At Elspeth's request, here's a link to a picture of the rack we use for drying out shipping dewars.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ber2iikra9x73y/2013-02-21%2013.39.38.JPG Very simple and both we and the Lea group here have found it to make a huge difference the the effectiveness and longevity of our dewars. Ed. -- Dr. E.D. Lowe Department of Biochemistry University of Oxford South Parks Road Oxford, UK OX1 3QU e:edward.l...@bioch.ox.ac.uk t: +44 (0) 1865 613288 f: +44 (0) 1865 613201 On 12/07/2013 14:27, "Edward Snell" <esn...@hwi.buffalo.edu> wrote: >Ditto - I was always impressed with the contraption in the Garman lab >which, if I remember correctly, is made of a thick block of wood and some >plumbing pipes. It is designed to hold empty open Dewars inverted so they >could dry. > >Edward Snell Ph.D. >Assistant Prof. Department of Structural Biology, SUNY Buffalo, >Senior Scientist, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute >700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-1102 >Phone: (716) 898 8631 Fax: (716) 898 8660 >Skype: eddie.snell Email: esn...@hwi.buffalo.edu >Telepathy: 42.2 GHz > >Heisenberg was probably here! > > >-----Original Message----- >From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of >Ginell, Stephan L. >Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 12:45 AM >To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK >Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] frosted crystals during storage in pucks > >My experience with xtals frosting in LN2 either in a dewar, while >freezing, or in pucks, has been because the LN2 was contaminated with ice >crystals The fog you see above your dewar when freezing xtals is frozen >water vapor...it will fall and collect in the LN2 and also deposit on the >xtals. Dewars filled with recycled LN2 get contaminated with ice. Dewars >dried upside down allow the cold gas to flow out and warm moist air to >flow in and the water to condense inside the dewar (basic physics). To >dry shipping dewars keep up right while warming. >Steve > >Sent from my iPad > >On Jul 11, 2013, at 5:25 PM, "Nathaniel Clark" ><nathanielcl...@gmail.com<mailto:nathanielcl...@gmail.com>> wrote: > >At our last synchrotron trip, the beamline staff suggested that the >problem was due to moisture accumulation in the dry shipper. They >recommended storing them inverted (for a few weeks, if I recall), and/or >putting a supply of dry air in the dewer. Haven't tried it yet! >Nat > > >On Thu, Jul 11, 2013 at 5:08 PM, <Rain Field> ><rainfiel...@163.com<mailto:rainfiel...@163.com>> wrote: >Hi All, >We found if the crystals are storaged in pucks for 3-4 days in shipping >dewar (with liquid nitrogen), they are almost frosted. >Although I can wash them with liquid nitrogen, but it's not convenient to >do that for each crystals. >I doubt it's because the humid air in North West America. >Does anyone has an idea how to avoid this? >Thank you!
