Does anyone have any recommendations for a good FFP freezer? The one I have currently (a Jewett BPL Series) is less than 2 years old and dies every 4-5 months because the fans freeze. We store about 80 units of FFP and 40 units of cryo, so we need a nice medium sized freezer. Thanks!

Helmer i Series are great. NO problems. Frost free. Easy alarm checks. Good company.

My vote goes with the Helmer i Series as well. We've had ours for a couple of years with little or no problems. Back in the olden days Jewett was the gold standard for blood bank storage but over the past 10 - 15 years they've become a joke of their former self. You are the third facility I know of that has purchased Jewett in the past 3 years and have come to regret it.

Does Helmer make something other than the 8 drawer size freezer? Those seem a little big for our needs. How many FFP does that hold? We have their i Series platelet incubator and love it, so a freezer would be great!

Our old Jewett freezer was at least 10 years old when we replaced it with this one and still running fine...it's too bad the new ones aren't as high quality.

No, I wish they did make under the counter freezers. Ours has never been full, but I think you could get about 200 units in the 8 drawer size.

You can visit the Helmer web site on Blood Bank Talk. (left side of screen)

I have had the same experience with the "new" Jewett. We have a Jewett Freezer and have had the same problems with it icing up! Our BioMed department just keeps replacing the same part and we keep rolling along with it. I have had much better luck with Helmer lately.

I have the Helmer i 125. I got it two years ago and it has been great. It's kind of like describing a football referee or a neighbor - the best ones are the ones that you don't know are even there. Same can be said with the Helmer:cool:

Jewtt hasn't been the same since they were bought out (by Puffer Hubbard I believe). I think the Helmer products are currently the best on the market.

I had a Jewitt also, good luck, nothing but repair bills, Mine gave it up about six monthes ago so I researched I bought a Gem Scientific gets (-31 degrees) with out even the compressor hardly kicking in, matter a fact you do not even know it is running it is so quiet. Built great in the USA. and priced very reasonable

We have all Jewett currently and I'd like to replace them all.

I'd love to find a -40C freezer made by someone other than Jewett. Any suggestions?

Stay away from Forma. The quality isn't what it used to be. We have bought 3 formas in the last 5 years. One failed on installation, one failed a year later (after the warranty expired), and another keeps having warped door problems. All 3 have design defects- the circulating fans ice up and form an ice barrier that takes a day to thaw. I have had sensor failures, compressor failures, condensor failures. I actually asked the HVAC employee what his vacation schedule was so I could make sure I had spare room in one of my freezers while he was on vacation. Whenever he writes up the equipment problem report, he always lists the number one cause of the equipment failure as "Forma."

BC

Helmer is great. Easy alarm checks. No problems. Good company.

Stay away from Kelvinator as well. Ours has been a lemon from day one. We actually got it replaced within the first year and the second one is a lemon too. We have a lovely ice waterfall in the top shelf at all times. My engineering expert says it was designed as an ice cream freezer and would work great if you didn't have to get into it more than once or twice a day!

After providing a glowing report for Helmer freezers earlier I have to confess the past few weeks we have had a problem with ice building up on the fan shroud causing the fan to stop which in turn results in the temp in the freezer to rise above -20oC. The bandaid solution is fairly simple, remove the shroud, remove the ice from the shroud and replace it.

We've had the freezer for over 3 years and this is the first hint of a problem. The refrigeration engineer for the hospital is at a loss to figure this one out and I don't know if he has contacted Helmer yet or not ( I have suggested it strongly).

Have any other Helmer owners had this problem and if so what have you done?

Our 3 freezers are labeled REVCO/Kendro Laboratory. We have NO problems of any kind with ours.............However comma...........they are used for rare,auto,pedi and designated units.etc only and are therefore only opened once or twice a day.

Our Jewitt does the same thing. Every few months it dies. Sounds like a lot of people have the same problem.