1. GENERAL HANDLING
WARNING!
CRC SORPTION COOLERS CONTAIN HELIUM GAS AT HIGH PRESSURE.
Do not crush, twist or bend the unit. Avoid applying mechanical stresses. Do not
heat the unit above room temperature. Keep in a sealed cryostat, or in the
shipping box and brace in which it came.
Do not hold or lift the unit by means of the cold heads.
Do not tamper with the copper capillary fill tubes.
Avoid the use of acid fluxes when soldering in the vicinity of the cooler. Chloride
based fluxes will corrode stainless steel and could damage your cooler.
Always allow the unit to warm to room temperature before allowing air into your
cryostat. Opening the air valve of a cold cryostat is likely to damage the unit.
After unpacking the sorption cooler according to the instructions supplied, the sorption cooler
should be immediately transferred into the host cryostat. The shipping brace doubles as a stand for
the sorption cooler, though when used as a stand, the screws through the top aluminium plate into
the cold heads should NOT be in place. When picking the sorption cooler up, it should be firmly
grasped by the main plate.
2. SAFETY OF CHASE RESEARCH CRYOGENICS PRODUCTS
2.1. Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC (Pressure Equipment Regulations 1999)
This CRC sorption cooler unit is manufactured in accordance with Sound Engineering Practice. The
volume and gas pressure within the sorption cooler are such that the equipment falls below the
lower classification limit in Annex II of the Pressure Equipment Directive. Hence the requirements
for Conformity Assessment do not apply and no Declaration of Conformity can be made, or CE
marking applied.
The sorption cooler is covered by Article 3 Paragraph 3 of the Pressure Equipment Directive, which
states: “Pressure equipment and/or assemblies below or equal to the limits in sections 1.1, 1.2 and
1.3 and section 2 respectively must be designed and manufactured in accordance with the sound
engineering practice of a Member State in order to ensure safe use. Pressure equipment and/or
assemblies must be accompanied by adequate instructions for use and must bear markings to
permit identification of the manufacturer or of his authorized representative established within the
Community. Such equipment and/or assemblies must not bear the CE marking referred to in Article
15.”
2.2. Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000
This sorption cooler unit does not contain a pressure x volume product exceeding 250 bar-litres
hence PSSR regulations 5(4), 8-10 and 14 do not apply. This means that the system does not require
a written scheme of examination. The sorption cooler is not ‘mobile’ in the sense intended in the
PSSR hence the owner has duties under these regulations to ensure that a) the safe operating limits
are not exceeded; b) the unit is operated in accordance with these instructions; c) the unit is
