Should aircon receiver/drier get cold? Or be insulated?

[Circlotron]

On my car (V8) there is a slightly larger than beercan sized container that the cold gas from the a/c goes through on it's way back to the compressor. I think it is called a receiver/drier. This thing gets all cold and moisture condenses all over it. So does the pipe that goes from it back to the compressor. The pipe used to have rubber insulation on it many moons ago but it has all hardened and fallen off.

Anyhow, the question is, should this beercan size thing get cold, and if it should, ought it have some kind of insulation around it to stop it picking up unnecessary heat from the engine bay and making the a/c work harder than it should? I know the pipe should be insulated.

[Jxw]

yep that's right, it's before the compressor so the gas has expanded/decompressed at that point of the system so it's cold, can't do much about it, the compressor and condenser are the parts working the hardest and creating a majority of the heat.

[Circlotron]

I might just put some kind of stuff around it and the pipe too. The system is pretty much flat out some days so no point trying to cool down the engine bay as well.