Thermo King MD-II SR with standby

[cottonbills]

I have a Thermo King MD-II SR that we bought used last year for use on our farm to cool produce (in transport and at home). The unit is fairly old--built in '00--but has the electric standby feature and has 0 hours on the electric engine according to the controller. I would love to be able to plug it in to save money and wear on my diesel engine, but do not have easy access to 3 phase power. The 3 phase TK engine is a 5 hp / 14.4 amps at 230 volts.

I've priced some off-the-shelf 3 phase converters and found them to be a bit more than I care to spend. Another problem is that I do not have the background in electricity or refridgeration to really know what I need and what will or will not work. Also, I hate to spend a great deal of money and not even know if my engine is good.

Any ideas how I can hook into the electric standby w/o spending a fortune? Thank you for your help.

[abbsnowman]

Hello CottonBills. I am afraid to say that you can't screw with nature. You have to do this right I'm afraid. If you try to shortcut you could be causing yourself more trouble. Please kepp a couple of things in mind, your machine is computer controlled and doesn't like bad or variable voltage so you can harm it by not using proper power. One other thing to keep in mind is the only part that doesn't have time on it is the stand-by motor.
You may find that it is actualy cheaper to just run her on diesel start stop.
Hope this helps!
Abbs

[cadwaladr]

leave it on engine change oil and all filters on a regular basis [500] running hours keep the condensor clean use good clean diesel get a spare set of belts/alternator brush pack treat her like a lady and she will last years

[cottonbills]

Thanks for your replies. I guess my best bet is to just let the diesel engine pull it. I really don't even know what that costs me, probably not as much as I might think. I need to check my fuel usage. What really annoys me is that I don't have a separate tank for non-tax fuel so I'm burning taxed fuel; but again I doubt it adds up as much as I've been thinking. Thanks.

[abbsnowman]

Your burning somewere in the neighbourhood of 2 liters and hour. (Roughly depending on mode etc.)
If your using start stop, your maximizing your savings.

[cebunting]

plus the set temp will be above 32f for produce. i am sure if the body is tight it will not run too much in start/stop mode at all

[abbsnowman]

In this case, leave well enough alone. :P

[lmn8tr]

I know its been over a year since this post, but ThermoKing does offer a single phase electric motor for this unit. I've had mine for over 10 years, running daily on diesel, and over night on electric. (22,000 hrs)Been very happy with the unit actually:)

[abbsnowman]

That may be true but question is, the cost may exceed the value?