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Hot Pack Heaters / Hydrocollator

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Hot Pack Heaters / Hydrocollator

 

The following blog will detail the aspects of a Hot Pack Heater / Hydrocollator in a clinical setting.  We will talk about electrical safety as well as biohazardous safety.  This blog will help our clients get an in-site on how to properly maintain their equipment outside of our preventative maintenance inspections.

Electrical Safety

Electrical safety is a big aspect on these units due to a high amount of power being used to heat a large body of water.  As a yearly preventative maintenance inspection, we ensure that all grounding inside the unit and power cord is properly maintained and to ensure minimal leakage current is present.  Even though this unit does not touch patients it still has a factor of harming a clinician.  Insulation is another aspect inside these units, as we all know electricity loves to flow through water. We have to ensure that all wires and terminals inside the unit are insulated.  Following this we have to ensure no water is entering the bottom cavities were all wires and terminals are located.

Biohazardous Safety

Biohazardous safety is a large concern since the water inside these units is not hot enough to kill bacteria properly. The water should be replaced at least once a week dependant on the water status. During each water replacement phase, we highly recommend the inside of the water bath be cleaned as well, before adding new water.  If you notice the water is starting to brown before the week is up, this could be an issue with old heat packs.   As the hot pack age, they start to release their contents which is why we recommend that they be periodically replaced.  During our routine inspections we will inform and educate clinical staff how to maintain their hydrocollators and show indications of potential biohazardous concerns.

Operating Temperature

Part of our routine inspection is to check the functionality of the unit.  During this operational check we the functionality of the unit from the heating element, the thermostat and the lid.  The last aspect that we check that the unit is set to the correct temperature which is 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tips:

Here are a couple of tips to help maintain your unit in-between inspections

  • To prevent failures to the unit it is important to always have water in the unit when plugged in. This will prevent the heating element from burning out and possibly causing a fire.

To maintain the life expectancy of the thermostat it’s important not to change the temperature settings without knowing the current temperature of the water. We set the proper temperature during our preventative maintenance visits.  If you are constantly changing the temperature on the unit it will cause the thermostat to prematurely fail

  • Distilled water is always to be used inside the unit to ensure that the unit does not prematurely rust, an to ensure that the drain on the unit does not clog. Using hard water can cause issues to the heating element and thermostat. Hard water can cause calcium build ups which leads to blockages inside the drain.
  • Lastly change the water! It is important to ensure that the water in the system is changed at least once a week. Not only will this prevent premature failures of the heating element, thermostats, and the hot packs, but it will create a cleaner unit will decrease the biohazardous impact to the patient.

The TRH Value

The added valve of choosing TRH Services to complete your maintenance and repairs on your hydrocollator / hot pack heater is that we will ensure that your device will be in great working condition for you and your patients for the next year and it will be fully certified.  At TRH Services our expertise can help educate you on your hydrocollator / hot pack heater and make sure that your unit is at top performance. We can provide onsite service to your facility if you are located in South-Western Ontario (London, Toronto, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, etc.).

 

TRH Partial List of Supported Hydrocollator / Hot Pack Heaters
EID ManufacturerEID Model Number
Cardon Rehabilition and Medical Equipment LTD.JO- 20
Chattanooga Group174-160
Whitehall Manufacturing IncT-4-S
Chattanooga Group21054C
Chattanooga Group2202-2204
Chattanooga Group2202C
Chattanooga Group2302
Chattanooga Group2302C
Chattanooga Group2303
Chattanooga Group2402
Chattanooga Group2402C
Chattanooga Group2502
Chattanooga Group2502C
Chattanooga Group2802C
Chattanooga Group3539
Chattanooga Group3540
Chattanooga Group537
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (E-1)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (E-1 Digital)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (E-1-TH)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (E-2)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (E-2-TH)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (M-2)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (M-2-TH)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (M-4)
Chattanooga GroupHot Pack Heater (SS-2)
Sammons Preston3537
Sammons Preston3538
Sammons PrestonM-2-TH
Sammons PrestonTropic Heater (3539)
Thermal Electric CompanyMH-12
Whitehall Manufacturing Inc3537
Whitehall Manufacturing Inc785
Whitehall Manufacturing Inc917
Whitehall Manufacturing IncE-1
Whitehall Manufacturing IncE-2
Whitehall Manufacturing IncM-2
Whitehall Manufacturing IncM-4
Whitehall Manufacturing IncMH-12
Whitehall Manufacturing IncMH-4
Whitehall Manufacturing IncSS
Whitehall Manufacturing IncSS-2
Whitehall Manufacturing IncT-12-M
Whitehall Manufacturing IncT-4-S
Whitehall Manufacturing IncT-6-S
Whitehall Manufacturing IncT-8-M
Whitehall Manufacturing IncT-8-S
Whitehall Manufacturing IncThermalator
Chattanooga GroupE-1 (2102 / 2104 / 2105 / 2111 / 2144)

 

Written By: Sheldon Armstrong
Edited By: Tyler Hasenpflug CET