Reefer Madness

[Moot]

Last week while driving through western North Dakota and eastern Montana I let my mind wander as I often do. I was thinking what if like the universe was really, really small man and all the people were.............. oops wrong reefer.
Reefer, as in refrigeration unit, Thermo King, Carrier. I worked for a refrigerated carrier for about 6 weeks. And that was a long time ago. So my reefer knowledge is limited and very dated.
Basically a reefer is a 2 cylinder diesel engine with a 12 volt battery running an alternator, compressor and other reefer stuff.
I have 3 ideas geared toward the straight truck reefer owner or anyone else interested in taking pot shots at the following.

1. Could a new reefer be spec'd or an existing one be retro-fitted with an appropriate sized alternator to charge not only the main reefer battery, but also 2 or 3 auxiliary batteries? The 2 or 3 auxiliary batteries would be deep cycles mounted on the frame and isolated from the main reefer battery. These batteries would power the sleeper. I'm sure running a reefer would cost more than running an APU, but if you already have a reefer why buy an APU.

2. Now that we have power how about some cool air. Could a piece of ridgid insulated ductwork be fitted between the sleeper and the box. The air duct would fit into a hole in the front of the box and connect to a fantastic fan mounted on the sleeper roof. Reefer temp could be set at 68 or 70 degrees except when freight required a specific temp.

3. What about those cold winter nights. Could a water hose be run before the radiator and into a heat exchanger in the sleeper and then into the radiator? Thus a loop that included the sleeper and the radiator with a shut off valve.

Is this MADNESS or do any of these ideas have merit? I just think up this crap. I leave this to the well grounded brain trust at EO to ponder and then tell me I'm crazy.

Does anyone think that the opening line of this post may get me a call from my company regarding a random drug test.

Now back to the universe. Wow man!

 

[dispatchn1]

makes cents to me what a refer can do but im not sure that you will be able to deal with the high temps. some loads are heated

 

[redytrk]

Here is a link to a OOIDA thread on the subject.
http://www.ooida.com/_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5914&SearchTerms=reefer,apu

Of course these guys are trying to do it from a trailer. Should be much easier with a straight truck.

 

[greg334]

Moot,

As I was planning my little C unit (former idea now) I had similar ideas. Well I took the time to talk to Thermoking about some my ideas.


You wrote – “Could a new reefer be spec'd or an existing one be retro-fitted with an appropriate sized alternator to charge not only the main reefer battery, but also 2 or 3 auxiliary batteries? The 2 or 3 auxiliary batteries would be deep cycles mounted on the frame and isolated from the main reefer battery. These batteries would power the sleeper. I'm sure running a reefer would cost more than running an APU, but if you already have a reefer why buy an APU.â€

If I remember right the control unit of the reefer maybe the problem and that a few units use Delco alternators which fitting a larger capacity alternator is not a problem.

You wrote – “Now that we have power how about some cool air. Could a piece of ridgid insulated ductwork be fitted between the sleeper and the box. The air duct would fit into a hole in the front of the box and connect to a fantastic fan mounted on the sleeper roof. Reefer temp could be set at 68 or 70 degrees except when freight required a specific temp.â€

What you can do instead of ductwork is add an additional evaporator. They make dual evaporators for reefers and I feel that plumbing additional a/c lines is easier than duct work between the box and sleeper. You can also turn off the box evaporator and use the sleeper evaporator – the only problem an additional temp probe and switching the temp probe to ensure that the system works properly – it is really a pain with an empty 25 foot box, 90 degrees outside and your sleeper at 35 degrees because the control unit has to cool down the box.

You wrote - What about those cold winter nights. Could a water hose be run before the radiator and into a heat exchanger in the sleeper and then into the radiator? Thus a loop that included the sleeper and the radiator with a shut off valve.

This can be done too, good idea.

 

[Moot]

Redytrk, I'm not a member of OOIDA so I couldn't get to the link you posted. I'm sure it would be much more difficult with a trailer. The use of refrigerated straight trucks in expediting is what got me started thinking along this line. If this idea had a chance I figured a straight truck would be more feasible.

Greg, I never thought of an extra evaporator. Good idea.

Here are a few more questions I have.

Is fuel used for a reefer or A.P.U. still exempt from road use tax?
If so, how do you calculate amount of fuel and cost of fuel use for these. Assuming fuel is drawn off the trucks main saddle tanks and not a belly tank as on a trailer.

Would it be cost effective to run a reefer vs. adding an A.P.U. If so is it being done.

Thanks for the comments. I would appreciate more feedback on this subject.

 

[ATeam]

It's not at all wierd to think of alternative applications for the resources that are already on your truck. It's just that some of today's reefer customers might grow concerned about your reefer being used for anything other than protecting their high-end freight. If your reefer freight is limited to mundane items like paint that can't freeze in the winter or electronics that must be kept at room temperature, a dual-purpose reefer may be no problem at all. But if you're hauling reefer freight, the value of which may go from a million dollars to zero because of a ten-degree temperature variation, it's probably best keep the reefer dedicated to the single purpose of protecting your customer's goods.