I had the CAT mechanic out today flashing an ECM, and we got to discussing the new engines in Dozers. He tells me the dozers and probably other equipment as well are equipped with the DPF filter as the new trucks are. The fact that he said you can only get 3-4 hours maximum before a 30 minute re-gen sitting still leads one to believe there will be unhappy customers. I guess this is the future, and it is what it is, and there is not much you can do about it. Do any of you have one of these yet, and if so what have your experiences been?
Interesting... so you have to stop work and let the filter regen for 30 minutes?
I imagine they will try to make it like the pickups that you dont have to stop it just increases the egts to burn out the soot in the filter. But I can see the increased fuel injected on the exhaust stroke witch causes the increase in EGT's would cause the motor to heat up on hot days and maybe make the operator slow down to avoid hurting the motor from hotter temps found in regen temps. Maybe they will safe guard the motor from damage by derating the motor while its in regen when outside temps are above a certian piont. If overheating cause of regen was an issue
The stuff I have seen on the Cats says the regen is every ten hours. You don't get the choice of doing the regen while operating either. The computer takes over and you sit a wait for it to finish. A lot of people are throwing rocks at Cat for this but it will happen to all the rest also. It's just a matter of when. Maybe you will pay more attention to who you elect to congress in the future.
I think we should start over with congress, problem is there isn't enough qualified people that want the job. My solution to the teir 4 crap is to not buy new. Sooner or later they will perfect it or they abandon the idea, or they will outlaw my older equipment... but thats a chance I take.
By the time Tier 4 comes in, they'll regen while you're working and you won't need to stop for it to happen. This 10-hr regen is on the early development engines. It will get better, but it'll come at a price.
The regen time should vary depending on soot levels and how hard the machine is being worked. Folks had better start thinking serious about this because T4 interm hits January 1 2011!!
"or they will outlaw my older equipment." California (a leader of trends ?) is doing just that. http://www.constructionweblinks.com/Resources/Industry_Reports__Newsletters/Aug_27_2007/cali.html