From: Jeffrey Lewin <jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**MTU.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Freezers and power outages
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:44:09 +0000
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CAEwQnqjO=sy1krVih0sb_hGs4OO4=8-YGk5wxiWSEwtQ3GRXJQ**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To


How full the freezer and the quality of the seal make a huge difference. For -20 freezers, I recommend that if they are not full, to add water jugs. Bad seals on a -80 (or seals that are frosted) and misadjusted closing mechanisms can cause them to lose temperature very quickly.

When I was in Biological Sciences In 2014 we had a scheduled outage that had problems extending the outage (the breaker was bad and the electrician left the job rather than try to apply a temporary fix; the power was out from 4:00 pm until 7:45 am the next morning. I arrived at work at 8:00 and did a walk through and gathered the following data. As you can see, we had some serious temperature losses. After this outage, we found (from a Risk Management account) ca $14,000 to install backup circuits to all the -80's and a few critical -20's; we did not add them to the walk-in coolers. Unfortunately, the CO2 incubators did not get included. We also ended up repairing/replacing seals and closing mechanisms in several units

(Parenthesis is what the temperature should have been)
Below are rooms and temperatures for some items:
(4C) walk was 12 C
(4C and -20C) Hallway walk-ins 6.8C and -15..8C
(-20C) freezer -14C
(-80C) ultra low -31C
(-517 ultra lows -11C and -9C
(4C) walkin 10C
(-80C) ultra low -19
(-80C) Revco freezer -.6
(-80C) ultra low -32
(-80C) ultra low -38
(4C) Iso temp +10
(37C; 5%CO2?) CO2 incubator 27.6C 6.18% CO2
(-80C) ultra low -2

On Mon, Oct 30, 2017 at 9:22 AM Robin M. Izzo <rmizzo**At_Symbol_Here**princeton.edu> wrote:
You are correct, especially if it is full. It should maintain temperature for 24-48 hours if it is not opened. A refrigerator doesn't maintain temperature as well as a freezer.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Robin M. Izzo
Director
Environmental Health and Safety
Princeton University
609-258-6259 (office)
Visit the EHS website at ehs.princeton.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU] On Behalf Of Stuart, Ralph
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2017 8:41 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Freezers and power outages

Does anyone have a planning rule of thumb for how long a scientific freezer can be expected to maintain temperature for biological sample storage during a power outage?

I recognize that there are many details being overlooked in such a broad brush question, but I believe that if they are undisturbed, well-maintained freezers should be able to maintain temperatures without power for a a day or two. I recognize that "well-maintained" may not describe all freezers found in laboratories. And that older freezers may not come back on after power restored. And many other factors are involved... but for practical planning purposes, am I off-base?

Thanks for any information on this.

- Ralph


Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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Jeff Lewin
Chemical Safety Officer
Compliance, Integrity, and Safety
Environmental Health and Safety
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI 49931

O 906-487.3153
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