Team:UMaryland/Hardware
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Background |
List of Parts |
Results |
|---|
Background
We built the DIY ultra-low freezer specifically for iGEM teams. Ultra-low freezers, which are necessary to keep competent cells ready for transformation, are a vital part of any synthetic biology lab. However, they are complex and prohibitively expensive. The most affordable models are around $5000 USD and must be maintained by professionals. Many iGEM teams that struggle with funding cannot afford to purchase or maintain them.
The DIY ultra-low freezer is our solution, a sub $300 USD, compact, modular device that any team can afford and maintain. Our freezer fits inside of refrigeration devices available in most school environments, including freezers and ice machines, to achieve temperatures below -70 C. The freezer is composed of solid parts held together with thermal grease and rubber bands, so it can be disassembled and repaired effortlessly. It can hold five PCR tubes or one 1.5 mL tube of competent cells, enough for a single team.
List of Parts
| Component | Part Number | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Small Cooler | 04812-5L31-04CFG | $56 + $3 RTV sealant |
| Large Cooler | 25412-5L31-07CQQ | $53 (RTV sealed) |
| Water Block | WBA-1.62-0.55-CU-01 | $93 |
| Thermal Grease | TG-CMQ2-2.7G | $5 |
| 3D printed scaffolding | $3 | |
| Power supply 1 | PS-025W1-3.3-6.0 | $25 |
| Power supply 2 | LRS-150-15 | $20 |
| ZMLM water pump | $20 | |
| TOTAL | $278 |
Results
We ran the whole system in a stand in refrigerator overnight. Our coolant reservoir was a styrofoam container full of ice. The thing about styrofoam is that it slightly shrinks in cold rooms it lost its watertightness and bled all of the water out, leaving the pump dry and causing the system to overheat as the system overheated, the first failure occurred in the bottom module. the plastic case melted onto it and cut the module’s wires like a guillotine the second failure was in the top power supply. The plastic casing melted into the power supply and gummed it up. On the bright side, the bottom module’s failure saved the bottom power supply and the top power supplies failure saved the top module Everything else is intact. If it had not been in the cold room it would have been worse. The pump was dry and running but it did not melt thanks to the local temp, and the top module did not get too hot either
Heat taken by freezer assumping othing obstructing conduction and radiation is negligible
© University of Maryland iGEM 2016
