Recommendations for cheaper "stratacooler" benchtop coolers?

[Chris H Lindley]

On 12 Jun 1999 14:50:40 GMT, dkim at NMSU.Edu wrote:
>
>Well, at the local Wal-Mart (a giant department store chain, for you
>non-North Americans), one can purchase a small chest freezer for less than
>a single Stratacooler.  How about that?  (of course, it takes more bench
>space)

Yes but if it was a "life sciences" chest freezer it would be much more
expensive wouldn;t it!!! (Large amount of sarcasm here!!) Why is it
that whenever some so called normal type item, is sold in a life
sciences catalogue, the perceived value becomes much more than before!
Are all our grants that big!!!!

>p.s.  OK, you could try purchasing one of those double-wall "frosty mugs"
>that I see in stores.  These can be stored at -20 C and a small round tube
>rack may be devised to fit inside.  They might maintain correct
>temperatures for a reasonable time.
>
>How about a Thermos wide-mouth bottle with a chunk of "Blue Ice" on the
>bottom?
>
>One of the big problems is finding a molded plastic tube rack.  I haven't
>been able to overcome this obstacle.  Does anyone out there have a source?

I've seen some racks that would be perfect for a home made
cooler, but I can;t remeber where I saw them!!!! They were
basically a flat piece of plastic with eppendorf shaped
hollow lumps protruding through.

>
>(Now, any thoughts on making an air thermocycler out of a hair dryer and
>coffee can?)

What about an HPLC machine, using a Garden pond fountain pump,
some garden hose, and some empty toilet rolls????

>Chris H Lindley <chris at scotgate2.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>: Hi all,
>
>: What benchtop coolers can people recommend?
>
>: I mean ones similar to Stratagene's Stratacooler range. For what
>: they are these seem a little expensive!
>
>: For my own personal use, I made one from a freezer pack and
>: a polysterene "eppendorf"  box. This works pretty well,
>: although I'd hate to keep enzymes in it longer than
>: 15 mins outside of the freezer:-)
>
>: However for communal use in the lab, I'd like a good
>: source of some 20/30 tube racks, capable of keeping at at least
>: -20degC for 1 hour outside of the freezer!
>
>: Any reccomedations?

-- 
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¦  Chris H. Lindley                                  Yorkshire, UK  ¦
¦  chris at scotgate2.demon.co.uk     Ferg on #os/2 and #os2uk, EFnet  ¦
¦  WarpUK:UK OS/2 Users group                   www.warp.in-uk.net  ¦
¦  Molecular Biology & OS/2               www.scotgate.demon.co.uk  ¦
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