POWER FOR FREE?
If you’re pulling refrigerated loads and want hotel power in your bunk without idling the big engine, a New Brunswick owner-operator and entrepreneur has an interesting solution for you – one that doesn’t involve buying an auxiliary power unit. Yendor Inc. president Rodney Foreman of Hillsborough, N.B., who has five trucks leased to Midland Transport and another to Day & Ross, came up with an innovative use of a reefer unit’s ability to create electrical power. Essentially, he modifies the standard Thermo King or Carrier alternator so that it runs a big 6000-watt power inverter housed in a bolt-on compartment beneath the reefer. And from there he’s got power via two 15-amp plugs to run stand-alone heaters and ordinary room-size air conditioners and whatever else in the sleeper. The standard Bosch alternator used in a TK/Carrier reefer is boosted to 120 amps using off-the-shelf Bosch parts, and since no part on the reefer itself is modified, there’s no effect on warranty. The inverter, cooled by fans inside its housing – though tests show it doesn’t actually overheat – offers a strong 6000 watts and can handle a big surge of 12,000 watts. Foreman’s tests have included running as many as four power-sucking 1750-watt space heaters on high at the same time. The benefits are clear: you get heating and air conditioning without idling the truck and wasting fuel; the unit itself uses no fuel; it’s very light; it needs no maintenance; and it makes no noise. And, of course, the driver’s comfort is assured. Retired Thermo King veteran Bob Gartley has acted as an expert consultant through the development stages, and that work is now done. The patented unit is ready for sale, at $3500 presently, though the marketing ‘arm’ of the Yendor enterprise has yet to get fully into action. Day & Ross is evaluating it through its Fastrax operation, incidentally. Foreman has no website as of yet, but can be reached via e-mail at yesdear@rogers.com (that’s correct) or by phone at 506-734-3800.