Car bubbles

The leading supplier of these "bubbles" is Precision Auto Designs in
northern California. The bubbles are sold under the name
"CarCapsule/BikeCapsule/BoatCapsule." They are basically zippered
PVC bags with self-contained electric fans that maintain a positive
air pressure inside the bag. There is a deliberate amount of
leakage. The inside air is constantly being exchanged with outside
filtered air, so in theory the environment is continuously being
purged of volatile chemicals.There are indoor (transparent) and
outdoor (opaque) versions in many different sizes. For more details,
see their web sites at <URL:http://www.storagebubble.com> or
<URL:http://www.precisionauto.com>, or call them at 1-800-222-7253.
I have contacted the company for more information.

The pressurized bubble is an interesting idea, although PVC isn't
the ideal choice of material. Heavy polyethylene would have been
preferable. Cost may have been a factor, as well as a planned
service life of 5 years. It might be possible for the manufacturer
to custom-make the bubbles with "museum quality" materials. Also,
any system that relies on a continuous power supply can (and
probably will) fail at some point, so one should anticipate the
consequences: in this case, the bag will deflate and come into
direct contact with the artifact. An internal frame, installed as a
modification, would prevent this from happening.

These capsules would be very useful as a temporary measure against
dust, leaky roofs, painters, insects and rodents. With
modifications, they could have a wide range of applications.

George Prytulak
Conservator, Industrial Collections
Canadian Conservation Institute

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:85
                 Distributed: Wednesday, April 22, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-85-004
                                  ***