Generator and air conditioning feedback

DuMass · Aug 31, 2004

Can anyone give some personal experience feedback on their generator of choice and where it was purchased/installed please. I'm looking for a/c mainly and want to be able to use a landline connection when possible so I hoping for suggestions or warnings mainly for those types which do not incorporate an a/c compressor. The popular one on trucknet seems to be ProHeat but the searches I've done weren't too helpful. I understand ProHeat has a new option for an independant radiator system but I can't find any details. TruckGen was reccomended by a friend but they seem to want to do only roof air installs and do not seem to have and outside service/installation reps. Powertech appears to make a nice genset, but I'm on my own for a/c as well. I've been in touch with Danhard (a/c manufacturer)and they have a really nice modular system (70-2030 115 Volt Cooling system) but don't sell generators and do not do any installs so I would need to use a local auto a/c service shop. (btw startup amperage on their system is 28amps)Mix and match or complete system? thanks in advance

Glen Rice · Aug 31, 2004

I've had several Powertech units, they are based out of Leesburg Florida, and have a service network here and in Canada that's as good as any. Onan also has improved there RV unit and is a nice little package. I would recommend going a little bigger than smaller, such as a 7000 watt unit. I've known some truckers who have tried going with a 3500 watt unit and burned it up. Bigger is better? Or maybe better safe than sorry.

DuMass · Aug 31, 2004

Thanks Glen,
7000 is what powertech recommended. How long have you had the powertech? Where did you get it and if you don't mind how much$$$? Did you have it installed or do it yourself? How many hours do you have on the unit?

The interesting part of generator sizing is that power ratings are usually based on an elevation of 500' and for every 1000' of elevation the generator is de-rated 3% also the rating is based on 75*F and for every 10* over 75* they de-rate 1%. So a 3000 watt generator in Tucson, AZ at 2500' and 105* becomes a 2730 watt generator. In Colorado at 6000' it's a 2415 watt . Most a/c units run at 8-12 amps@120 volts and startup voltage is 1.5 - 3.5 times running amps depending on the compressor. So Ohm's law (volts x amps = watts) means that the Danhard a/c system which has a starting amp load of 28 amps @120v needs a generator output of (28x120=)3360 watts. Heating is even worse especially resistive heating and you'd have only 2010 watts at Red Mountain Pass at 11,000'. Add a fridge, microwave, tv/vcr, stereo, and a battery charger and 3000 watts can't do it. ProHeat has a 4000 watt and that's really close and even TruckGen's 5500 watt unit doesnt have much power to spare. On the other hand it's bad to always run less than 50% power due to wet stacking althoughI understand this is really usually only under 25% or less power (like idleing all night and the smokestack effect in the morning). I would really buy a new genset than a new truck engine though.

http://www.powertech-gen.com/

Aviator · Sep 1, 2004

I have an Aux generator on my truck. So far I like it fine.

It has a alternator for charging the truck batts, is water cooled and circulated both through the hest for the sleeper and main engine. This keeps the engine warm for starting when its been shut down. It also has an AC compressor on it.

I find it does not use much oil, and does not bug me much when its running. The AC keeps it cool in here unless its 100+ out, then I have to close the behind the seat curtains to make the area it is cooling smaller.

I am honestly unsure what it burns for fuel per hour, but it is not much. COmpany claims about 1 pint or so an hour.

Aviator

davekc · Sep 2, 2004

Truckgen in Jacksonville Fl builds a good unit and stands behind it. Make different models depending on what you need.
Davekc

mikecop · Sep 2, 2004

I have had my Rigmaster unit for about 2 1/2 years. It has a stand-alone cooling system, so you don't need to cut into the truck system.
It does a very adequate job heating in winter and cooling in summer. It also provides AC power to the sleeper, trickle charge to the batteries, and power to a block heater. It burns 1 liter of fuel per hour. It has a 2 cylinder Perkins engine.

Rigmaster is located in Toronto, and has dealers throughout Canada and the US. At the time I bought mine, Rigmaster did not have a dealer in my home area (Detroit), but now Espar of Michigan (Ray Lawrence) is also a Rigmaster dealer. I have used him for service on the unit, and he and Matt, his technician, are real good people.

I purchased my unit, and had it installed, from Brad MacDonald, an independent truck serviceman and Rigmaster dealer in Keswick, Ontario. I would recommend either MacDonald Transportation if you are in Canada, or Ray Lawrence at Espar of Michigan if you are in the US. My use of Rigmaster has been very satisfactory. Mike

geo · Sep 3, 2004

i have had 2 proheat's they have a great nation wide
service center's
have been thru 2 hurricane with proheat and when isbell came to
town in 2003 had 4 refer and 3 freezer in hood hook up and running
so nobody on my part of street lost any food, and had hot coffee
for 8 days we were with out power, ran proheat for 7 days 24 7
stopped it every day to check to see oil level in unit
and 4,000 watts handle it ok to run coffee pot and mirco wave
had to unplug refer's to run them as they take alot of power

tsi in north jackson oh 800 388 3850 call bill moore
he's best place to get one

also for your info on the fl60 i had in 4 year's saved $12,000 in fuel
and $4,000 in maintance cost
as 250 hour's equals 10,000 miles at 50 mph
also had 6,000 hours on motor and only 227 hour's of idle in
4 year's

different states are starting no idle
we need to write people and say if you want us not to idle
we need help with buying the genset's no matter what one
get so write and call your local offical
if you want my vote this is what i need

NEVERHOME247 · Sep 9, 2004

WE HAVE A YAMAHA EDL6500S DIESEL GENERATOR. USES A TWIN CYLINDER WATER COOLED KUBOTA ENGINE. UNIT HAS ITS OWN ENCLOSURE AND IS EXTREMELY QUIET. ONLY CONNECTION TO THE TRUCK IS WHERE WE PLUMBED IT INTO OUR FUEL TANKS. WE PUT A COLEMAN 15,000 BTU ROOFTOP AIR UNIT ON WITH 6000 BTU HEAT STRIP. WILL ABSOLUTELY FREEZE YOU OUT OF THE TRUCK EVEN IN THE HOT SOUTHWEST. WE INSTALLED THE UNIT OURSELF,SO NO LABOR COSTS. COST OF GENERATOR $3925.00 COST OF AIR UNIT $575.00 SO WE GOT ABOUT $4500.00 PLUS A LITTLE LABOR. UNIT WORKS GREAT. GENERATOR COMES WITH 2 YEAR WARRANTY PARTS AND LABOR. IS EASY TO SERVICE. AS FAR AS PARTS AND SERVICE GO. YAMAHA DEALERS EVERYWHERE. SO FAR WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY PROBLEMS THAT HAVE REQUIRED US TO NEED REPAIR. KNOCK ON WOOD!

mcbride · Sep 16, 2004

Hi Dumass,

We have an Aux and would NOT recommend it. The only places you can get it repaired (which is quite often) is Alumi-Bunk locations in Detroit or Dundalk, Ontario. We have been waiting for them to call us back with a part we ordered for ours since LAST October! We have no heat/air with ours now. It is a glorified battery charger. We have had to replace the main computer board, several belts, two alternators at $300 a pop and now the air conditioning unit is froze up. We can't use it for heat for another reason. (The part we ordered) You must also note, the Aux is not an actual generator but is a two cylinder engine that does not produce electric. Therefore, you can't plug anything into it like a roof top air etc

We are looking to purchase a regular RV generator now.

mcbride-
--What goes around comes around--

davekc · Sep 17, 2004

Just a note
For generators as mentioned I recommend Truckgen. We had several rigmasters with mixed results. Not a bad unit for a 72" bunk or smaller. Anything larger, and it will not keep up in extreme climates. In those cases, get a larger generator and roof unit. Much more reliable in our experience.
Davekc

Tennesseahawk · Oct 1, 2004

McBride...Aux Generators are MADE by AlumniJunk!!! Count on the air not working just as in the trucks LOL.

mcbride · Oct 1, 2004

I know....<sob> <sob>
mcbride-
--What goes around comes around--

DuMass · Oct 12, 2004

Thank you all so much for the tips and warnings. I've survived the summer (I think) so I got a little breathing space as I have an Espar bunk heater to get me thru the cold stuff. TruckGen seems to be a very recommended unit but it seems you need to have them do the install if you need it done right. PowerTech also seems to build a killer unit and with the big sleeper guys selling them, the service of many local generator shops (even one here in Tucson, land of the lost), the fact that they will sell direct if you choose to do your own install and that they are an 1800rpm unit vs. a 3600rpm 2 brush. Unfortunately PowerTech is still kind of off the map, if you're in bfe you will possibly be waiting for parts. They use the Cat/Perkins engines and Cat doesn't carry parts for them yet(Cat is planning their own line of small gensets for 2005-6). The Onan has a decent network of service if you don't mind Cummins, but don't forget about the inverter unit circuitboard problems, the variable load sensing speed adjustment computers keep cooking themselves apparently (I suppose that makes them QUIETER

when they're not running). I'd be very interested to hear about the Yamaha as that's a new one for my list. Do you have any photos of the install?

Thanks again for all the help. It's impossible to know from spec sheets and salesmen I really appreciate the real experiences.

Cheers,
Jim

Glen Rice · Oct 14, 2004

I've had all my generator sets installed by Bentz Transport out of Ft. Wayne In. 1-800-664-BUNK. I had over 20,000 hours on last one before the truck was destroyed. Prior to that one my 2000 Freightliner had over 25,000 hours when it was just recently sold. Remember to follow oil change intervals and always change filters, air and fuel. Also there is a support bearing you need to change every 10000 hours..Do it, don't scrimp here. Good luck, better check with Keith on pricing at Bentz Transport.

gearjammer_2000 · Dec 5, 2004

I went with the yahama 6500 edl DON'T do it I am now at 7 months and 4 shops getting some work done on it none of the shops want to work on diesel engines it looked good when I put the system together a bit heavy but if you can't get it worked on what is it worth

davekc · Dec 5, 2004

The last that I heard was AB has gone to the onan generators. I don't think they are doing the aux anymore. Probably a good thing. Powertech builds a good unit but it is for the big sleeper folks. Kinda overkill in a 84" bunk or smaller. We have a truckgen and it has worked real well. We have had it for two years now.
On a side note, I read service bulliten on onan and supposedly they corrected the board problems. Not a bad unit with alot of service places, of course cummins but alot of RV dealers.
Davekc

NEVERHOME247 · Dec 5, 2004

Jammer, What sort of problem are you having with your Yamaha? I have the same unit. And I really like mine. I haven't had any trouble with it what so ever. I did run into a problem at first finding Yamaha dealers who stock the filters for it. So I went to Kubota,and they had the filters. The Yamaha Generator uses a Kubota engine. And the Kubota GL6500 generator is the same as the Yamaha EDL6500. If all else fails Kubota should be able to work on it. Other,then change the filters on mine. Its been trouble free.

security030 · Nov 25, 2008

The interesting part of generator sizing is that power ratings are usually based on an elevation of 500' and for every 1000' of elevation the generator is de-rated 3% also the rating is based on 75*F and for every 10* over 75* they de-rate 1%. So a 3000 watt generator in Tucson, AZ at 2500' and 105* becomes a 2730 watt generator. In Colorado at 6000' it's a 2415 watt . air conditioning

LDB · Nov 25, 2008

The math actually works out to 2738 at 2500' and 105 degrees. Being at 6000 feet at 105 degrees is extremely unlikely but if you did hit on that record setting day it would be a 2461 watt unit based on the 3% and 1% hits for altitude and temp. In any event, it's a good point to remember that the units aren't always putting out the maximum rated output, that that's based on optimum conditions.