How to charge a vapor/dry shipper with liquid nitrogen.

We frequently get asked this question, “Once I have a vapor/dry shipper, how do I get it filled?” The answer is simple, just rent one from CRYOCCESSORIES.com and you can request it be charged already when you receive it.

The specific vapor/dry shipper we rent on our website is the MVE SC 4/2. The 4 means 4 liters of liquid nitrogen being used and the 2 means 2 weeks static hold time (technically 13 days). That means it is cold enough for your cryobiological material to stay frozen up to 13 days after its charged*.

Once we get the order, we will ship it the same day it’s fully charged or coordinate a date that works best for you to make sure you have the most days possible with your charged dry/vapor shipper. If you choose not to have it already charged with us, you will need a liquid nitrogen supplier. This liquid nitrogen supplier can be anyone from AirGas to your local welding shop and they may or may not be familiar with charging these as these are outside of what the normal operations are.

See below on instructions on what to tell them:

Simply request them to remove the neck cork and fill the shipper to the bottom of the neck opening with liquid nitrogen. Once it is filled to the bottom of the neck opening, replace the neck cork/cover and allow the shipper to sit for 2 hours, this is the cooling off stage. Once it cools off, the liquid will have evaporated some and will need filled up to the very bottom of the the neck again. Once the liquid stops “boiling” you can then dump it out as it will be fully charged(it is not safe for transportation until the liquid is dumped out).

If you need a vapor/dry shipper to keep cryobiological material frozen for longer than 8-13 days, then make sure to recharge the shipper to get up to another 13 days out of the charge.

Here’s how to recharge a vapor shipper with QWick Technology like the one we stock:

Our MVE SC 4/2 has QWick™ Technology built into the dewar. QWick™ Technology works as long as the shipper stays charged (cooled below -150 celcius), so to recharge it for another 13 days, all you have to do is add liquid nitrogen to the already cooled shipper, and wait for it to stop “boiling”. Once it stops boiling, it is recharged. Remember to always dump the excess liquid nitrogen out as vapor/dry shippers are only allowed exemptions with shipping carriers if no liquid nitrogen is present.

*Shipping the dewar in any other position other than upright could reduce the holding time to less than 10% of normal hold time. DO NOT SHIP UNIT ON ITS SIDE OR UPSIDE DOWN.