RW09903 January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 Hello Wamas, I was thinking about placing a hand warmer in my foam cooler to keep the box warm on the long ride back. How do you transport corals during the winter time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 I've used hand warmers in the past. Just don't place them directly on the bag. They heat the water up a little too well. Tape it to the lid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffwehler January 24, 2014 Share January 24, 2014 Any other suggestions? I was just wondering the same thing. I'm an hour and half away. I know if the cooler is inside all day and the car is warm it won't be too bad, but it sure is cold right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flooddc January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 That should works for maybe 5-6 hours. Maybe more if you have a really heavy duty foam cooler. I recently purchased from LA, they used the commercial heat pads and heavy duty foam. I purposely left it in to see how long it lasted and they lasted over 72 hours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 I would make sure to bring the cooler with you inside, otherwise you will just be putting the corals into an icebox.Other options are taping the bags to your body, but most people don't use this option =X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmatt56 January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 You can pour Warm water in a water bottle too. Make sure there is something between it and the bags of corals Also, keep the styrofoam box in our car - not trunk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffwehler January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 I have small good quality coolers and I would definitely bring them inside. I think as long as the car is up to temp they would be fine for a 90 minute ride home. The all day part of the meeting plus wherever they came from plus a ride home is a very long time though. Any thoughts? Not necessarily about heat but the whole process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbowdeep88 January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 (edited) The purpose of the warmers in the box is to warm the air in the box which in turn warms the bag water. Those heater packs need air to activate/stay activated. If they get wet they stop working. Those are the reasons shippers tape them to the top even though that seems counter intuitive since heat rises. If the warmer won't have an hour to get fully activated and warm the inside of the box it won't be that helpful. Considering your box won't be sitting in an open air airport hanger for hours I would just use one regular size heat pack for a large box. Water conserves heat well so assuming the bag water doesn't get too cold before placing in the cooler all you really need to do is keep it at temperature. Different brands of heat pads will also peak differently, usually the longer the heat pack time rating (6 hrs, 12, 18, 24, 72) the longer it takes to reach its max temp and the lower the max temp it will reach. You don't really want a 6 hour blast of 120 degrees in a small box. It is much worse for critters to get too hot than too cold. Corals can tolerate 65 much better than 85 even for short times (depends on species of course). For small coolers (like the neat little 12" square ones) if you can't find the mini hot hands (the ones for toes) you can actually cut a regular sized one in half and it works just the same (seal the end with tape so the granules don't get everywhere). Using a bag/bottle of hot water I generally find is worse than no heat at all due to the rapid heating/ cooling that tends to happen. It will likely go in super hot and get stuff way too hot, then lose heat rapidly. Or you put it in at a reasonable temperature like 85 and it doesn't help all that much. This is the advantage of slowly heating the box air with the warmer, it is more gradual temp changes. Plus since the container with the hot water will be heavy they always tend to settle to the bottom and super heat neighboring bags. The techniques for overnight shipping should be applied cautiously for shorter periods...I think if you when you put the bags in they are close to tank temp and the box hasn't been in your car and you seal it well you will be fine without heat packs. Edited January 25, 2014 by elbowdeep88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffwehler January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 Great news. I generally don't worry about it at all. It's just so darn cold right now. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RW09903 January 25, 2014 Author Share January 25, 2014 I placed damp news paper between the heat pad and the bag before. Help to seperate the two. Just seeing other options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 I'm scratching my head...... How long are you all planning to be outside? You're going from a heated room to your car, which will be heated in just a few minutes.....Unless you're walking home, why wouldn't any cooler w/o additional heat be sufficient? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkfish01 January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 I usually put mine on bottom under a thin hand towel..seems to work ok.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford January 25, 2014 Share January 25, 2014 I'm trying to figure out how I can travel, hang out a few hours, travel -and the wife and newborn don't notice me missing...... yeah looks like I'll miss this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 February 6, 2014 Share February 6, 2014 I just jack the heat up in the car and sweat lol. Use a cooler to maintain water temp when car isn't on. Gets wishy washy with them hand heaters. If all else fails buy a car battery and inverter and use thermostat heater in container. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella February 6, 2014 Share February 6, 2014 I use the passenger side heated seat. Works for dogs too, and people who fall asleep on road trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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