Product Overview
The CSZ V-Series is a top-loading light-duty industrial freezer for ultra-low storage and light cold-processing — the economical choice for smaller users where a laboratory or storage freezer is not adequate. It holds a workspace down to −120°F (−84°C) with fast, efficient cooling, rides on casters for mobility, and opens with a gas-spring or pneumatic lid. Built heavy-duty like the rest of the CSZ chilling line — vapor-tight welded liner, brushed-stainless interior — it is sized to your hourly throughput and part mass, not just to cubic feet.
Other CSZ chamber families
T-Series Top-Loading Freezers — top-loading heavy-duty heat-treat & production cold processing
TF-Series Front-Loading Freezers — front-loading charge-car heat-treat cold processing
BioStore Cold Storage — walk-in ultra-low freezer rooms for vaccines & biologics
Z-Plus Reach-In Temp/Humidity — the general-purpose temperature/humidity test chamber
Key Features & Benefits
- Built to last for decades — heavy-duty construction and refrigeration are engineered for long service life — CSZ cites freezers still running in the field at 30+ years. A capital freezer you buy once, not a lab cabinet you replace.
- Holds up in a harsh heat-treat environment — the cabinet and refrigeration are built to survive side-by-side service with heat-treat furnaces and the dirt, heat, and abuse of a production floor (T & TF-Series). Rated for the shop, not just a clean room.
- Vapor-tight welded liner that resists moisture — a heliarc-welded vapor-tight liner with a brushed-stainless interior keeps moisture out of the insulation, which is what slowly kills a deep-cold cabinet. The detail that protects the insulation value over decades.
- Trouble-free operation that saves on maintenance — simple, rugged refrigeration with NEMA-12 enclosures, oil-tight switches, and fused components is built to run continuously with minimal attention. Low running cost, few service calls.
- Easy loading for the way you actually work — gas-spring or pneumatic lids on the top-loaders, front-loading rollers and guides on the TF-Series to mate with charge cars and part baskets, and casters on the V-Series for mobility. The freezer fits the workflow instead of dictating it.
Specifications
- Type & operating principle
- Top-loading light-duty industrial freezer — a mechanically refrigerated cabinet that holds a workspace at ultra-low temperature for storage and light cold-processing. The V-Series is the economical chilling option for smaller users where a laboratory or storage freezer will not do the job.
- Loading / configuration
- Top-loading, with a gas-spring or pneumatic easy-to-open lid and casters for mobility. An optional lid-mounted air circulator improves uniformity (it lengthens recovery time when fitted).
- Cabinet & interior construction
- Heliarc-welded vapor-tight liner with a brushed stainless-steel interior, adjustable chrome-plated latch, oil-tight switches and lights, and fully enclosed NEMA-12 electrical compartments with fused components.
- Insulation
- Thick, non-settling low-“K”-factor foam insulation for continuous operation and reduced operating cost.
- Temperature range
- −40°F to −120°F (−40°C to −84°C) standard; optional liquid-nitrogen cooling to −300°F (−184°C).
- Refrigeration system
- Mechanical refrigeration with zero-ozone-depletion refrigerants and a water-cooled condenser standard; refrigeration pressure gauges and service taps are furnished. Air-cooled / remote refrigeration is available.
- Cooling capacity / sizing
- Rated by recovery: the pounds of 75°F steel a pre-chilled −120°F chamber recovers within one hour — roughly 60–100 lb (27–45 kg) of steel per hour across the standard V models. (Rated without the lid-mounted air circulator; recovery is longer with that option.)
- Workspace / size range
- Standard workspace from about 32×18×18 in to 60×18×18 in (L×W×D) across the V-6, V-9, and V-11 models; custom sizes available.
- Controller
- Digital-display temperature controller standard.
- Alarms & monitoring
- Optional temperature recorders, running-time meter, and product soak timer.
- Electrical / power
- 230 V or 460 V, 3-phase, 60 Hz standard; 50 Hz operation optional (performance is reduced at 50 Hz).
- Options & custom capabilities
- Custom-size chambers, lid-mounted air circulator, EIA-232/485 communications, Windows-based software, temperature recorders, running-time meter, product soak timer, electrical disconnect switch, access ports, explosion-proof construction, LN₂ cooling, and 50 Hz operation.
- Build & lead time
- Quote-only — there is no published CSZ price list, because most units are configured or custom-engineered to the application. A standard freezer carries a routine build lead time; a large or custom unit (custom size, custom temperature range, explosion-proof, LN₂ cooling) carries a longer engineered-build lead. Prater Technical Partners scopes the configuration and lead time with the quote.
Common Applications
- Light-duty ultra-low storage in tool rooms and labs where a laboratory or storage freezer is not adequate
- Small-batch cold-treating and dimensional stabilization of machined and heat-treated parts
- Shrink-fit / expansion assembly — chilling shafts and bearings to set interference fits
- Cold-soak conditioning of small components ahead of assembly, inspection, or test
- Epoxy, adhesive, and consumable storage that must stay below a laboratory-freezer floor
Fit guide: the V-Series is a dry light-duty cold-storage and small-batch processing freezer, not a temperature/humidity test chamber — there is no humidity or vibration capability. For heavy production or heat-treat throughput, see the TF/T-Series; for ultra-low cold storage of biologics, see the BioStore freezer rooms; for temperature/humidity testing, see the Z-Plus reach-in chambers.
Design & Selection Considerations
- Rate the load by recovery, not just by volume — capacity is rated by hourly recovery of a hot steel charge (see the Cooling capacity spec), so a heavier or hotter charge needs a higher-capacity model — and the part still takes additional time to stabilize after the air recovers, depending on its thickness and exposed surface. Size from your hourly throughput and part mass, not from interior cubic feet.
- Check the floor loading before you site it — the floor is rated for 200 lb per square foot as standard; a heavy charge or a large custom build can exceed that and needs floor reinforcement (available). Confirm the rated dead load against your heaviest charge at the layout stage.
- Match the loading style to the process — top-loading V and T cabinets suit hand or hoist loading of parts and baskets; the front-loading TF-Series is built to run side-by-side with batch furnaces and charge cars. Pick the door/lid style for how the parts arrive, not the other way around.
- Decide how deep the cold really needs to go — the standard envelope reaches −120°F (−84°C); going colder means optional liquid-nitrogen cooling, which adds a bulk LN₂ supply and safe venting with oxygen monitoring for personnel. Specify the deepest temperature the process needs — not the deepest available — because deeper cold costs capital and operating money.
- Protect the compressor on a hot charge — dropping a load of hot parts into a deep-cold chamber spikes the suction load; the T/TF heavy-duty builds use refrigerant-injection compressor cooling to protect the low-stage compressor. Heavy heat-treat duty wants the protected compressor package, not a light-duty refrigeration system.
- Plan for defrost and condenser cooling — a manual-defrost switch is standard on the T/TF heavy-duty cabinets (automatic defrost is optional); the standard condenser is water-cooled, so confirm a cooling-water supply or specify air-cooled / remote refrigeration. Settle the defrost strategy and the heat-rejection path before installation.
To spec the right CSZ V-Series freezer:
Use the input form to send the parts you are chilling (size and weight), your required low temperature, and your hourly throughput, and we size the V model — cooling capacity is rated by how much hot steel the freezer recovers per hour, not by interior volume. Use the input form to tell us if you need custom dimensions, deeper cold (LN₂), or explosion-proof construction.
Environmental Test Application Sheet ›Talk to an engineer directly — Scott Prater, Principal · 917-580-0878 · scott@pratertechnical.com
Specifications compiled by Prater Technical Partners from Cincinnati Sub-Zero published product specifications.