So I bought an old, really old, Timber Wolf dry kiln. It's a 40' aluminum high cube shipping container. I gutted the old heater element and components and will replace them with a Nyle L200 system. It has a fan deck with five fans installed. My main issue I have been dealing with are the door seals. Over the years the seals have become rotten, broken, and missing. The plywood between the aluminum door skin has rotten and turned to dirt. My plan is to build a new internal door frame out of cedar that will fit between the door skins. I believe that will work for the frame. However, I am not sure what to use for new door seals. It seems to be almost impossible to find shipping container door seals. Any body have any ideas? I'll be posting pictures as I go.
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Billy,
I believe that Nyle has a door seal kit that could be made to work. Call Stan at Nyle. He is at extension 212.
If you track back to your nearest shipping port, they will have thousands of shipping containers, and will be able to sell you parts and such. These ports have repair facilities, and the have business that spring up around them that also refurbish reefers. Mine was made by Great Dane, and they have service and parts shops throughout the country. If they don't have the parts, they may be able to point you in the right direction.
The Nyle gaskets are nice. If I was to build doors from scratch, I'd use them. However I'd be looking for full replacement doors. Who manufactured the container?
One important characteristic of some doors is that they do not have weep holes ( small holes in the bottom to drain liquid water). Weep holes in doors, and floor, walls and roof too, are important...and check the holes once in a while to make sure they do not plug up.
Cedar is not perfect. I suggest using pressure treated wood which will last thirty years or more, like southern pine for framing, and then pressure treated plywood. For insulation, use closed cell insulation that you also put in a sealed plastic bag and then make sure that you do not punch any holes in the bag.
For gaskets, NYLE has some that work well for maybe ten years. Old fabric firehose is also a good option.
Overall, a commercially made door is the best, especially with weep holes. A container does not normally have the interior moisture content of a kiln, so weep holes may be not part of the original design.
As a safety issue, pay attention to hinges. They can deteriorate and then a falling door is very dangerous. Likewise, have a positive holding system when the door is open to avoid wind damage.
Thank you all for your replies. I will see what I can find out based on the information you gave me. I chose cedar because it is what I have cut and stacked. It has been air drying for a couple of years. I also need to plane the lumber to specific dimensions to make it work. I'll keep you posted!
Martec International Homepage | Martec International (http://www.martecintl.com) provides door seals or gaskets for shipping containers.