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Here at Rigaku, we have had this same problem. Travelers to our laboratory usually send their shipping dewar ahead so that there is little lost time due to a late arriving dewar. I wish to add a few observations and recommendations. We have found the full range of samples having: ice, clear freezes turn opaque, samples no longer in the loops, loops broken off, whole canes of samples (which were in sleeves!) emptied into the basket, and even cryopins (and canes) in the crate outside of the dewar. So, I am never surprised with the "weird" condition of samples. And, this is on both foreign and domestic shipments. Now, the truly interesting thing is what the source of the problems is. I have gone back through on many occasions to find the culprit to be one or more of the following: customs observations, shipping company concern for contents, airline peaking (since some of these "non-regulated" dewars and contents sometimes make it under a domestic flight), and shipping personnel at the university. This latter one surprised me the most as one had removed the samples when emptying the nitrogen from the dewar! What was suggested to us some years ago (pre 911) is to use cable ties on both the dewar and the outer packaging. I empty the dewar of the excess liquid by tipping the dewar while holding the plug/lid of the dewar in place. It takes longer, but warmer, moist air is not rushing back into the dewar. Then I cable tie the lid onto the top of the dewar. Finally, I close the crate and again seal the container with at least one cable tie. Since starting this, I have found fewer pins out of place. Although for years I placed letters inside the dewar case, I have only been called once about the container "emitting gases." I have since ended the inside letter. Additionally, I play soccer with several owners and workers shipping companies at Houston Intercontinental Airport involved in cargo movement, and they have assured me that nothing I can place in the crate is useful unless the crate or contents are destroyed and the outer documentation is uninterpretable...and then it is only to notify you to come pick it up. One of the worries they told me is that if the crate is sealed, they have no problem with what they called "hitchhiker" cargo...things added to (then removed from) an easily opened package by shippers for illicit purposes. Kris -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Leslie A. Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 4:15 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ccp4bb]: Dewars opened by customs ? *** For details on how to be removed from this list visit the *** *** CCP4 home page http://www.ccp4.ac.uk *** We recently sent two dewars of crystals by DHL to ESRF for data collection. On opening the dewars at the ESRF, it was obvious that the dewars (or at least one of them) had been opened during transit. The "groove" in the top to the dewar that accommodates the handle for the basket had been ignored when the top was replaced, and the top had clearly been forced back into the dewar, gouging out a new "groove". The result was a significant accumulation of ice on the pucks, which subsequently caused serious problems with the automatic sample changer, which got jammed by the ice. In addition, and most importantly, the diffraction from the crystals, which had been carefully screened prior to the trip, was so poor that no useful data could be collected. Has anyone else had a similar experience ? We used to secure the tops to the dewars with cable ties, but did not do so on this trip. Following this experience we are tempted to use a padlock, but this may provoke the use of greater force in opening the dewar. One worrying thought is that this is the first time that we have transported the crystals in pucks rather than in canes. Is it possible that the customs people are unaccustomed (excuse the pun) to seeing pucks rather than canes, and that is why they wanted to investigate ? Are customs officials the only people who would open a dewar in transit ? Is there any way that this can be avoided in the future ? Any information/thoughts are greatly welcome Matt Bowler and Andrew Leslie
