This discussion seems to caught the interest of many, so I will add
another comment. Jane (and others) mantion that the Woods metal
switches are very reliable, and I tried to talk our Fire
Marshal/Environmental Safety folks into using this type; however, this
also fell on deaf ears, and the sprinkler heads we have have little
thin-walled GLASS spacers filled with thermometer-type alcohol. If they
get hot enough, the red-dyed alcohol expands, breaks the glass, and
everything gets wet. It hasn't happend yet, but if someone even bumps
them the glass could break and set off a flood.
Our Fire Marshall didn't even acknowledge the potential danger of
combining water and active cryo-magnets. Maybe some of these useful
posts could be used as ammunition in discussing the issues with
administrators/safety people.
Cheers,
Rich S.
-- Richard Shoemaker, Ph.D. Phone--(402) 472-6255 Instrumentation Director, Chemistry FAX---- -6964 Research Associate Professor, Chemistry University of Nebraska-Lincoln URL: http://www.chem.unl.edu/nmrlab.html