Tax Credits, Big Fleet Advantages and APU Prices


Last week was a nice reminder why the standby gets left on.

If the engine AND the APU are running, the controller gives an ALT fault and shuts down the engine.
Not too long ago @Sinister had an alternator go out & used his APU to power the truck til he got to a fixit shop.

Can't do that when it's set up not to run if the key is on though.
 
If you know what to do, that's not an issue.
Yeah. Maybe in an emergency I'd do that, but I don't wanta alter too much stuff on the truck unless the boss fully understands what I'm doing & why & agrees with it.

That's why I didn't drill any holes in the frame when I installed the train horns & the jake brake noise amplifier.
 
Yah, adding the widgit and gitalong into it to make that all works Is tricky. One has to really make sure the gidget modulator is tuned just right.
 
If you know what to do, that's not an issue.
OK NOW it's prudent to do so.

Idler pulley bearing is shot. Gotta drive 200 miles to shop.

I'm thinking I'll just remove the belt since it only runs the alternator & air conditioning. Water pump and power steering are gear driven.

This 200 miles will be driven before dawn.

So I'll need the APU running.

Removing the belt will prevent some really expensive shit from happening.

So where's this fuse I pull?
 
Its not 200 miles away....


And if you are taking the belt off anyway, just pull the bolt and put on a new tensioner.

http://www.butler-machinery.com/about/bismarck.asp

Yeah, I had one of my tensioner pulleys fry on me last year. I drove it home 60 miles to fix it.
It's 200 miles to Fargo where the boss wants it fixed..

He said not to remove the belt or change anything on the APU to make it run with the big engine on too.

Bunk heater doesn't work.

I'd pull the belt, run the APU & sleep (I'm out of hours) but he says no.

So fuck it. It's his truck, his call.

I'm going to spin that toasted bearing for 8 hours idling for heat & sleep with ear plugs in.

I feel sorry for whoever parks next to me.
 
I'm going to spin that toasted bearing for 8 hours idling for heat & sleep with ear plugs in.
Funny. I didn't have to remove the belt. It removed itself.

After idling for heat:

2015-01-21 02.51.13.webp
Too bad I can't run the APU while driving. :mad:
 
Yep. Bearing seized & it snapped the belt.

The APU is APUing at the moment. I'll be stopping along the way to let the APU charge the batteries.

I can't let it drop below 11 volts or he'll be buying batteries too.

2015-01-21 03.25.47.webp

No fan too. Means that I gotta watch the temp gauge too.
 
I'm parked at a rest area running the tri-pac to charge the batteries. Gauge was showing 11 volts. Headlights were dim orange, and I couldn't see well enough to pass the chicken-**** pansy in the flatbed that was going 47 mph because he saw a snowflake.

I don't need the heater fan because just enough wind pressure gets through to keep some heat blowing in. I put it all on the windshield though.
 
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I already told you what fuse to pull to defeat the shutdown when key is on.
There are a bunch of inline fuse holders. None of them are labeled "IGN" as it shows in the PDF installation manual.

The only non-factory looking wires at the fuse box for the truck (a possible location for getting a switched circuit they could've wired it to) appear to be for the PeopleNet.

I'm not pulling plastic to access behind the ignition switch.

Nor am I going to crawl under the truck and follow the wire going forward from under the bunk.

I can't see where the f*** I'm going with dim headlights. The highway is icy. My mirrors are iced up because I can't use the mirror heat. It's cold & Sarah is whining because there's barely enough forced air from the wind to heat the cab & I have to put it all on the windshield to keep it clear. And right now there's no heat at all.

It was a simple repair that could have been done in Bismarck. :mad:

Instead I was told to spray WD-40 on the idler bearing. :rolllaugh:

I did too, just so I can say I did what I was told.

Then I idled the truck for heat until it seized & snapped the belt.

Now I'm sitting here wasting time at a rest area because I can't use an auxiliary power unit as an auxiliary power unit.

I've got the pre-dawn blue glow in the sky here & it's only been 20 minutes since the APU started up so I'm just going to let it charge til it's light enough I can see the pavement without headlights, and just run the markers so I can be seen by other vehicles when I'm spraying them with freezing rain from my tires.

A salt shaker just went by a few minutes ago. But the tires on passing trucks that I can just now start to see, aren't spraying a mist.

I've got 52 miles to go to deliver the load, then I'll head like 3 miles over to the Magyard.
 
Should be a 1amp inline fuse
None that I found are 1 amp. They're all 15, 20, or 40 amp so I didn't even bother trying them.

It's probably behind the plastic under the dash & I'm not going to mess with it. I'm just going to be about 3 hours later getting to the Magnum shop than I told @DubbleD.
 
Ya, it's a 1amp inline fuse. It's just a sense wire. I found it on my buddies TriPak. It's his truck and Thermo King still screwed it up on install then wanted money to take it out. If your alternator goes out you can drive forever with the APU. My alternator went out once. When I stopped for a break I noticed my Rigmaster was running. Shut it off then continued on. I then noticed my headlights were a little dim and voltage was down then all of a sudden voltage went up and lights were brighter. Then realized my alternator was out and APU was starting up.

My mechanic also pointed out that on my Detroit there is a place to mount another pad mounted alternator if I want one. He said lots of day cabs with multiple stops use a dual alternator setup.
 

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