[NHCOLL-L:842] Re: compactor systems

[Steve Heydon]

Hi all,

   We at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis installed a compactor
system manufactured by a company called Elecompack. It has been operational
for six years and we are pleased with it overall. With that said, there are
three things that we found out after the system was installed that could
have been done better. We have our fixed end outfitted with shelves to hold
our reprint collections and slide collection and that has turned out to be
a really great thing. You can never get enough shelf space.

   1. We were hoping to have the whole unit able to seal tightly to keep
out dermestid beetles and other insect pests. The company installed foam
gaskets around each unit so they would compress against each other and seal
when closed. This may work well for refrigerators, but it is not a good
solution for compactors. The seals were never really tight because the huge
surface are makes complete compression impossible. In any case there were
so many other holes on the carriage and around the top that there is no
hope for excluding pests by this means.

   2. The other problem with our system is that it is on raised rails. The
whole compactor deck is tile over plywood, but it is above the level of the
rest of the floor. The company did a very good job of bending the tiles so
that the transition between levels is smooth--almost too smooth since
sometimes people, especially elderly people, do not realize there is a
change of floor level and they kind of lurch sometimes. So check the rail
height for each manufacturer. Other museums I have visited have a slight
step up into the compactor, but then you get into issues of wheelchair
access etc. Anyway just check the height of the rails for the systems you
are looking at and make sure you can live with them. You might wish to
change the color of the deck tiles to draw attention to the change of
level. If your institution allows you to sink the rails into the floor, all
this is moot.

   3. The other issue has to do with the end stops. We have two little
metal blocks in the floor to prevent the compactor units from coming off
the end of the rails. This is not a very good solution and they have
tripped more than one person. We keep them covered with orange highway
cones. This is a case where earthquake safety rules create a walking
hazard. You may wish to ask about this during the design phase and push for
a more elegant solution.

Anyway my two cents worth.


______________________________________________________________________
Dr. Steve Heydon                     530 752-0493 (phone)
Bohart Museum                        530 752-9464 (fax)
Department of Entomology             slheydon at ucdavis.edu
University of California	     http://cbshome.ucdavis.edu/bohart
One Sheields Avenue
Davis CA 95616  USA