Desiccator
A desiccator used to refer to a laboratory glassware where things to be kept inside it are dry and away from the moisture in the air. It is also known as the dry box due to it keep the thing inside dry, what makes the thing dry simply the use of a desiccant, an agent to absorb all moisture in the air of a closure environment.
A desiccator normally made of glass, whether it is transparent or colored depends on the usage. The important reason of the building material is to allow us to see the things kept inside. The colored glass is used to prevent sunlight direct to the things kept inside especially those things are photo-sensitive.
Overview of the Top smart selection of desiccators
i) Sphere shape glass desiccator
WHEATON glass Dry-seal 140mm plate size vacuum desiccator
The unit costs of USD294 with the basic accessories such as a porcelain dessicator plate and vacuum grease which sum up to USD371.50 It has a diameter of 6” (150mm), height of 8 ¾” (260mm) and the plate size of 140mm. This model includes a free perforated aluminium plate in the unit. Suitable for home use or small scale lab use. With the accessories purchased, silicone o-ring will give the desiccator an airtight seal when all air is pumped out from the unit. It takes only 27” Hg to archive the maximum vacuum condition with the greaseless seal and the unit can withstand in a temperature range from 50 – 1760 F.
The set you purchased will have the desiccator and a perforated plate inside it. You may use ¼” to 3/8” vacuum tubing to connect to the hose barb. The other accessories needed to complete the whole set with the best performance of a drying chamber are a dessicant, a proper tubing and a vacuum pump. The size of the tubing is critical when it comes to the selection of tubing in order to hook up to the vacuum pump fitly.
Besides that the vacuum grease used to lubricate the taper valve also very important, it is recommended to use the silicone based grease for best performance and freezing prevention. For safety precaution, when the desiccator is vacuumized, do taping it in a criss cross manner as the best practice all the time.
Vacuum desiccator, PP/PC, 8”, 1/PK by Scientific Equipment of Houston
These autoclavable desiccators are non-breakable due to they are made of polypropylene (PP) and polycarbonate (PC) which are capable to hold vacuum up to 740mm Hg without the need of greasing for at least 24 hours. There are 2 version of desiccator sold by this vendor, one model is non-vacuum (plain) desiccator and the other model is vacuum desiccator, both are having the same design and shape except the non-vacuum model does not have the stopcock. The purpose of using a stopcock in vacuum desiccator is to create the vacuum by shutting it off during the extraction of air inside the desiccator using a vacuum pump and releasing it when it is not in use or opening the desiccator.
The stopcock has its self lubricated PTFE plug that is tested and working fine under 740mm Hg pressure level. It is recommended to use grease on the flanges to make the whole unit air tight. The unit costs of USD65.19.
ii) Desiccator cabinet
Desiccator Cabinet with gas ports by Ward’s natural science
The size of the desiccator cabinet is height, 8 7/8” x length, 9 ¼” x depth, 6 5/8”. It is fully transparent which allow anything keep inside the unit can be seen clearly and monitor anytime. The cabinet has 2 gas ports, one port is located at the top while the other port is located at the bottom of the cabinet which allow the gas flow from the inlet port to the outlet port easily and quickly during the sweeping of gas. This type of desiccator allow the creation of atmosphere and maintenance of the same atmosphere at any level of concentration of gas inside the cabinet.
Good for tissue work when dealing with a controlled carbon dioxide gas or it depends on the need of flooding the cabinet with nitrogen gas when sweeping with the oxygen gas through 2 gas outlets. To create the air tight seal condition, the built-in gas ports come with 4mm leakproof stopcocks and two roller latches on the gasketed door. The unit is sold at USD291 only.
VWR Desiccator Cabinets P42065-0001
This is a bronze acrylic desiccator cabinet which look brownish from outside. It is one of the popular product recently added to the VWR laboratory apparatus product family. They provide reliable and dependable product, combining top-notch and best in class quality at an inexpensive price. Great for laboratory scale needs and great value for money.
It is designed for dry and dust free storage, commonly used in freezers, on the benchtop or even in refrigerators. The material that makes the desiccator cabinet so durable is 6.35mm thickness of acrylic boards. To make the unit air tight, the door is also made of acrylic with 9.5mm thickness with full length hinges and a pair of stainless steel twist which used to locking purpose.
When buying this model, it comes together with 2 perforated trays to make sure a proper circulation of air inside the cabinet. 2 choices of clear or dark bronze acrylic to choose from. 3 sizes available. Free grounding shipping UPS service and free USPS shipping to APO and FPO addresses. The actual size for this P42065-0001 model is 23 X 23 X 40.6 cm.
Using a dessicator from youtube.com