- Specializing in environmental chamber rentals and sales.
- Mechanical or external refrigerated
models.
- Programmable or set-point controllers.
- From
1 to 64 cubic foot interior.
- Chart
recorders, communication interfaces available.
- Manufacturers
such as:
- Tenney Engineering
- Thermotron
- Bemco
- Associated Environmental Systems
- Delta Design
- Cascade Tek
- Despatch
- and many others
- Regional stocking points to reduce freight costs and
transit time.
- Rent terms as short as 1
month.
- Technical support available.
Chamber Basics:
Environmental chambers come in many different shapes, sizes
and configurations. Whether
you’re looking to rent or purchase an environmental chamber, there are a
couple of questions you’ll need to ask yourself prior to ordering.
If you have any questions after you read through the following
guidelines, please give us a call. We’re
always here to help you get the right equipment for your testing needs.
First, you will want to figure out the interior
dimensions you will require for your tests.
Interior dimensions on most chambers are cubes or something close to it.
So if you’re testing an object that is 1” high, 1” wide, and 22”
long, the interior dimensions of your test chamber would probably end up being a
24”x 24” x 24” cube. Remember to give yourself an inch or two space on each side
of your test object for proper air circulation.
Next, you’ll need to specify the temperature and if
needed, humidity range in which you’ll be testing.
On mechanically cooled units, this range is usually –73C (-100F) with a
cascade refrigeration system or in the neighborhood of 0C for single stage
refrigeration. Most chambers can
achieve about 177C (+350F) on the high end.
Temperature chambers with humidity capability usually don’t get as hot
or as cold as temperature only chambers. The
temp/humidity chambers can range widely on their temperature range, but are
pretty standard in their humidity capability, usually from 20%RH to 98%RH.
There are some temperature chambers that use external
CO2 or LN2 for cooling, instead of mechanical compressors, and you would be
responsible for supplying all external coolants, however we’ve found that most
customers prefer the convenience of a self contained refrigeration unit.
The next option you’ll want to look at is the
controller. This is the interface
that you will use to direct the chamber to the proper temperature and humidity.
These come in two basic flavors. Digital
set point controller where you dial to a temperature and the chamber goes to and
holds until told otherwise, or programmable controllers where the user can
program ramp rates, soak times and even in some cases computer interface with a
computer to control all aspects of the testing.
Finally, you might want to think about some
options like a chart recorder, a viewing window or special access ports.
Our chamber guys can usually modify an existing chamber in many different
configurations to meet your specific needs.
Also, remember these units are usually big, heavy and require a lot of
power. With the exception of the
smaller ones, most require 220/240VAC, single or 3 phase input, and no chambers
ship UPS. These usually have to be
trucked to your location, and we even prefer air ride padded van lines to
transport our chambers.
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