DIY cold accumulator
A portable cooler is necessary in many life situations. The device will come in handy on a long trip, at the dacha, or at home during blackouts. Devices can be purchased at retail stores.
If for some reason the purchase is impossible, it is quite possible to make a cold accumulator from available materials with your own hands according to the principle of a “homemade” cooler. To make it you will need table salt, water, any hermetically sealed food container or plastic bottle.
DIY battery
Batteries can be purchased in specialized stores, placed an order on online resources, but you can make it yourself, according to the “cheap and cheerful” principle. Of course, the key point is the composition of the liquid that is used as a filler for a plastic container. In industrial batteries, the coolant contains: water, an antibacterial additive and carboxymethylcellulose. The latter serves as a thickener and controls the expansion of water when freezing.
Considering the above, we offer several recipes for preparing liquid for a homemade cold accumulator.
Recipe No. 1
Manufacturing process:
- in a liter of ordinary drinking water, preferably warm, prepare a saturated solution of table salt, adding about 400 grams of sodium chloride (table salt);
- add three liters of water to the composition and add the required amount of wallpaper glue. The consistency of the liquid should be gel-like;
- pour the solution into plastic containers with a screw cap or plastic bottles;
- place in the freezer and freeze.
Such a battery can maintain the temperature in a special bag down to -20 degrees C for a long time.
Recipe No. 2
For a homemade cold accumulator: you need to prepare a 20% solution of Glauber's salt. For 100 grams of solution, you need to use the following ratio of substances: 20 grams of anhydrous salt, 1 gram of CMC (wallpaper glue) and a certain amount of water.
This battery composition is capable of maintaining cold temperatures down to -10 degrees C.
Recipe No. 3
This is the simplest, one might say force majeure, method of making a cold accumulator. It is necessary to mix water and wallpaper glue in the following proportions: 96 grams + 4 grams.
Minus 1 degree Celsius in a bag of groceries can create refrigerator conditions and allow you to hold out for some time.
At home, it is difficult to maintain tightness requirements, so special attention when using homemade cold accumulators must be paid to safety, especially if they are planned to be used for cooling food.
How to make a cold accumulator
To prepare the refrigerant, you need to dissolve 400 grams of salt in one liter of water. Then add about three liters of liquid and wallpaper glue. The last component is a thickener. The result of combining should be a jelly-like composition. The liquid is poured into a plastic container and frozen.
A simple way to make a cold cell from scrap materials. You can make a water-salt solution or a gel-like mass based on water and wallpaper glue.
Important: when freezing, the liquid expands. Therefore, it is necessary to fill the container not completely.
How to use a cold accumulator for a thermal bag
Using ice makers is not difficult. Before use, the devices are placed in the freezer compartment. After the liquid freezes, the coolers are placed in an isothermal bag in one pattern or in combination. The devices are installed on the bottom and on top of the provisions. Layer-by-layer placement or only on top of products is allowed.
After use, the containers are washed with running water and placed in a stationary freezer. To increase service life, store the device in the refrigerator.
What is a cold accumulator
A portable device for cooling food is a portable thermal bag with a cold-producing container inside. Substances that can accumulate cold are used as refrigerants in containers.
Food stays fresh for a certain period of time. This period depends on the composition and volume of the coolant. The size of the container is adjusted to the amount of food.
The container with the refrigerant is “charged” in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator for several hours. Then the cold element is placed in a special bag, which well maintains the required temperature regime. The creation of such conditions is ensured by the structure of the material. The walls are made of porous materials covered with aluminum foil.
Depending on the type of refrigerant, batteries last about 5-24 hours. Some refrigerant options are capable of functioning and storing food for up to a week.
Composition of liquid in the cold accumulator
The following types of refrigeration generators are distinguished by type of coolant:
- Water-salt;
- helium;
- silicone.
A battery with a water-salt solution maintains a temperature from +6-8 to 18-20 degrees. The refrigerant contains the substance E466 (carboxymethylcellulose) as a thickener. The gel generator can support both high and low temperature conditions. Silicone refrigerant is able to maintain temperature for a week - the limit is from 0 to - 3 degrees.
Types of cold accumulators
Manufacturers offer several types of cold elements that are used to fill the containers of an insulated bag. The use of elements depends on the size of the bag and the volumes carried in it, the required transportation time and the temperature needed to maintain freshness.
The weight of one container is approximately 0.5 kg, it is designed for 6-10 liters of thermal bag volume, allowing you to maintain a constant temperature for up to 10 hours.
Refrigerant characteristics:
- Water-salt. The solution is capable of maintaining a temperature range from -20 to +5 degrees for twenty hours. Pour into plastic containers with an airtight lid. It is convenient because you can prepare the filler yourself, but if the solution accidentally gets frozen, it can ruin it, so plastic containers are additionally packaged in sealed bags.
- Gel. A universal composition that can be used both for chilled and frozen products, and for transporting hot dishes. Durable bags made of polymer film or nylon are filled with gel, which keep the temperature from + 80 to – 5 degrees during the day. When it comes into contact with food, the gel filler is absolutely safe. If it is necessary to maintain a hot state, the helium refrigerant is heated in a microwave oven; the heating time and temperature are indicated by the manufacturers on the container.
- Silicone. The filler is made from special polymers with silicon crystals that are capable of maintaining a temperature range from 0 to +2 degrees for six days. Such refrigerants are used on long trips and by professional transporters of medicines for guaranteed safety and delivery.
Important! The time required to maintain food at the temperature specified by the manufacturer depends on the load volume and the frequency of opening the bag during the trip.
Containers are made with a volume of 0.2 to 0.8 liters; depending on the capacity of the bag, they can be combined and used in unlimited quantities.
How does a cold accumulator work?
Operating portable devices is easy. Place the container with the coolant in the freezer of stationary equipment and keep it until frozen. Place the finished battery in a thermos bag. In an insulated container or bag, the generator takes on the heat, cooling food or medications.
If one generator is used, it is better to place it on top. Using more makes the task easier. Cold packs can be stacked in layers with grocery bags and containers. After use, generators are washed with water and stored in the freezer of stationary equipment.
Cold generators are used to maintain sub-zero temperatures in freezers during blackouts. Refrigeration elements compensate for electricity costs, helping to turn on the refrigeration unit engine more rarely. They also enhance the freezing effect. Refrigeration generators work as storage devices for sanitary defrosting of equipment.
Video: cooler bag from aliexpress (thermal bag)
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What are cold storage batteries used for?
To maintain low temperatures in stationary refrigeration equipment, refrigeration generators are used. Used as additional devices in the following cases:
- Power outage;
- hygienic defrosting;
- auxiliary freezing functions.
The use of batteries helps maintain the lowest possible temperature in the refrigerator and freezer compartment for a long time. When defrosting, sanitizing, and turning off the lights, food is preserved for up to 12-18 hours. The period of sustained low temperature depends on the type and number of generators.
What types of cold accumulators are there?
Based on the composition of the solution, batteries are divided into the following types:
- Silicone . This option is used in thermal bags. These are very effective models that are able to maintain zero temperature in the container for weeks. Often such specimens are sold in film bags with filler;
- Gel . This option is usually used in car refrigerators. One of the important advantages is that the gel filler will not leak out of the container if it is damaged. Moreover, such models can both lower and increase the temperature. They are considered the safest and most efficient cold storage batteries;
- Saline . Such models are used to maintain particularly low temperatures in a thermal tank. They make it possible to maintain the temperature of objects up to ten degrees below zero throughout the day. The “disadvantage” of this type is obvious - if the container is damaged and liquid spills out, the refrigerated products may deteriorate. The advantage is that water can be added as needed.
How to make a cold accumulator for a thermal bag
To make a refrigeration generator you will need a minimum of substances and items. One of the components can be used as a refrigerant:
- Sodium chloride;
- isopropyl alcohol;
- carboxymethylcellulose;
- gelatin;
- glycerol;
- wallpaper glue.
Preparation of the water-salt solution will take a minimum of time. Sodium chloride dissolves in a small amount of water. Add as many crystals as can dissolve.
The mixture is then diluted with water and frozen in plastic containers or bottles. Why a large amount of salt is needed is the answer to the question in the following description.
Cold battery test
Tests carried out with freezing of plain water and saline solutions of different concentrations showed obvious results. The more sodium chloride is added, the longer the freezing process (up to 24 hours) and the slower the defrosting of the accumulating liquid occurs.
Testing the quality and freezing properties of domestically produced gel coolers showed positive results. After “charging” in the freezer at a temperature of -23 degrees, the substance crystallizes. This affects the duration of freezing.
A cooler with a gel filler weighing 300 grams maintains a temperature of -18-20 degrees for 10-12 hours. The volume of the cooler bag is 10 liters.
Video: Cold accumulator
Cold accumulator
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Video: Cutting the cold accumulator. What is inside?
We cut the cold accumulator. What is inside?
Watch this video on YouTube
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DIY battery for an insulated bag
Self-made batteries are inferior in properties to factory-made devices. But if the planned trip does not require a lot of time, they become a good substitute for a purchased device.
The simplest option for cooling is frozen water in a plastic or glass bottle. But this option has a drawback: the ice melts quickly, and as a result, the temperature is not maintained for long.
When cooling such a homemade device, you need to take into account that water expands when it freezes. Therefore, the entire volume of the bottle is not filled with water so that it does not burst when freezing.
