Renewed refrigeration

Sometimes it’s not enough to refurbish a vehicle and trailer and forget about the accessories, especially when you’re transporting refrigerated cargo.

GEA Refrigeration Africa offers a full line-up of transport refrigeration solutions with the Thermo King range. Thermo King is a leading global brand of refrigerated transport solutions and, as such, demands the back-up and service its customers expect.

GEA Refrigeration realises this and therefore offers a unit refurbishing centre to its South African customers. Based in Bloemfontein, the GEA Rebuild Centre is manned by five technicians specially trained by Thermo King to ensure that the units are refurbished to its high standards and customer expectations.

“It’s a full production and assembly line,” says Ronnie Meechan, general manager, GEA Transport Division. “Units come in to the centre and are stripped down completely. The panels get fixed up and the engine and compressor are either refurbished or, if necessary, replaced with new units.”

Seven to 14 days later, the old, battered unit that arrived is as good as new. But the process doesn’t end there. The centre follows strict quality protocols before any refurbished unit may leave. The units are test run for 48 hours through all their cycles to ensure that they are operating at their best. The workshop caters for second-hand and customer units. If a unit is second-hand, it is sold back to the market as a refurbished unit.

All refurbished units are backed by a one-year guarantee, which the centre carries on behalf of the various GEA branches.

The units the centre refurbishes are generally older units that have been replaced by new ones. The units are removed by the respective GEA branches and sent to the Rebuild Centre, where they are evaluated to establish their overall condition. If a unit is beyond repair, it normally gets stripped for parts that can be reused, or ends up as scrap metal.

“There is quite a market for refurbished refrigeration units,” notes Meechan. “They offer affordability, come with the same back-up as new units and are as reliable as new too.”