Lear 60 APU

[fly4kix]

Hey Guys,
Just wondering what experiences everyone has had with a Lear 60 APU. I've heard all kinds of things both good and bad. Company is replacing non apu 60 with new one. Any handy dandy tips would be appreciated
Thanks
Kix

 

[ultrarunner]

As all the FSR's will tell you, most of the problems associated with the APU's are somewhat related to not using them enough, especially after the airplane is cold soaked.

With that being said, we did have the starter-gen go bad on ours after about 300 cycles. But it's been strong ever since.

ALWAYS start it and let it run after every cold-soak flight. I do this regularly, even when returning to home base. I let it run for a good 15 minutes.

We make a habit of using it on the road all the time. GPU's are just way too unreliable in their delivery of amps and volts, that they make me nervous. Your APU Gen is a known quanity. Much safer than using GPU's, IMO.

Use it and use it often, and it'll be fine. That's pretty much about it.

 

[BOZO]

I would agree with ultrarunner. We have a APU on the 60 we operate and as unreliable as a lot of GPU's are out there it is well worth it. It's not 100% perfect...but for the past couple years we haven't really had any problems with it. If not for your flight dept. put it in anyway for resale...I think they're standard on the 60SE now. Good luck!

 

[yfly]

Is it true the apu on the 60 will not run the air conditioning? A friend of mine is considering a 60 as an addition to the fleet, but was put off by this apu issue.

 

[fly4kix]

Is it true the apu on the 60 will not run the air conditioning? A friend of mine is considering a 60 as an addition to the fleet, but was put off by this apu issue.

It will as the A/C is a freon set up using electric power, it is not a bleed air/acm type of thing. It only provides DC power.

 

[CAVOK69]

my apu works great but recently is started sputtering on start up.. and it has auto-shutdown a few times.... but I could not imagine operating this plane without one. I love it! just keep the water drained out of it, and buy an apu plug for the exhaust as it will collect rain.

 

[ultrarunner]

Is it true the apu on the 60 will not run the air conditioning? A friend of mine is considering a 60 as an addition to the fleet, but was put off by this apu issue.

No, this is not true....

APU runs the AC in the summer, and the heater in the winter...

works great.

 

[Bandit60]

No, this is not true....

APU runs the AC in the summer, and the heater in the winter...

works great.

Thats true but make sure you run the apu for about 5 min before you turn on the ac. If you turn it on right away you will exceed the allowable amps on the apu and it will shut down. I know from experience.

The APU is just an oversized battery charger.