Winter shipping

[gary1218]

I've been testing a double foam insulated shipping box I put together with some favorable results so I thought I would post it here. With the insulated box I used the more efficient Phase Change Material gel packs.

The first few tests were done with the box just set out in my garage. With good results there I decided to do one more little more extreme test. This last test I placed the box outside exposed to the winter weather.

The shipping box is 15" x 15" x 15". The inside is 2" foam insulation that I cut to fit as snugly as possible. Inside of that is a small 1 1/2" thick foam cooler I got in at work that just happened to fit PERFECTLY.


On the bottom of the small cooler is the first PCM gel pack pre-heated to 76F.


Next are 12 froglet containers with the data logger placed down the center.


On top of those is the second PCM gel pack pre-heated to 76F.


There was enough space on each side of the cooler to place a 40hr heat pack.


Lastly is the 2" thick foam top.


The box was placed outside last night when I got home from work. Temps overnight were in the low 20'sF. Temps during the day were low 30'sF. The lowest temp recorded inside the small cooler where the frogs would be after being outside for 24 hours was 62F.


I thought that was pretty good.

[kyle1745]

You may want to try shipping it someplace, with no frogs of course. I would be interested to see if you noticed the same drop. I would bet not as it should not be in the elements as long.

[rozdaboff]

Gary -

How did you heat the PCMs to 76F? Did you place them in a water bath of that temp?

[sbreland]

Yeah know, I see SO MANY posts on here of people selling frogs as it starts to cool down and they refuse to ship... too cold. NOT TRUE! It's not just inexperienced shippers, even some very notable names (particularly some in the NW) won't do it so I am glad we are trying to get these trials out there and known. I uses a similar setup (just not the PCM material) and have done fine. With this type of packaging I see no reason why we can't ship year round. Some might say "hold on... we need more tests", but if you remember Brian did this exact same thing last year with nearly identical resuts. I think it is safe to ship in the cold if it's done with the proper precations (ie, see above) and hope that other learn from this and follow...

Gary, where did you get your PCM and was it affordable?

[gary1218]

Originally Posted by rozdaboff

Gary -

How did you heat the PCMs to 76F? Did you place them in a water bath of that temp?

Yep. Just a small 2 1/2 gallon tank with a heater and air pump to circulate the water a little bit.

[gary1218]

Originally Posted by sbreland

Gary, where did you get your PCM and was it affordable?

The company is Saf-T-Pak - http://www.saftpak.com/

I was able to get them to ship me two free samples through my work and I was able to buy two other ones from somebody off the board here. Otherwise I think they come as a 16 pack. They're continually reusable so there's no need to have 16 of them.

[gary1218]

Originally Posted by kyle1745

You may want to try shipping it someplace, with no frogs of course. I would be interested to see if you noticed the same drop. I would bet not as it should not be in the elements as long.

I agree. I figure if it can handle this extreme it can handle more "normal" shipping conditions.

I have to admit I was surprised with the results.

[gary1218]

I might also mention the box, ready for shipping, weighs 9-10lbs. Not bad. USPS shipping for this size box & weight is about $45.

[kleinhanz]

At 3lbs it cost me anywhere between $50 and $70 (you are talking 10lbs) to ship via overnight FedEx. How much did the packaging cost you? That inner cooler alone had to be at least $5-$10

I've shipped in all weather extremes sucessfully however, I stop shipping when the cost of shipping + materials is too high to pass on to the buyer. a.k.a winter months

I have to say Gary, your shipping method is really nice!! Thanks for sharing,

[gary1218]

Hey Rob,

I didn't say Fed Ex overnight. It was US Express mail overnight. I haven't shipped this particular box yet but I have used the US Express mail overnight with the last few orders I shipped and have had very good success.

As far as cost, the gel packs run about $8 a piece, there was a little cost for the 2" foam and deli cups, but the rest was free. At the vet office I work at I get a variety of nice size foam coolers ALL the time..............FOR FREE That's why Aaron is such good friends with me, he gets all the ones I don't want

If I were to ship this box I would charge a refundable $30 box charge to make sure I got it returned to me.