The
dewars that we ship frozen sperm specimens in are called "dry",
or "vapor", dewars. The box and the dewar should be
kept upright at all times. The dewar is essentially an oversized
thermos bottle with a vacumm between the inner and outer vessel
walls to minimize thermal transfer. All of the loose liquid
nitrogen is removed from the dewar prior to shipping, as shipping
of liquid nitrogen that could spill would make it a hazard.
The interior of the dewar has an absorbant that holds enough
nitrogen coolant to keep the interior frozen for a maximum of
21 days under ideal conditions. Of course being tipped over
while being shipped around, and being banged around during transport
is not "ideal conditions". In general, these dewars
will provide adequate cooling to hold the specimens frozen for
up to 12-14 days after we ship them out. All of our dewars are fully charged with nitrogen prior to use. We guarantee** the dewar
to hold temperature for 7 days after your shipment is delivered
to you.
Shipping Dewar Deposit
The dewars that
we ship specimens with are expensive, and we take every precaution not to lose them. A
$500 refundable deposit on the shipping dewar may be required to complete your client registration prior to ordering specimens or scheduling shipping. Equipment deposit requirement determination is made after initial receipt of your client registration paperwork, and is made by the Cryobank only. Exceptions to this determination are not made. Should Cryobank determine that a dewar deposit is required, we will send you an email to that regard. As many people use email filtering and don't add us to their address book, these notification emails are sometimes discarded or overlooked accidentally. Please feel free to email or call to verify your registration and deposit requirements prior to placing your order to make sure you're all set up. Dewar deposit
by credit card is not accepted. Dewar deposits can be made in
advance with US money order, cashiers checks drawn on US banks,
Western Union funding, or by wire transfer of funding.
Dewar deposits are fully refunded upon your request once you have completed placing orders with us and have returned the equipment in good condition. Deposits are refunded to you in the form of a check and are issued and mailed out within one week of the request.
Minimizing the loss of our equipment helps us to minimize our overhead and pricing!
SHIPMENT
DELIVERY
Sperm
shipments come in a box that protects the dewar during
shipping. The box is approximately 11 in. square by
25 in. tall and weighs about 24 pounds. It has handle
holes on opposite sides towards the top side of the
dewar and box. Turning the dewar on it's side or upside
down will cause the dewar to loose coolant faster and
may jeopordize your specimens. Always keep the dewar
upright. A shoulder strap seatbelt in the front
seat does a good job if you need to take it with you
in the car.
(click
photo for enlarged viewing, use browser back button
to return)
Using
a razor knife, box cutter, or other sharp knife, cut
through the cellophane wrapping tape at the top end
of the box. Do not cut the cardboard as the same box
is used for return shipping. Once the tape is cut, you
can open the top box flaps. You will find an envelope
immediately on top of everything that will contain instructions
and your invoice. Take a few minutes to read through
the instructions before continuing. Once you've become
familiar with things by reading the instructions, you
can lift the corrugated top where it says lift here.
(Be sure to keep this lid for return shipping. If you
fail to return the top you will be billed for its replacement
and risk damage to the dewar during it's return travel.)
Removing the lid will reveal the top side of the dewar.
(click
photo for enlarged viewing, use browser back button
to return)
Once
the top packaging lid (corrugated flap/foam assembly)
is removed, you will see the top of the dewar as seen
at the left. The dewar does not need to be removed from
the shipping box for you to access everything you need.
Do not remove the dewar unless needed for some reason,
such as accidently dropping something into the box.
In this case, use the stainless steel handle to lift
the dewar straight up out of the box. You will note
a plastic wire tie on one side of the dewar lid. This
locks the lid to the dewar and must be cut to allow
removal of the dewar lid. The dewar lid lifts straight
up. Do not twist the dewar lid or you could damage the
insulator on the bottom side.
(click
photo for enlarged viewing, use browser back button
to return)
The
dewar has been removed from the shipping box in this
photo so that you can more easily see the parts only.
You do not need to remove the dewar from the shipping
box to access these parts. Once the lid of the dewar
has been removed, you can see the handle of the can
sitting in a slot of the rim of the dewar. Lift this
handle straight up(left hand in this photo) until the
top of the cannister reaches the top of the dewar rim.
At this point, you will see the top of the aluminum
cane sitting loosely inside the cannister. The cane
holds the specimen vial by friction. Lift the cane to
observe the vial/specimen which is held on the cane.
You will want to verify both the quantity and ID number
of the specimens shipped to that shown on your invoice,
which should reflect you order. Replace the cane and
can back into the dewar and replace the dewar lid immediately
after completing checking or removal of vials for use.
(click
photo for enlarged viewing, use browser back button
to return)
RETURN
SHIPPING
When preparing the dewar for return to the lab,
make sure that you have installed a new (provided) plastic tie
on the dewar lid and that you check to make sure that the cardboard
and foam top piece is replaced into the shipping box. Tape the
box shut and the dewar is ready for return.
** Dewar guarantee: In the event of the loss or destruction of
commercial donor sperm specimens provided through NW Andrology
due to the failure of our shipping dewar to provide at least
seven days worth of coolant, (unless caused by the mishandling
of the dewar by the client), Cryobank will accomodate the clients
loss by making
every reasonable effort to provide
the client with like or similar donor specimens if available,
or by refund of monies paid by client for vials lost (must be
returned to the Cryobank at original volume) plus shipping charges
only.
