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Re: Temperature Test
"David J. Ramsey" wrote:
>
> 3 boxes 12 x 12 x 12. All boxes with 1 bag of typical shipping water amount.
> Water temp 72 degrees
> 1 box no insulation
> 1 box 3/4" styro
> 1 box 1-1/2"styro
> All boxes sealed and set near each other outside in the sun most of the time
> (some passing clouds)
> Put outside at 10:00 temp approaching 84 degrees
> By noon the outside temp had hit 90, at 4:00 it was 93
>
> Box with no insulation - water temp 92
> Box with 3/4" - water temp 88
> Box with 1-1/2" - water temp 86
> Temperatures taken with a TelTru instrument grade dial thermometer.
> Considering the boxes were only exposed to the outside for 6 hours and to
> 90+ degrees for 4 hours, the styrofoam doesn't look to be worth much.
> Hopefully some others will try this experiment for a longer time and see
> what happens. Unfortunately I just made these boxes and have to use them
> tomorrow to ship fish in. I will still put at least 3/4" of styro all
> around.
> Needless to say, these results were not what I expected.....
Not too much surprise to me. The best insulation seems to be the molded
styro boxes with a good, taped-on, overlapping (interlocking) lid, inside a
corrugated cardboard box. Medical and vaccine shippers are ideal.
Trying to fabricate insulated boxes from sheet styrofoam is an exercise in
total frustration. They just leak *so* much air that they often don't stay
very constant, IMO.
What did you consider a typical shipping amount of water for one bag? That
would be 2-3 oz. for me, which is way too little thermal mass for such a
huge box. I would have several pairs and maybe some plants/cultures in that
size box, so the calories to be added would be many times that needed to
just warm one bag.
I guess I'm admiring the experiment, but questioning whether it tests things
the way we normally do them.
In winter, I also put a layer of newspaper about 1.5-2" thick in the bottom
of the styro box (even heated aircraft decks get really cold). I line the
box with a thin Tall Kitchen garbage bag. After placing the double-bagged
fish and other stuff in, I loosely twist the garbage bag closed, but don't
actually tie it. Plastic popcorn or bubble-pack is added outside it to add
as much insulation and cushion from the walls as possible. The lid is taped,
and it is placed inside the fitted outer box, which is also taped. The fish
bags are at least 2/3 air, and just barely firm enough to eliminate corner
traps (but far, far softer than what they send home from the lfs).
You tempt me to repeat the experiment with the way I pack things, to see if
I'm just blowing smoke going to that extra trouble.
Thanks for getting this going, David.
Wright
--
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679 huntleyone at home dot com
To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.
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