Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
This is the closest I could get. I didn't dare do anything except send it straight up, and rotate in place, and look up and down.
EC's Going For It
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
I'd like to have one of the drones you can send to a specific location & altitude and then return when you tell it to. Extra cool if you can then aim & control the camera while it's hovering.
Those options are probably still expensive as hell though.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Yah those are high dollar. You can even program a flight and it'll run it automatically for the best smoothness.
I can send mine up and it'll hover in place but the camera controls are just up and down. To look left and right you rotate the drone. It's super basic and was relatively cheap for being from a known manufacturer.
Once you get into the fancier heavier ones you're looking at having tail registration numbers and legal obligations just like an airplane.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
That's all you need.
The ability to pan the camera left and right would just add more weight & complexity to the drone, because you can aim the whole drone on that axis.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Wait there is an automatic return to home feature on my drone. You have to manually fly it where you want it though. You can't punch in coordinates and a level and tell it to just go there.
To bring it back you press a button, or it'll automatically come back when the battery runs low. It's not a fancy flight though it just goes up or down to a predetermined flight level then comes straight over your head and drops down. Technically it's coming back to a home point, but unless you manually set one it's gonna come back near the controller which will most likely be in your hand.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Thermoking recommends annual service for their APUs. I've had the truck for about 6 months so I ordered some filters. Cool thing is when I ordered a shit load of Walmart oil for my pickup it's got the specs for everything diesel that I own. So I don't have to buy anything special for the APU.
Also, it's a Yanmar engine. Didn't really look into it before because I didn't care. But that makes it even more common as far as maintenance goes. I can probably get filters from the local John Deer dealer.
Also, it's a Yanmar engine. Didn't really look into it before because I didn't care. But that makes it even more common as far as maintenance goes. I can probably get filters from the local John Deer dealer.
Rigjockey
In Gord we trust!
That's great if you can DIY it. Thermoking shops are usually booked up and I would imagine, expensive.
There is a fuel filter to replace, and also a small filter screen that needs to be cleaned.
2000 or 2500 hours between services, can't remember the exact requirements, but once per year is will within range for 90% of OTR drivers. Mine gets quite a bit of use and I'm still under those hours yearly.
You can also download the diagnostic software for free to your laptop, just connects via USB cable.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Yeah I've probably got like 100 hours on mine so far. I didn't pay attention to what it read when I first got it. But I've only slept overnight once. Sometimes I run the microwave and TV during a 30+ minute break or let it kick on at the house hence the other possible 96 hours.
What's the small filter screen? I havent found anything for that.
I'm only aware of the oil filter, the fuel/water filter, and the air filter.
line going to the fuel pump
See if this link works
thermo king tripac evolution apu fuel pump and filter | eBay
thermo king tripac evolution apu fuel pump and filter.
www.ebay.com
Not a picture, but the filter is mentioned on page 41 as an annual maintenance item.
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Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
I'll have to look around closer. It has a regular spin on fuel filter but I didn't see an inline one.line going to the fuel pump
See if this link works
thermo king tripac evolution apu fuel pump and filter | eBay
thermo king tripac evolution apu fuel pump and filter.www.ebay.com
Not a picture, but the filter is mentioned on page 41 as an annual maintenance item.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
While I wait for my filters I installed an inline check valve for the pickup. I wanted to get it close to the injectors but there wasn't a real good place to put it.
It has a problem (somewhere, maybe it's normal but just annoys me) where the fuel eventually drains back if I don't drive it for a few days, and it looses prime.
I have the electric lift pump to reprime it and there's a Schrader valve on the filter head to purge the air, but it's still annoying in a first world problems sort of way.
There's no issues once I'm up and running and only shut it off to go in a store or whatever.
Short of putting an electric pump in the tank I want to try to have it start easy even after a couple days.
In theory the check valve should stop the fuel from draining back if it's in the right place.
If it doesn't work the problem is somewhere between where I put it and the injectors.
If it does work, the problem is between it and the fuel tank. Because it's still gonna drain back it's a matter of whether it has prime to start then sucks air, or still sucks air from the very beginning.
It has a problem (somewhere, maybe it's normal but just annoys me) where the fuel eventually drains back if I don't drive it for a few days, and it looses prime.
I have the electric lift pump to reprime it and there's a Schrader valve on the filter head to purge the air, but it's still annoying in a first world problems sort of way.
There's no issues once I'm up and running and only shut it off to go in a store or whatever.
Short of putting an electric pump in the tank I want to try to have it start easy even after a couple days.
In theory the check valve should stop the fuel from draining back if it's in the right place.
If it doesn't work the problem is somewhere between where I put it and the injectors.
If it does work, the problem is between it and the fuel tank. Because it's still gonna drain back it's a matter of whether it has prime to start then sucks air, or still sucks air from the very beginning.
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if the pump is original, it will be right there at the electric fuel pump. If an aftermarket assembly has replaced it, you may not have it.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
I can be quite dumb sometimes. Here I was thinking I needed a new 5th wheel or a rebuild (not many places want to take on the liability of a rebuild anymore it seems) and I don't trust myself either. Nor do I want that hassle this time of year.
Turns out all I had to do was turn the adjustment screw more than I thought. She's nice and snug now and on a new chassis wasn't impossible to release.
All this time off basically for nothing. Oh well. I sometimes need a brain reset anyway.
Turns out all I had to do was turn the adjustment screw more than I thought. She's nice and snug now and on a new chassis wasn't impossible to release.
All this time off basically for nothing. Oh well. I sometimes need a brain reset anyway.
Nothing wrong with being cautious regarding fifth wheels. Component failure there can make for some very embarrassing moments....
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Yeah it reached that distinctive hard slam from a stop light level of slop and I wasn't cool with that. That's where you start to question whether the jaw is actually tighter than the lip of the pin to keep it from bouncing off and killing a van full of Amish orphaned nuns carrying boxes of newborn puppies and kittens.
Or you think holy shit if I'm dangling off a bridge it might not hold.
We had these Josts on the pumpkin trucks but I never got familiar with the slack adjustment other than to tell the shop it's loose. Write it up, they fix it.
It's pretty amazing how dumb we actually are as company drivers vs an owner who DIYs. Or maybe it was just me. I didn't care to learn that much when it wasn't my equipment.
The Mack day cab has a Fontaine and it's constant tension so I never had to mess with it until it wore out, then it got rebuilt by the fleet shop that sold it to me. The Ford has a Holland and that's that dead simple front screw. Hook to a trailer and run it snug.
Josts are...weird. You're not even snugging it down with the rod, you're pulling the rod back out so the triangle shaped snugger slider can move in further pushing the jaw closer to the pin.
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Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
I considered for a minute just taking the 5th wheel off the day cab since that one is rebushed repinned and rebuilt but it's shorter by an inch and one of the reasons I had to crank all those chassis down before they'd even meet the plate. It was part of why I hated the rail and wanted my own trailer and all that. The sleeper is taller so it lifts almost everything and makes life that much better.
Also those Fontaines have the shittiest spring to pull the handle back in and it kept falling off to the point that I eventually figured out that I could use my 5th wheel puller to reach in on it and get the leverage to draw it out and hook it onto its little hole. Maybe it needs replaced but I would have thought it was part of the rebuild. Maybe not.
Also they suck ass when the grease gets cold and hard, and the jaws would relock when I'd shut my door getting back in the truck to pull out. Summertime no issues whatsoever.
Also those Fontaines have the shittiest spring to pull the handle back in and it kept falling off to the point that I eventually figured out that I could use my 5th wheel puller to reach in on it and get the leverage to draw it out and hook it onto its little hole. Maybe it needs replaced but I would have thought it was part of the rebuild. Maybe not.
Also they suck ass when the grease gets cold and hard, and the jaws would relock when I'd shut my door getting back in the truck to pull out. Summertime no issues whatsoever.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Fuel spiked again. I'm sure they'll blame it on the Iran missile strikes.
It sucks regardless. The fuel surcharge takes a bit to adjust.
It sucks regardless. The fuel surcharge takes a bit to adjust.
Electric Chicken
Well-Known Member
Yesterday was supposed to be two loads but I got screwed by a wreck, my fuel card being shut off again (this time I think it was because I was off so long), and having to take the empties to the yard instead of the rail, which adds an extra 45 minutes each time.
I could have proceeded with the second load then slept in the truck. This would have been guaranteed because it was beyond that point of making it back. There was a 3 day window to deliver both loads so I just did the one, came back home, then started around midnight tonight to do the second one. I just got back home a few minutes ago.
I could have proceeded with the second load then slept in the truck. This would have been guaranteed because it was beyond that point of making it back. There was a 3 day window to deliver both loads so I just did the one, came back home, then started around midnight tonight to do the second one. I just got back home a few minutes ago.
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