Choosing an ice pack involves two separate decisions. Size determines which container, rack slot or freezing rack the pack fits. Weight is judged together with the target temperature band, the route, total payload and the mass one person can lift safely. Confuse the two and you buy a pack that either does not fit or does not last.
Which space sets the size?. Record the usable clearance rather than the container's outside volume: clear height under the lid, shelf spacing, bracket distance, fixed internal projections and the narrowest doorway. The pack has to satisfy all of these limits at once.
| Input | Record | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Usable container dimensions | Clear width, length, height; fixed projections | Pack outside dimensions and orientation |
| Rack slot | Slot spacing, stops and locking points | How many fit side by side or stacked |
| Actual plate thickness | Item number, length × width × thickness | Clearance under the lid and above the load |
| Freezing rack | Shelf spacing, airflow gap | Placement for full solidification |
| Door and handling | Narrowest opening, grip, route | A piece a person can handle safely |
The GEBHARDT eutectic-plate table lists item number, dimensions and melting point side by side; match the quoted variant to those three fields and read rack compatibility from the container and plate drawings. In an Isotec container the plates sit on mounting rails or on a special grid floor. On the quotation drawing read external dimensions, internal dimensions, door opening and rack slot as separate lines; the difference between external and internal size is insulation wall and does not count as pack clearance.
Do not tie weight to litres
For the same fill, the cold a plate stores is proportional to its mass, so a heavier plate lasts longer; but the same litre volume gives different results with different insulation, starting product temperature, lid openings, plate type and target band, so there is no grams-per-litre rule. The right weight is the lowest one that covers the route duration, since anything more adds vehicle load, handling effort and freezing time. Find the figure with a trial in your own container: load normally, try different pack counts and record the hour the target band is exceeded.
Ask for three masses as separate lines in the quotation: plastic shell, coolant fill and ready-to-use gross pack. Gross mass goes into both the vehicle payload calculation and the handling decision; coolant mass alone leaves the calculation incomplete.
Payload and manual handling
Container payload, container tare and the vehicle's remaining payload are separate values. Check in the quoted technical document which components count toward tare or permitted load, count packs, goods, packaging and internal equipment once each, and add the container itself to the vehicle calculation. A pack that fits on a shelf is not automatically safe to lift by hand.
Hypothetical example: 6 ready packs × 2 kg = 12 kg; adding 30 kg of goods and 3 kg of packaging gives 45 kg. The container and other equipment are not in this sum; the numbers only show how the calculation is built.
Ready inventory and freezing
The count needed for one trip is not the daily ready inventory: return, inspection, cleaning and refreezing time are added. For its eutectic plates GEBHARDT specifies full solidification of the filling, an air gap between plates while they freeze and a freezing temperature at least 5 °C below the melting point; freezing takes between 8 and 24 hours depending on the cooling technology (GEBHARDT explanation, technical document). A business making two trips a day cannot refreeze a 24-hour plate in time for the second trip and needs a second set. Do not transfer these conditions to another pack type automatically.
Selection order
- Measure the container, rack slot, doorway and freezing equipment. 2. Match the plate item number, melting point and actual thickness in the quotation. 3. Record plastic body, coolant fill and ready gross mass separately. 4. Write down the route band, longest duration, vehicle payload and manual-handling limit. 5. Size the ready inventory around freezing and return time.
Do not mix plates of different dimensions in one depot: a simple inventory record that pairs each variant with its item number, melting point, outside dimensions, gross mass and compatible container keeps the wrong pack out of the wrong box. Compare Isotec model dimensions with the current variant in the TBX sizes and models guide, and settle the route and target band with the steps in how many eutectic plates are needed? before fixing a pack count.
