My buddy has a Tri-PAc, got it dealer installed on his 06 Pete, has 10,000 hours on it right now, only thing he ever did was replace the water pump ($800.00) other than that, been working fine.

It has a seperate inverter, and uses an Espar bunk heater for heat.

 

I believe IHC did install a battery powered APU, they may have quit.

The Carrier comfort pro won't cool a big cab, and is a POS, Want to see my repair bills? Sold it with the truck 3 years ago and don't miss it. The man that designed it actually worked on mine and it still wouldn't cool.

The DE unit is a true generator, direct connect engine to gen, no belts, no alt needed if you use a battery charger(high quality motor home type)They install on many non custom sleeper trucks, with roof air and power outlets inside and out for less than a Tri pac. Service is not a problem, most parts are generic or Kubota. The big problem is frame space, if you need a narrow unit you get a belt driven generator a under bunk A/c and integrated circuits that give problems.

 

I know I've said it before, but I got a Tripac.

I bought it for $8500 out the door, installed. It came with the Arctic Package, the inverter, and the ignition control (unit won't run with key in ON position, but will in the accessory or off posish). The price was what it was because I already had an Espar in the truck prior, so they knocked $500 off the price (9 g's). The heater will cook you like a black car in a Phoenix summer.

I'm very happy with the purchase. I did have a fuel pump failure. I went to Kragen Auto Parts and our mechanic at our shop swapped it. The pump was like 42 bucks, and is ridiculously identical to TK's fuel pump. I don't know what TK wanted for a fp, nor do I want to My mechanic had to snip the adequetely long wires and swap the connectors by soldiering them. The fuel pump gave plenty of ample warning i was going out, though.

The A/C is nominal. I think it's pretty good. Keeps me chilly in Vegas 110* heat. However, I put a shirt on a hanger on my curtains in the sleeper as to not cool the front (seats, gauges, winshield...you get the point). One you let it cool th whole cab, you lose efficiency drastically. Sleeper will stay plenty cool to the point where you need a blanket when you're just "chillin'" (pun intended).

As stated above, the heater is more than ample. My Dad had it installed before I bought it and said he stayed toasty in Nova Scotia -30 winter weather. It also wires into the convenient Tripac control unit.

TK's are everywhere which is nice. Speedco and Petro will service them as well (oil and fuel filters and oil) but not the breather filter for the air intake for the heating cooling.

The inverter is like 1500W or 1800W and powers my microwave and anything else plugged in at the time. It does run off the batteries, but the Pak is monitoring the voltage at all times and will kick on once it goes below a pre-determined level. i have a flatscreen and a fridge, etc, so the tech told me he'd set it to 12.6V instead of a slightly lower amount they normally program it at.

The TK takes some space. I lost a considerable amount in my side box of my T600 for the air intake box and the "brain box". I can fit my 50ft air hose in there and other crap, but I'd say it took 75% of the passenger side box capacity. The inverter I had mounted under the bunk, and they used some real heavy duty wiring. A switch will be mounted on the dash, but for me, it replaced a useless accessory switch, so it was cool. The actual unit weighs about 480lbs and fit perfectly under my side skirt and doesn't melt or stain the side skirt. The control unit is relatively small and mounts cleanly to the wall with no wires exposed.

Some pro's are that it is pretty quiet and you only feel a very mild vibration while in use. Plumbed into the fuel system and monitors the batteries. The heater runs off the thermostat and goes off and on automatically, unlike the Espar unit when used as a stand-alone system minus the APU like I had prior. You will wake up in a pool of sweat otherwise without the thermostat.

Some con's are it smell's horrible if you're outside when running, but mainly when cranking up. Also, when the AC function is on, the fan is constantly blowing. The APU will kick on when the thermostat temp needs to be cooler, but the ignition and running isn't an inconvenience once you get used to it. It also isn't CARB legal, but then again, I don't know an APU that is. Some claim they are, I think.

The biggest pro for o/o's is that they have a finance program that require something like 20% down payment and easy monthly payments. Plus, its a tax deduction

The price bounces from one extreme to the next. For my setup, I was quoted from 11,500 down to my price of 8500. It will vary in different parts of the county. Some carriers have a deal with TK like mine does for discounts. My unit was purchased at TK in Rock Falls, IL, but the price was for the Iowa 80 jamboree. Not sure if they still honor it. On the coasts, the prices were higher. They also had it up and running in 2 days and are the nicest people.

The next option is the Carrier. That would be my second choice if the TK wasn't available, obsolete, or slapped my mama. When I was at TK, a Rigmaster was siting on a pallet, and the techs said an o/o bought the Tripak and they removed the Rigmaster and after 8 months, he still hasn't come back for it. Weird.

Rigmasters are cool. Loud, more scarce service locations, and limited features make it inferior IMO. I know a few guys without APU's that are leaning towards the BlackRock unit because it is completely stand alone.

 

I know where a new unused Tripac is for $6000, he also has a carrier. They are in OKC. Will PM anyone that is interested.

 

Tri-Pac here too. I put over 20,000 hours on it and replaced the belts and an alternator along with general services. It never let me down. And you can get it serviced at any ThermoKing dealer, the main selling point for me. And it was very quiet, you could not hear it in my Volvo and it was mounted under the passenger seat on the frame rail. I would not truck without one, as well as a Vue Qube sat system.

 

Great overview by BanditsCousin; I thought I would add two things:

First, any APU is CARB legal so long as your engine is 2006 or earlier. There is a specific exemption written for them (basically, your engine is so dirty to run any APU would be better).

Second, they are plumbed in with the main truck coolant system and it will circulate warm coolant back to the truck engine during very cold winter to make starts easier. Mine is plumbed with cutouts to bypass this if desired.

I highly recommend the TriPack. Mine has 3,500 hours with very few issues. It keeps up with 120 degrees in Phoenix and below zero easily with the bunk heater (and, more importantly, controls the latter with an actual thermostat NOT that stupid plastic dial thing on the standalone Espar -- you know, the one that is either freezing or lava-like).

 

Count me as another vote for TriPac. Something else that was touched on here that can save fuel is that you don't need to run it to get alternating current, thanks to the inverter. With a generator, you'd need to start the APU's engine just to use any AC appliance. (This is more of a problem if you run team, though). The TriPac's engine also doesn't stay on constantly either. It just starts when it needs to. So far, out of four [company] trucks I've driven with them, I've not had any problems. We still have trucks with Carriers, but the company quit installing them a while back.

 

One of the best I have seen

 

Is that your truck Heavy?

Here's my idea for a homemade APU.

I was thinking a converted lawn boy mower driving a couple of car alternators would be a good idea. You could use a chain drive from a bicycle to save money over belts and pulleys.

Just cut a hole in the back of the cab and mount a window a/c in there. I got one in the yard beside my doublewide if anyone is interested.

For heat just line one of the side boxes with cast iron and make a wood furnace out of it. There's plenty of trees around rest areas you could cut for free.

May not be legal in Cali but..........

 

No, this is my truck: