Fed up & disgusted!
- Thread starter layoutshooter
- Start date
Yes they did.
proheat is no longer making APU'S it was sold about 2 years ago to Imco, but still sold by the Carrier network call comfortpro. The Comfort pro has many new updates being 12,000 btu of cooling.
They are still mostly junk. I have talked with several drivers lately that have the "new" models. Most have had or are having problems.
I am going to try the HP2000. I do NOT want one that ties into the truck's cooling system. It's nice till you have a leak, the BOTH units are down. Been there, done that, no more.
HP 2000?...what is that?
An APU. They advertise here in our Marketplace.
tenntrucker
Expert Expediter
I talked to them at the expo, very impressed with the setup.
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
I talked with the shop I am getting it from. They are REQUIRED to go to school at the plant to be allowed to sell/install the units. Several days. They spend a day on the line helping to build them. They had classes on installation, trouble shooting etc.
The main reason I went with Rigmaster is that it didn't tie in to the cooling system. I just couldn't see any benefit to being tied in, only the potential for it being a PITA. Good luck with the new unit.
I will post on the unit from the start. From the install on. Install around 1 Sept.
the reason to tie into the engine is for winter time keeping the engine warm.
Also, imco the new comfort has a new apu 6,000 watt gen and it doesn't tie into the truck cooling system
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where is the service centers?
EasyDoesIt
Active Expediter
I drove a company truck with a ProHeat apu many years ago. Great when they worked but so many problems he removed them and installed the Nite? System and Espar bunk heater. He also had some type of heater, maybe Espar, on a timer that the driver set to heat the coolant. I think it was set for 2 hours before you wanted to start the engine.
People from winter states are familiar with head bolt heaters. They keep an engine warm when plugged into an electrical outlet. When we spec'ed our Volvo, it was ordered with a head bolt heater and oil pan heater. When the sleeper was installed, the heaters were wired into the generator. To turn them on, we flip a switch in the sleeper.
The generator runs independently of the truck engine but it provides power to keep the truck engine warm on cold winter nights and days. It has been a great feature. With the engine heaters turned on, we wake up to warm truck engine oil and coolant. Heat comes out of the dashboard vents in no time at all, the engine turns over easily and comes quickly up to temp.
Diane and I are not fed up and disgusted but today we have our own generator tale of woe to tell.
After 11,500 trouble-free hours on our Onan Quiet Diesel 7500 generator, an issue has developed that now has us going out of service and deadheading 550 miles to resolve. This is the first time in six years that we have had down time and deadhead miles due to the generator.
It is an intermittent problem that developed this spring. When we go to start the generator, a code appears: "LOW CRANKING SPEED FAULT—CODE NO. 32." When the start button is pushed, quiet clicking can be heard for a moment (normal in the start cycle), then the code appears and nothing happens after that; no crank, no nothing, total silence.
For that code, the owner's manual says to check the fuses under the panel where the radiator cap is accessed.
The first time I did that, the fuses checked out OK and the generator started on the next try. It seemed that wiggling the wires helped.
Several weeks went by and I forgot about the issue until the same thing happened again. That time I did not even check the fuses. I wiggled the wires and the generator started.
I put a call into ARI. ARI is our sleeper manufacturer and generator installer. They are located in Shipshewana, Ind. These were not symptoms they had heard of before. To check the wires and connections in question, the generator would have to be removed from the truck, the service department said. Diane and I decided to keep running and stop in at ARI when we got close. Several more weeks went by and we forgot about the issue. Had we gotten close to ARI, we would have remembered and stopped in but we did not get close.
We had the option of going to an Onan dealer but for something like this we are reluctant to do so. First of all, it is summer, the height of the RV season. Many RV's use Onan generators and RV dealers tend to be swamped this time of year. Second, this is a truck application. While Onan dealers are capable and could likely figure things out, they will not be immediately familiar with our install. We'd rather go to ARI. They know our truck well and we trust them completely.
Tonight, the symptoms developed again, but this time, wiggling the wires and checking the fuses did not help. That left us laying over near Knoxville on a Saturday night with no generator. The weather is just cool enough tonight to sleep with the sleeper widows open and Fan-Tastic Vent running.
But there is a lot of summer to go and doing without a generator is not an option for us. Idling the truck is an alternative but not an acceptable one to us. As I write this, Diane is driving and we are on our way to ARI. We will arrive tomorrow, plug into shore power there (a courtesy they offer to their customers) and try to get into the shop on Monday.
About 20 miles into the trip, I tried the generator again and it started. I tried it several more times and it started every time. We are continuing on. The situation is not getting any better. I have said for a long time that if we don't have a generator, we don't have a truck. For the first time since we got into this truck, we don't have a generator that starts reliably so we are going in.
Layoutshooter, I know you have been running for a few weeks now without a generator. God bless your for it, but that is not something Diane an I are willing to do. We simply cannot abide idling the truck at $4.00 a gallon. So for us, it's, Hi ho! Hi ho! To ARI we go! We're 500 miles away now and the freight has not taken us closer. Better, we think, to head in now than to wait and maybe find ourselves in California or Florida with a generator that craps out altogether.
While we are at ARI, we will have a couple of minor tweaks done to the sleeper and have every preventative maintenance thing done to the generator that can be done while it is off the truck.
There is another reason to head to Indiana. A seal has just started to leak under the truck. Our trusted Volvo dealer is in Fort Wayne, about an hour from ARI. Most truck shops could make that repair but we'll get that taken care of by the dealer we trust the most while in the neighborhood.
If we have no generator, we have no truck. We have believed that for a long time and are now acting on that belief. The good news is that our Onan has been great up to now. After six years and 11,500 hours of trouble-free service, our reliable Onan has more than earned a trip to the day spa.
After 11,500 trouble-free hours on our Onan Quiet Diesel 7500 generator, an issue has developed that now has us going out of service and deadheading 550 miles to resolve. This is the first time in six years that we have had down time and deadhead miles due to the generator.
It is an intermittent problem that developed this spring. When we go to start the generator, a code appears: "LOW CRANKING SPEED FAULT—CODE NO. 32." When the start button is pushed, quiet clicking can be heard for a moment (normal in the start cycle), then the code appears and nothing happens after that; no crank, no nothing, total silence.
For that code, the owner's manual says to check the fuses under the panel where the radiator cap is accessed.
The first time I did that, the fuses checked out OK and the generator started on the next try. It seemed that wiggling the wires helped.
Several weeks went by and I forgot about the issue until the same thing happened again. That time I did not even check the fuses. I wiggled the wires and the generator started.
I put a call into ARI. ARI is our sleeper manufacturer and generator installer. They are located in Shipshewana, Ind. These were not symptoms they had heard of before. To check the wires and connections in question, the generator would have to be removed from the truck, the service department said. Diane and I decided to keep running and stop in at ARI when we got close. Several more weeks went by and we forgot about the issue. Had we gotten close to ARI, we would have remembered and stopped in but we did not get close.
We had the option of going to an Onan dealer but for something like this we are reluctant to do so. First of all, it is summer, the height of the RV season. Many RV's use Onan generators and RV dealers tend to be swamped this time of year. Second, this is a truck application. While Onan dealers are capable and could likely figure things out, they will not be immediately familiar with our install. We'd rather go to ARI. They know our truck well and we trust them completely.
Tonight, the symptoms developed again, but this time, wiggling the wires and checking the fuses did not help. That left us laying over near Knoxville on a Saturday night with no generator. The weather is just cool enough tonight to sleep with the sleeper widows open and Fan-Tastic Vent running.
But there is a lot of summer to go and doing without a generator is not an option for us. Idling the truck is an alternative but not an acceptable one to us. As I write this, Diane is driving and we are on our way to ARI. We will arrive tomorrow, plug into shore power there (a courtesy they offer to their customers) and try to get into the shop on Monday.
About 20 miles into the trip, I tried the generator again and it started. I tried it several more times and it started every time. We are continuing on. The situation is not getting any better. I have said for a long time that if we don't have a generator, we don't have a truck. For the first time since we got into this truck, we don't have a generator that starts reliably so we are going in.
Layoutshooter, I know you have been running for a few weeks now without a generator. God bless your for it, but that is not something Diane an I are willing to do. We simply cannot abide idling the truck at $4.00 a gallon. So for us, it's, Hi ho! Hi ho! To ARI we go! We're 500 miles away now and the freight has not taken us closer. Better, we think, to head in now than to wait and maybe find ourselves in California or Florida with a generator that craps out altogether.
While we are at ARI, we will have a couple of minor tweaks done to the sleeper and have every preventative maintenance thing done to the generator that can be done while it is off the truck.
There is another reason to head to Indiana. A seal has just started to leak under the truck. Our trusted Volvo dealer is in Fort Wayne, about an hour from ARI. Most truck shops could make that repair but we'll get that taken care of by the dealer we trust the most while in the neighborhood.
If we have no generator, we have no truck. We have believed that for a long time and are now acting on that belief. The good news is that our Onan has been great up to now. After six years and 11,500 hours of trouble-free service, our reliable Onan has more than earned a trip to the day spa.
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guido4475
Not a Member
Has anyone ever considered a Powertech generator out of Leesburg, Fla? I had one, a 7,500 watt, powered by a Kubota D-905E 3 cyl diesel, and absolutely loved it.Ultra quiet, smooth, and dependable. It produced enough power to light up Birmingham.They have service centers everywhere, and were extremely pleasant to deal with.Of course, this setup that I had did not have a HVAC.I had a roof top a/c unit for the a/c, and the Espar for the heat.
EasyDoesIt
Active Expediter
Phil I thought a feature of Landstar was the ability to find loads using your computer. Maybe that is for truckload freight.
You know, bryan from espar or verner ind., Which ever you prefer,and I were talking about the rigmaster we have and the use cycle. Also about how they are used. We decided the more you use them the more trouble fre they seem to be. He was commenting on how he has seen many with problems and most are used in the auto start mode for heat, air and battery charging. The ones he sees that are run constantly seem to have way less problems. Ours has 14000 hrs. On it and is all original except for the timing sensor and alternator and ofcourse belts and hoses. (stating this will jinx us) we were of the opinion though, that this would apply to most diesel gensets. They are diesels and diesels like to run. Not be turned on and off all the time. A/C issues are different but engine issues and related items are the topic. The features are nice but obviously come with a price. We do have the auto battery protect but that is different. Just a thought and something to try to see if there is a difference in issues for those that use the auto mode all the time.