ModSensorsTrailer power monitoring with battery backup
A breaker trips at 2 a.m., the heater stops, and the first report is a crew at 7 a.m. with frozen lines. The power monitor reads the mains every minute and sends the alert when it drops.
What it measures
The unit takes three readings once a minute: mains presence, battery voltage and current draw. It mounts inside the trailer and plugs into the same hub as the tank sensors. The status screen by the door shows the readings to the crew on site; the app and the office dashboard show them to you, with history.
Trailer power monitoring covers the trailer's own supply: the shore power cord or genset feed into the unit, its battery, and what its circuits draw. It does not monitor the site's electrical system.
When the power goes
Mains usually goes one of three ways: a breaker trips, the generator runs out of fuel, or someone unplugs the cord. On the next reading, the hub sees mains presence gone. The horn sounds and the status screen shows the alarm. With a cellular connection, the same alarm reaches your phone as a push notification or SMS, naming the trailer. The hub and the alarms run on battery backup, so the alarm still goes out after the mains is gone.
The circuit that matters in winter is the heater. When the feed drops, the heater stops, and in a washroom trailer the water lines freeze before the morning crew finds out. An alert at 2 a.m. leaves time to send someone with a cord or a jerry can. A frozen trailer costs a thaw-out, often burst lines, and days off rent.
Draw history
The dashboard keeps the current draw of every trailer, so you can see which units use the most power. Two things to look for in the record: a trailer whose draw never falls at night, which is worth checking for a heater that runs without stopping, and the measured load of a yard of office trailers when you are sizing a generator.
Power for the system itself
The hub runs on 120 V mains or on 12/24 V solar and battery. Battery backup keeps the hub, the horn and the status screen running when mains is lost, and all three work with no cell signal. Phone alerts, draw history and the dashboard need the cellular connection; on a weak-signal site, the hub takes an external antenna.
One hub, add it any time
Power monitoring plugs into the same hub as water tank monitoring and the security camera. Most fleets start with tank and power monitoring on washroom trailers, where frozen lines and a full tank both take the unit off rent, and add cellular to the units far from the office. Office trailers with a heater circuit take the same unit.
Fit it when the trailer is built, or onto a restroom trailer already in the fleet, of any age; a typical install takes an afternoon. See pricing to request a quote; quotes go out the same day.
Specifications
| Measures | Mains presence, battery voltage, current draw |
|---|---|
| Reading interval | Every minute |
| Alarms | Mains lost (breaker trip, generator stop, cord out); horn and status screen on the trailer; push and SMS with cellular |
| Backup | Battery backup keeps the hub and alarms running when mains is lost |
| Supply | 120 V mains or 12/24 V solar and battery |
| Connectivity | Cellular for phone alerts, history and dashboard; external antenna option |
| Operating range | Mounted inside the trailer, rated −30 to +50 °C |
| Hub | Shares the hub with tank, temperature, gas and camera add-ons |
Common questions
Will I still get an alert if the power is completely out?
Yes. The hub and the alarms run on battery backup when mains is lost, so the horn and status screen keep working on the trailer and the phone alert goes out over cellular.
Does it work on trailers running on a generator?
Yes. The unit reads whether mains is present, whatever the source. When the genset stops or runs out of fuel, the reading drops the same as when a breaker trips, and the same alarm goes out. Draw history also shows what the trailer pulls, which helps when you size the generator.
Does it need a cell signal?
The horn and status screen do not; they run on the trailer. The phone alert, SMS, draw history and dashboard need the cellular connection. An external antenna can be fitted on weak-signal sites.
Can I add power monitoring to a trailer that already has tank sensors?
Yes. It plugs into the same hub, and nothing already fitted is replaced. The same applies the other way: a trailer with power monitoring takes tank sensors later.
Talk to us
Tell us how many trailers and where they sit. We will send a quote the same day.