How to make your own APU


I have a roof top A/C,run it with a Champion 3500 watt generator mounted to the frame,replumed the exhaust out the bottom,runs about 10 to 12 hours on 2.5 gallons of gas.....cost about $1200 for the whole set up....

:bowdown:


I've run the same setup with a Duotherm roofmount in one truck and a window mount in another.
It works well for the price.
Especially in my situation where I don't need anything 8 months of the year.

You could kick the whole set-up to the curb every other year and still be money ahead!
:)
 
I have a roof top A/C,run it with a Champion 3500 watt generator mounted to the frame,replumed the exhaust out the bottom,runs about 10 to 12 hours on 2.5 gallons of gas.....cost about $1200 for the whole set up....
And people complain a tripac or carrier unit is load.

Got a kick out of the flatbedder who backed in next to me, bitched and complained that my reefer was running.......

And then idled his 8" straight pipes all night when it was 60°F out.

Some people bitch just to bitch.

There's more to buying a packaged apu than the generator or a/c unit.

Namely the control device for it.

The physical components of the tripac, IMO are the best idea I've seen put together.

The carrier is a unit packaged the most like anything you all are trying to defend cobbling together.

Both of those systems have a control panel bar none simple and effective to use that automate it's operation.

That's what costs more than anything that people seem to never match.

Like to see someone show what they've done for controls.
 
If you run reefer the solution is really simple . Run jumper cables from your Reefer to the truck . Then you can run a 12 volt heater in winter or small a.c. in summer and if you have an inverter that can be used for your needs as well .
Of course if you don't mind running your truck , just bring along your dog . Ironically in states that don't allow you to run your heat or a.c. for your own personal safety will allow you to run your truck for a.c. or heat for your dogs personal safety .
Now I love a dog as much as the next guy but the dog can't drive the truck and I don't want somebody driving a truck around me while suffering from hypothermia or heat stroke , but apparently politicians in some states find it acceptable, so I must be a minority in this view point 🤔
 
If you run reefer the solution is really simple . Run jumper cables from your Reefer to the truck . Then you can run a 12 volt heater in winter or small a.c. in summer and if you have an inverter that can be used for your needs as well .
Of course if you don't mind running your truck , just bring along your dog . Ironically in states that don't allow you to run your heat or a.c. for your own personal safety will allow you to run your truck for a.c. or heat for your dogs personal safety .
Now I love a dog as much as the next guy but the dog can't drive the truck and I don't want somebody driving a truck around me while suffering from hypothermia or heat stroke , but apparently politicians in some states find it acceptable, so I must be a minority in this view point 🤔
That's only good fer a one dawg night... might need a couple more th' way things are shapin' up (...err down as the mercury is goin' tonight!)

Seriously... the only jurisdiction that seems to give a crap about those laws is California. Simple solution... don't go there.
 
Add one item that is critical... a carbon monoxide detector. Gasoline fired engines create a lot of CO, and under the right conditions it could fill your sleeper berth, killing you in your sleep. They pulled a driver out of his truck last winter who had died from CO poisoning over his break. He had a gasoline engine APU setup.

So... you're at about $3500. For comparison, a rebuilt APU is in the neighborhood of $4000. Diesel engines don't create a lot of CO.

What about the Diesel belching smoke off the sides...

That Soot aint no good for ya either and it Stinks too..

I never understood why cant route that stuff up through the stacks
 
What about the Diesel belching smoke off the sides...

That Soot aint no good for ya either and it Stinks too..

I never understood why cant route that stuff up through the stacks
I'd be sure ta park next to ya, but I'd have ta worry what I'm gonna step in.

It's a truck stop. If you want pristine mountain air, go find a national park camp site.
 
I'd be sure ta park next to ya, but I'd have ta worry what I'm gonna step in.

It's a truck stop. If you want pristine mountain air, go find a national park camp site.

I just might do that...

Along the way I shall write and publish a book about Safe and Truck Friendly Campgrounds n State Parks..

Thy inspuration comes from the Jim Crow "segregationist" era.

In the 1920s thru the 1960s a black man published 13 editions of the Negro Travellers Digest..

Now his mission was a guide to Black "freindly" buisness and places in Jim Crow Era..

Now all "racial" aside we truck drivers are thy modern day "Plantation" servitude labor..

My point was to find "Driver" Friendly Campgrounds and forest..

Yet most truckers would run an APU on a crystal clear mild blue day or belch black smoke xause some gung ho nitwit just has to hear that motor roar at a thoudand rpm..
 
I think you'll find a cop with his lights on preparing to evict you if you try that. Folks camping don't want a semi near them, and I have never seen a campsite access road that would support a loaded semi.

But you have fun with that. Maybe you can convince @Duck to show up on visitation days...
 
I think you'll find a cop with his lights on preparing to evict you if you try that. Folks camping don't want a semi near them, and I have never seen a campsite access road that would support a loaded semi.
That's why I like camping in isolated areas along the river.

However you gotta do some minor alterations to the truck.

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I dunno.
I'm on the same grill bottle I started with on my little zero turn (13 hp Briggs) and I've probably got around 4-5 hours on it.
It feels like I've used about half of the gas. If you were going to buy a new gasser for the purpose you'd be better off buying a propane genny to start with.
Home depot had one for about $350 last time I looked.

I've been meaning to convert one of mine for permanent placement at the house.
I could hook it up to my gas line and not have to worry about fuel for weeks.

It would be a PIA on the truck though if you were staying out.
Pricey too.
20 lbs is less than 5 gallons and the swap scams charge around $20 which is over $4 per gallon.
Residential retail delivery right now is $1.39 here (250 gallon minimum).
I had a tank filled at Tractor Supply the other day and it cost less than $8.
for some strange reason propane gensets produce less wattage than gassers or diesels
 
I’ve put a few apu’s together. This time I’m experimenting with an 18,000 btu mini split using a 5,500 inverter generator. I bought a used merrit side box and cut it down added doors and a exhaust hole in the back which I and a friend ran a pipe out and back around to the outside. All in all I have $2,700+/- into it. I can run 13-15 hours on 5 gallons of gas. I used a Briggs generator $1,150 and yes it’s a pull start not a big deal to me. In cold weather I’m plugged in to the block heater and a 1,500 watt ceramic heater in side and yes I game a carbon monoxide detector it works great and is quite if your willing to do a lot of work it will pay off 77B6F9D2-E30C-41D5-9AF4-28FEF160A3E7.webp79F03163-23B8-492B-8E56-20B8FAF45E30.webpF98212A4-50E4-47B6-83AD-7C894EA32431.webp77B6F9D2-E30C-41D5-9AF4-28FEF160A3E7.webp77B6F9D2-E30C-41D5-9AF4-28FEF160A3E7.webp79F03163-23B8-492B-8E56-20B8FAF45E30.webp
 
LOL that mini split should freeze ya ass off on the summer:D. we put one on our 5th when when we had it belive me no more roof top ac units after telling to install a mini split. so much better than that other crap:thumbsup:
 

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