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Joule in cooler

John_265281

I'm wondering how moisture proof the Joule will be. Could you enclose it completely in a cooler for a cook, or would the humidity of the steam damage exposed or vulnerable electronics?

I think it would be interesting to put it in a cooler with food in the morning, along with some ice water, and a few hours before heading home start cooking. Enclosing it in the cooler would just keep a safe food temp longer with less (or no) ice.

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HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

I had asked this question several months ago and Chris said no, that it could effect the electronics as you mentioned. if it tips over in the water and you snatch it out you are fine but enclosed in humidity is not good...I'm pretty sure this is accurate but , I have destroyed a lot of brain cells since then...

Chris_Young_80640

It's not a good idea to enclose Joule in a cooler. Here is the complex explanation as to why not:

Joule is designed to survive the accidental spill into water, but it wasn't practical to seal Joule entirely because as the electronics warm up the air inside the housing, that air will expand and if we don't allow it a way out then pressure will build up that will attempt to force its way out through our various seals. That isn't good for the integrity of our seals. So our solution was to include a water-proof membrane patch (think Goretex) underneath the stainless steel top cap for Joule. This allows the internal housing to "breath" as temperature, and thus pressure, changes.

While this patch will keep liquid water out of Joule, all breathable membrane patches allow water vapor (steam) to move across them, which makes things more complicated: If the humidity is low on one side of the patch and high on the other, water vapor (steam) will generally flow across the patch from the high-humidity zone to the low-humidity zone until the humidity is the same on either side of the patch. This is what's known as a diffusion gradient. It's the same as heat flowing in the direction of hot to cold, and it's actually why things get dry or soggy because water migrates from wet to dry over time.

In the example of an enclosed cooler, the humidity will be very high inside the cooler and this will drive water vapor into the electronics enclosure. When you remove Joule later and allow it to cool, all of that water vapor will condense and you'll have a puddle of water sloshing around inside the electronics enclosure. While we've made reasonable efforts to protect our electronics from a small amount of condensing humidity, a big pool of water isn't going to lead to a good outcome.

Hence, we don't recommend enclosing Joule in a cooler or having water come above the point where the power cord enters the housing. What I can recommend for very long, or high temperature cooking with a large cooler is to use a hole saw to drill a hole into a cooler lid that will allow Joule to be inserted into the cooler with the lid closed.

meyer8863

2 quick questions that beta testers can probably answer:

1. If a brief submersion were to occur, should we allow a period of time for the device to dry, or is it ready immediately.

2. Can something bad happen, if I were to plug in the device, prior to the heating element being submerged in the water bath? Similarly, what if I push the power button while out of the water?

Obviously these aren't situations that "should" occur. Just wondering if this thing is "Mike Proof" (aka idiot proof).

Thanks in advance.

Chris_Young_80640

I can answer those:

(1) It should be fine and ready to use immediately. If it's been floating for a while, I would leave it somewhere dry for a day to allow any water vapor inside the unit to re-evaporate.

(2) No. There are numerous software safety features employed by Joule to prevent those kinds of things from doing any damage to the unit.

Mike_346159

Chris, Do you have a recommended whole saw size for cutting into a cooler lid? Thanks!

brian_martin2001

The Joule is 47 mm in diameter, so a hole saw slightly larger would probably be a good idea

John_265281

1-7/8" would barely be enough, 2" would be safe with a little bit of space on each side. I'm sure we'll see some results from others as they start to get their Joules in the mail.

Shachar_183567

What about condensation during a long session? During the 6+ hours of cooking, there was quite the amount of condensation on the Joule's plastic body, and the metallic top. It was clipped to the side of a plastic container. Would that consist as a hazardous (to Joule) humid environment as you describe?