Temperature and humidity chambers are an essential component of product testing, creating extreme environmental conditions to ensure safer, stronger, and longer-lasting products through. Both R&D and production cycles benefit from the ability to produce these conditions, and having the temperature and humidity chambers on hand in your facility provides flexibility and efficiency in delivering your products to market.
With pre-engineered dimensions, performance specifications, and features that provide effective and often economical testing capabilities, our G-Series line of standard products allow for the temperature and humidity testing most customers require.
When the product being tested or the test itself requires a unique solution, a Russells custom environmental chamber is designed to meet exact and specific temperature and humidity specifications and requirements.
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY TEST CHAMBER FEATURES
Selecting the right test equipment can be a challenge, so consider the following four specifications when determining which temperature and humidity chamber might be required for your testing.
PERFORMANCE
Performance is often the first consideration when buying an environmental test chamber. Your test specifications determine temperature and humidity requirements and change rates. Identifying your test profile will provide your manufacturer with valuable information in determining the compressor size and configuration required to achieve those defined parameters. A more powerful compressor package might be required when you need to achieve an elevated temperature ramp rate or pulldown.
OPERATING CONDITIONS
The operating conditions under which your products need to be tested will dictate the level of heating and cooling customization. A standard environmental test chamber can operate within the range of -32°C to 180°C (-26°F to 356°F) with a single-stage refrigeration setup and -70°C to 180°C (-94°F to 356°F) with cascade refrigeration.
For a temperature chamber requiring further temperature extremes (and temperature change rates), that can be accomplished with boost cooling using liquid nitrogen (LN2) or carbon dioxide (CO2).
Optimizing temperature and humidity within the chamber’s performance range is accomplished through a circulation system designed to move conditioned air evenly across the interior workspace. A standard cooling system might incorporate a self-contained mechanical refrigeration system with an air-cooled condenser.
SIZE
The size of the unit under test (UUT) plays a critical role in temperature and humidity chamber selection. While a standard reach-in test chamber might accommodate a wide variety of tests, larger devices may require a unique build.
Russells will help navigate your testing requirements based on the number of products being tested at one time, the mass and materials of the UUT, the size and dimensions of the UUT, as well as its fixture requirements. If a unique component or sub-system, all the way up to a hangar-sized enclosure for walk-in or drive-in applications, is required, we can work with you to design a custom temperature and humidty enclosure.
UNIQUE FEATURES
Unique features and requirements can be a significant component of buying a custom environmental chamber. Door configurations, for example, can be offered in hinged, bi-parting, or vertical lift (guillotine-style) in virtually any size. Russells can offer access ports in limitless sizes, configurations, and quantities, while portable or remote conditioning can be accomplished through insulated ducting. Intrinsic safety features like fire suppression, gas detection, and sheath-limited heaters can be added to customize a battery chamber out of a standard chamber used for temperature and humidity testing.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY TEST CHAMBER MANUFACTURER?
The right environmental chamber manufacturer will walk you through the selection process to determine the best fit for your testing operations. Because environmental chambers are used in almost every industry imaginable, the best manufacturers will have the right solution for each unique application.
Prompt and regular communication from the initial request to product selection, order, and delivery should be expected, and the more complex the system, the higher level of involvement will be required through design and engineering to ensure efficient and timely delivery of a quality environmental chamber.
Need a custom solution? The benefits of custom environmental test chamber design allow for unique building infrastructure and installation considerations where restrictions may limit normal facility access. Ultimately, a custom chamber design process is unique to each customer and application. The best custom environmental chambers are those designed and manufactured to meet your unique test requirements with reliability and longevity so your customers can be confident in your products.
Russells Technical Products offers more than 50 years of experience designing, manufacturing, and supporting custom environmental test chambers. Where other manufacturers cannot, Russells Technical Products can. Contact us today to learn why Fortune 500 companies and start-ups trust our team to create the right testing solution so they can deliver for their customers.
