Why is a Koolatron purchased at Canadian Tire etc. ineffective for semen storage?
Koolatron manufactures a variety of models in their storage units.
The "Canadian Tire" model (P34D) was designed to heat or cool
40° F above or below ambient (environmental) temperature.
As the ideal semen storage temperature is between 16° and
18° C this particular model is not very effective.
Until late 1996, Koolatron manufactured and marketed its P34B model.
This version had a dial with which the temperature of the unit could be set to a
fair degree provided that the ambient temperature was relatively constant. This
unit was quite effective, but unfortunately has been discontinued.
Please check our Products page for
information about different types of semen storage units.
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Is a storage unit with an external digital display not better than the one without?
Not necessarily. Quite often the thermostat which is connected to
the digital display is separate from the thermostat which operates
the cooling/heating elements of the storage unit. It is, therefore,
quite possible that one particular thermostat is off, thereby
resulting in an erroneous display. Even if both are working
properly a thermometer placed inside the storage unit may still
differ 1° to 2° C with the display temperature. Always
keep a high quality functional thermometer inside the unit for
temperature spot-checks.
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The temperature in my semen storage unit increases quite a bit when new semen is added to the unit. What is wrong?
First and foremost, check the temperature of the semen being added
to the unit. If you add 20 or 30 bottles of warm semen, the storage
unit can not instantly cool these bottles to 17° C. This will
occur gradually during storage. Before newly added bottles are
cooled completely the temperature in the unit will temporarily
increase. To minimize the effect of this temporary increase, unused
semen should be placed in a styrofoam box or insulated envelope
until the unit returns to its normal operating temperature.
Remember that frequent opening of the storage unit's door can also
raise or lower the inside temperature if the outside temperature
is relatively high or low. Use extra caution with extreme temperatures
and open the storage unit as little as possible.
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