
I have a rigmaster, and had 2 shops claim the same 2 things. I waited and had my shop of choice to look at it.........bam ! external electric fan. If there's no oil in your coolant or coolant in your oil, its not the worst case you are looking at. PM me if it's a rigmaster and i'll give the info on the shop right down the street from Chicago/ O'Hare Int'l Airport.
 
paullud

paullud

Veteran Expediter
Some of us in the bigger vehicles need to watch what the "van" guys are doing. An APU is way to much money for the benefit of not idling, I would dump the APU and mount a generator in it's place. I am looking into buying a new one then cutting the tank in half and reweld it to be about twice the size. I will keep a gas can on board to make fill ups easy, much cheaper for the same result.

Sent from my ADR6400L using EO Forums
 
Moot

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Yeah, us van guys aren't as stupid as we look and we are a frugal bunch.
 
zorry

zorry

Veteran Expediter
LOS can't whip over to the gas pumps like a vanner.
He doesn't want to slosh thru the slush at 3am to fill the thing up.
He probably has more energy demand than the average van.
There's a safety issue of the empty gas can and handling of gas in general.
The auto-start features would most likely be lost.
If he wants to go primitive he can hang a hammock off the liftgate.
 
U

usafk9

Veteran Expediter
Joe
W.W. Williams in GR (Byron Center) has an Acemco APU installed for $7795. Made in Spring Lake, AC output better than the Carrier, and it is quieter. I believe it is a Yanmar diesel....I think. They gave me a brochure two weeks ago. We're not in the market, but I looked real closely at the specs for a future replacement. The air conditioning output was particularly interesting to me.

Let me know if you need their number.
 
zorry

zorry

Veteran Expediter
The thing that scares me is how long will they be around ?
Are they capitalized well enough to hang thru some more tough times ?
Do they have enough market share ?
No matter how good it is now, it could be a nightmare if they disappear before you are done needing parts or tech support.
 
U

usafk9

Veteran Expediter
While I believe their entry into the APU market for trucks is fairly recent, the company's been around a long time. This, I believe, is a very small slice of what they build.

Valid concerns, but I wouldn't suggest if I thought they were a fly-by-night.
 
layoutshooter

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
There is coolant in the oil. It turned the oil to thick, black, sludge. STILL waiting to get the final estimate on the repair. The engine SHOULD have shut down when it overheated, it did not. I have been asking to have that gasket checked for some time now. I suspected it was bad. Couple of shops looked at it, said it was OK. Even as late as 4 weeks ago they told me that. Even though I could go through a LOT of coolant when I ran the APU, NONE when I did not.

I have NO intention of buying a new Carrier APU. While Carrier is backing them with repair shops they are still being made by the same bums that made my ProHeat. Junk is junk. I also will never have a unit that has to be tied into the trucks cooling system.

It still amazes me just how few shops will return phone calls.
 
BobWolf

BobWolf

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
a generator makes sense to me. five to six hundred fo a decent Gen. or eight ten grand for the APU.
 
layoutshooter

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
BobWolf said:
a generator makes sense to me. five to six hundred fo a decent Gen. or eight ten grand for the APU.
Click to expand...

A diesel gen costs FAR more than that. It is also difficult or impossible, to mount a roof mount on an Alumijunk roof. I also don't want to have to look for gas or carry it. I would have to have at least one more tool box put on to handle that gen and gas storage. I would rather idle. In the long run, based on my experience, it costs less. MY APU never paid for itself, it has cost me money. Constant repairs offset any possible fuel savings.
 
guido4475

guido4475

Not a Member
The best true generator I ever had was a Powertech generator made in Leesburg, Florida.At the time, they were being used by Prevost.It was a 7,500 watt generator head powered by a Kubota D-905E 3 cylinder diesel engine.It ran smooth, and quiet.It was in a 24x24x36 aluminum box, and it was the quietest I have ever heard.At the time, it was 5 grand, but you also had to put a rooftop a/c unit on the roof, and an espar for heat.It was the best of all worlds.Nearly trouble free.

Later on, on a different truck, I used a cheap Power pro gas generator, 3,200 watt, from Pep Boys, and with alot of oil changes, using Delvac and lucas, it lasted 14,000 hours.Not bad for a $300.00 generator.I had a 10 gallon fuel cell for the gas mounted under the cargo box next to the generator box.Never had an issue with it from the dot, etc.Just drove up to a gas pump, and gassed it up, which lasted around 3 days.The truck was 13'6 high, also.

Now, I have a Cummins/Onan P3200ie portable gas genarator that is super quiet, on a basket mounted to a hitch on the front of the van.I hate the setup, having it there, but there is no other place to put it.It runs a 15,000 btu Hengs Industries rooftop a/c, who makes the units for Dometic, and it will freeze me out of the 12'cargo box/sleeper at all times. The a/c unit weighs 80 pounds on the roof.A Honda 3000 is comparable to this generator, which I will be getting next, since finding out that Cummins only made this generator for 2 years.So far, this setup is trouble free, for the most part.It has a 3 gal gas tank, that runs for 20 hours without the a/c on, and 8 hours with it on.Kinda a pain in the butt, gassing it up every 16 hours,(Have a 3 gal gas can also)but, so is going to a repair shop also.

Sometimes simple is the best route to take, and makes better financial sense.Just sayin.
 
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