Foam Dewars by Spearlab
Nov 9, 2009
I had the opportunity to see these dewars by Spearlab at the 2007 American Crystallography Association meeting in Salt Lake City.
They have become quite popular, but for those that have missed them they are WAY better than Glass Dewars. Foam dewars are virtually indestructible compared to Glass Dewars and run about half the price.
The dewars are also being used in ways that I would have never expected such as a transfer vessels of liquid nitrogen. Spearlab also just came out with a new 1400 mL dewar cryogenic dewar, which is shaped like the purple dewars shown above.
Posted by Sean |
Categories: Uncategorized | Tagged: Cryocrystallography, Data Collection, Macromolecular Crystallography, Tools |
Sili
November 10th, 2009 at 10:11 AM #
Very nifty.
Though they should hire a designer once they start turning a profit.
Sean
November 10th, 2009 at 12:43 PM #
What do you think could be improved about the design?
brad
November 10th, 2009 at 5:03 PM #
The lid falls off the tall blue one easily. It does not have a close fit, and boiled-off nitrogen fixes a rim of ice around the lid quickly.
Nitrogen tends to splash out from underneath the lid and soak down the sides of the dewar, threatening fingers. If they carved a circumferential channel near the top maybe this wouldn’t happen so quickly.
It’s good for carrying around for short periods of time, though, and the nitrogen stays clean if you knock the ice off carefully.
Paul
November 10th, 2009 at 8:27 PM #
Another one of my “related notes” – one tip I learned many years ago is to place a shower cap over the dewar while not in use. The ice tends to form on the surface of the shower cap rather than in the bowl of dewar. It’s not perfect, but certainly helps!
Todd
November 11th, 2009 at 12:13 PM #
He does have a few “prototypes” that have reduced icing and a better lid. The lid has a lip that fits more tightly. I believe there were a bunch custom made for a beamline in Europe (but my memory is fuzzy from our phone conversation).
I highly recommend these dewars, and I hope to support him more in the future. Sadly, these are not high-profit items and last forever, so there aren’t a lot of repeat sales.
Sean
November 11th, 2009 at 3:39 PM #
@brad
I have not had a lot of trouble with spilling or the lid coming off. Do you use a glass dewar instead?
@Paul
I will to give that a try!
@Todd
I only met Jon briefly, but was seemed to a really good guy and passionate about solving a problem. I hope the prototypes pan out so that we all can benefit.
brad
November 17th, 2009 at 5:17 PM #
I use a small glass dewar for quick freezing. For carrying canes I use the tall foam model. The lip on the lid that fits into the dewar is only .6cm tall and this is why it tends to pop out or just fall off.
It’s really nice as a temporary dewar for transfer of crystals and canes to long-term storage.
I’m going to get mine a hat now.
Sili
November 19th, 2009 at 12:56 PM #
Oh, it was nothing functional – I haven’t had a chance to try these (but I’ll keep them in mind if I get an appropriate job). They’re just not ’sexy’. And they don’t look particularly ergonomic either.
Sean
November 19th, 2009 at 4:37 PM #
@Sili
I hear you. We need to keep crystallography sexy.
Sili
November 20th, 2009 at 4:03 PM #
Well, crystallography is sexy. It’s just me who’s a poor representative.
I do like the colours (and having a variety would stop groups from stealing from eachother), but the cups and handles could be sleeker. A proper would make them safer to carry, and it can’t be that hard to add a supporting structure to the mould if necessary. With some ingenuity I’d imagine that one could even make a guard that would project the hand from spills.