Everyone knows how great Phoscrete works in sub-freezing temperatures.

Because Phoscrete’s Activator has a very low freezing point, our liquid works well at or below 30°F when water-based mixes freeze.

What we learned this month in the Covid (among other things) was how to achieve desired working/set time anywhere from 5  to 30 minutes by supercooling our activator.

We built this chart based on internal mixing tests with dry mix and ambient temperatures at 80°F.

We like the sweet spot of 15 minutes working, so we cool the activator to 30°F. Crews that are fast and experienced chill to 45°F for 10 minutes working time.

In hot weather, without cooling, you only have 5 minutes to pack putty-like Phoscrete VO onto vertical and overhead surfaces. You need cooling for larger-volume and multiple location patching.

Although Phoscrete HC is self-consolidating, when mixing multiple bags or pallets, cooling the activator permits time for the best placement and finish.

The most practical and cost effective ways to chill Phoscrete activator in the 1 gallon opaque white, HDPE recyclable plastic jugs is to use:

• Phoscrete’s 150qt cooler ices 16 jugs down to 40°F in 2 hours.
• A 10cf chest freezer chills 32 jugs of activator down to 4°F in about 2 hours. You can then transfer the supercooled liquid into coolers with ice and the liquid will stay cold for your entire shift.

An easy way to remember this strategy is to THINK BEER: When you buy a case of beer at the store on your way to the boat, beach or park, you take the cold beer from the refrigerated section and place it in/on ice in your cooler. No need to wait for warm beer to cool down before opening your first cold one!

Wouldn’t it be great to know where to get a free cooler (for activator, not beer!), or maybe even a free chest freezer?

Free Cooler Summertime!