Most hold 170 ltr to the brim, Carrier, Lambert, and so on. Like other have said depends on weather conditions and so on. Most say run them continous for two reasons I’d say, constant temp and the other they are tempremental things, ■■■■■■ around with alarm codes etc if they fail to fire up again.
As to how long they last on a tank, well more by accident than use, I;ve known them to run continous on frozen -25 for over two days, not much left in the tank though and a risk of running out of derv. Most of the readings on the tank display are shall we say a bit off and not to be relied on. The last thing you want to start doing is dipping the tank. If youre on a long haul with one and you know the trailer diffrent matter. Otherwise I’d say play it safe and top up on the way with the white stuff.
PS, I’ve done fridge work for over 3 years now and have never put 250 ltrs in one, well as far as I can remember.
switchlogic:
I never run the fridge on constant unless the customer specifically requests in, it’s just a noisy waste of diesel and not required on most loads.
Whwn I was delivering frozen, I used to run the freezer until 9-10 PM, then turn it off overnight. At 6AM it was showing -15, but within 10 mins it was back down to -23.
Depending on load, ice cream etc, I never run it over night, cos I was kind(ish)
SWEDISH BLUE:
Whwn I was delivering frozen, I used to run the freezer until 9-10 PM, then turn it off overnight. At 6AM it was showing -15, but within 10 mins it was back down to -23.
Depending on load, ice cream etc, I never run it over night, cos I was kind(ish)
some guys i know run it at -29 the lowest it will go and then switch it off overnight
SWEDISH BLUE:
Whwn I was delivering frozen, I used to run the freezer until 9-10 PM, then turn it off overnight. At 6AM it was showing -15, but within 10 mins it was back down to -23.
Depending on load, ice cream etc, I never run it over night, cos I was kind(ish)
Don’t be fooled by that! The temperature of the load itself could be very different! The temperature read out only gives the temperature of the air inside the trailer. It is very important to check the temperature of the load itself prior to loading if you can. If the load temperature is too high the the trailer will not be able to compensate for that as it’s not intended to work that way. All this matters if they are particular about things at the delivery point. Some are, some aren’t.
Harry, well will start an argument on fridges with my comments.
I have only been on fridges for 35 years on and off, the best on i ever had was a middle east spec chereau that was ex Grangewood, heavy as hell 21ton empty with 4 inch thick walls, turn it off over night with frozen and it would be 2 degrees warmer in the morning,they don,t make em like that now.
Back to fuel consumption ,the gray and adams bodied fridges are bad to beat as the insulation is thicker than the french ones and all these are better at holding there temp than the Smits thats why the G&A fridges are tighter to load as the internal is 30mm less…
Also the temp of the goods when loaded is most important if more than 5 degrees difference the fridge will have no chance.
The best and most expensive fridges are the Thermo Kings, but these can blow some fuel through them i have had them use a tankfull in 3 days on a smit doing multi drops in the med countries, 4 days with G&A.
I have found the most economic fridge to be the Carrier 1300, which set at -14 on constant will tickover and only rev when defrosting, (ours are set on every 3 hours) and this will use 20 litres a day max, but if on multi drop in hot countries no use without a barn door,they will pull the temp down to -30 and keep it there.
The downside is the 1300 needs belts twice a year.
Once had a schmitz with a T King in Portugal weekended with ice cream and i had to move around the building to keep the sun off it, and put 50 litre a day in it .
So my fridge would be a G&A with a 1300 Carrier for economy
Hope this helps Harry
Klunk.
I’m going to strongly disagree here. My experience with G&A is that they a couple of sheets of plywood with a bit of foam squirted between. I have never known one more than two years old that wasn’t waterlogged and about a ton heavier that when it was new. On year round work to Spain the fridge on the G&A would have about 50% more hours on than the same fridge on a Cherau. Agree on the TK being better than a Carrier though.
Squiddy:
When I do a 400 mile round trip (in a rigid) and run the freezer for 200 miles it costs me about £20 less than if I run the freezer for 400 miles. Doesn’t factor in any harsh acceleration or traffic jams though so only a rough guess.
why would it considering you freezer should run run on seperate engine the the lorry engine.
Squiddy:
When I do a 400 mile round trip (in a rigid) and run the freezer for 200 miles it costs me about £20 less than if I run the freezer for 400 miles. Doesn’t factor in any harsh acceleration or traffic jams though so only a rough guess.
why would it considering you freezer should run run on seperate engine the the lorry engine.
Most rigids (not all) run the fridge from the vehicle engine.
Squiddy:
When I do a 400 mile round trip (in a rigid) and run the freezer for 200 miles it costs me about £20 less than if I run the freezer for 400 miles. Doesn’t factor in any harsh acceleration or traffic jams though so only a rough guess.
why would it considering you freezer should run run on seperate engine the the lorry engine.
Most rigids (not all) run the fridge from the vehicle engine.
I must have driven quite a few of the rare rigids that have there own motor fitted then.
Squiddy:
When I do a 400 mile round trip (in a rigid) and run the freezer for 200 miles it costs me about £20 less than if I run the freezer for 400 miles. Doesn’t factor in any harsh acceleration or traffic jams though so only a rough guess.
why would it considering you freezer should run run on seperate engine the the lorry engine.
Most rigids (not all) run the fridge from the vehicle engine.
I must have driven quite a few of the rare rigids that have there own motor fitted then.
there are various methods of running auxiliary equipment off a lorry gearbox or other engine coupling. Then there is this idea of saving fuel. ecodrivesystems.co.uk/what-is-eco-drive
Squiddy:
When I do a 400 mile round trip (in a rigid) and run the freezer for 200 miles it costs me about £20 less than if I run the freezer for 400 miles. Doesn’t factor in any harsh acceleration or traffic jams though so only a rough guess.
why would it considering you freezer should run run on seperate engine the the lorry engine.
Most rigids (not all) run the fridge from the vehicle engine.
I’ve found ridges that run from the vehicle engine to be in the minority. The main exception to this is the Frigoblock ones that run on electric from the vehicle engine. We’ve had a couple of Carrier and TK ones that have a separate engine but run from the vehicle tank, made life interesting on a 12t DAF with a tiny tank.
Squiddy:
When I do a 400 mile round trip (in a rigid) and run the freezer for 200 miles it costs me about £20 less than if I run the freezer for 400 miles. Doesn’t factor in any harsh acceleration or traffic jams though so only a rough guess.
why would it considering you freezer should run run on seperate engine the the lorry engine.
Diesel run freezer, but in a rigid so it draws fuel from the main tank.
Working for Christian Salvesson in Evesham I did a frozen drop in S Wales. They told me to turn up the fridge to maximum (+25?) and run it full blast all the way back to thaw it out.
I dropped the trailer and went home and next day there was a big enquiry because they had sent it to be loaded with soft fruit and ruined it. (The fruit not the trailer)
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