Getting To Know Your Refrigeration Trailer

Whether you plan on hiring a refrigeration trailer to use for certain times or you intend on buying one to use on a more regular basis, it’s a good idea to get to know what you’re dealing with. While these aren’t particularly difficult to use, understanding the basics is important.

The Workings Mechanics of a Refrigeration Trailer

While every person who ever owns or hires a refrigerated trailer isn’t expected to be a fully qualified mechanical engineer, knowing the basics can keep you out of hot water (pardon the pun). The main thing to remember about these unit is that they have one primary function – to maintain the temperature of whatever happens to be inside. They are also designed to keep humidity levels constant by condensing any moisture in the air.

There are 3 major components which regulate both the temperature and humidity of a refrigeration trailer:

• Compressor: The role of the compressor is to draw in gaseous refrigerant and compress it until it becomes a liquid. This liquid then gives off heat to the body of both the compressor and the surrounding air. It is run by a small engine within the unit and is an essential part of it.
• Condenser: From the compressor, the liquid gets passed to the condenser. At this point, the liquid refrigerant is still pretty warm and is exchanged within the condenser, flowing to both the walls of the tubing and its attached fins. These fins provide a larger surface area in which to cool down the drawn in air. It works in a similar way to that of how the radiator in a car cools and engine.
• Evaporator: By the time the refrigerant reached the evaporator, most of the heat has now dispersed. So, what you are left with is a cool liquid. This cool refrigerant is then expelled into the evaporator through a kind of metering valve. In the evaporating chamber is where the refrigerant expands, transforming into a gas. As this happens, it absorbs in heat from the surrounding finned coils and then transfers this heat to the refrigerant. By giving up some of this heat to the evaporator, the trailer is cooled. This process is repeated until the desired temperature level is reached.

Inside a Refrigeration Trailer

Refrigeration trailers are pretty simple devices that are designed to put things in. Therefore, you won’t find too much cluttering up the inside. What you may find inside (depending on the size and style of the trailer) are a few shelves in which to safely store things and some lighting to make it easier to see in dim light.

Tips for Using a Refrigerated Trailer

If you’ve only just bought your trailer or is the first time you’re looking to hire one, it’s understandable that you want to be prepared and remain as safe as possible while using it. The following are a few helpful hints that should help you do just that:

• Power supply location. To keep your refrigerated unit working effectively you’re doing to need to either power it up to the mains or run it off a generator. Whatever method you decide to use, be sure to park the trailer as close as possible to the power source. Connecting leads aren’t usually very long as they tend to suffer from a voltage drop, which is not want you want as this may cause the unit to malfunction.
• Stay put. Once you are parked in a safe place, close to your designated power supply, avoid moving the trailer again unless you absolutely have to. Excessive movement can cause de-leveling in the freezer or chiller. If this happens it causes havoc with the drainage system, potentially causing damage to the fan/coil. In addition to that, you may have a hard time closing the doors….
• Keep it light. Shelves are there to be used – not abused. A lot of refrigerated trailers are equipped with shelving in which to store a range of items. And while these are super handy, they do have the limit. Overloading them will put extra strain and stress on them, and you may end up with your stuff all over the floor. You have been warned.
• Doors stay shut. It may seem like a given, but you’d be surprised at how many people make the mistake of leaving their refrigerated trailer door ajar only to come back to find their goods are warmer than when they put them in there. Refrigerated trailers are very good at what they do, provided you use them right. To keep your goods nice and cool, double check the doors are sealed each and every time they’re accessed.