Freight and delivery

Freight is the part of the purchase where a single published number — the chamber's weight — determines whether delivery day is uneventful or expensive. The threshold is not gradual. Below roughly 1,300 lb a truck can put your chamber on the ground with its own equipment. Above it, you need a dock, a forklift, or a rigging crew, and those are separate services with separate prices and separate scheduling.

The liftgate threshold

Liftgates on LTL trucks are commonly rated in the region of 1,300–1,500 lb per lift (Freightera liftgate and tailgate guide). Now put the published chamber weights against that:

That last row is not padding. A rigid 42 in internal diameter chamber (OxyHealth Fortius 420 specifications) with no published weight is a chamber you cannot plan a delivery for. Get the crated weight and crated dimensions in writing before you order, because the answer determines whether you are booking a standard LTL delivery or a rigging job.

Terms that change who pays and who is responsible

Freight vocabulary is doing real work in a purchase agreement, and buyers frequently sign without knowing which service they bought.

• Curbside delivery means the shipment reaches the kerb. Not the driveway, not the garage, not the room.
• Liftgate service means the truck can lower the shipment to ground level, within the liftgate's rated capacity. It is usually an added charge and must be requested at booking.
• Residential delivery is a distinct classification with its own charge, and a residential address without a dock generally requires liftgate service too.
• Inside delivery means past the threshold. Its scope varies by carrier and is worth having defined in writing.
• Rigging is a specialist service for loads a liftgate cannot handle — forklift, gantry, crane, skates, or a crew. It is not a freight add-on; it is a separate contractor.
• Appointment delivery means a scheduled window. Without it, a 2,220 lb chamber can arrive when nobody is there to receive it.

Receiving inspection is your only real leverage

Once you sign a clean delivery receipt, your position on damage weakens substantially. Before signing, photograph the crate on the truck, all four sides and the top after it is on the ground, and any shock or tilt indicators the shipper applied. Note every dent, puncture, crushed corner, water stain or strap mark on the delivery receipt itself before signing. If damage is visible, note it specifically — "crate damaged" is far weaker than "6 in puncture, left side panel, 30 in from base."

For a rigid chamber, the acrylic viewport is the component to inspect most carefully, and there is a published reason. ASME PVHO-2 places responsibility for a window's safe service life on the user rather than the designer, defines two inspection levels — an Operational Visual Inspection and a Maintenance Visual Inspection, the latter by a qualified inspector — and provides that no window may remain in service more than 10 years or 5,000 cycles beyond its design life without the testing required by its clause 2-7 (ASME PVHO-2-2019, publicly available preview pages). A crazed, scratched or impact-marked window at delivery is a service-life problem you have just inherited. Do not accept it as cosmetic.

Documents that should arrive with the chamber

• Operator manual and instructions for use — FDA's own guidance is to review these for device operation, maintenance and fire prevention (FDA, 25 August 2025).
• Installation drawing showing clearances and the service withdrawal dimension.
• For rigid chambers: the pressure-vessel documentation, window design life and window fabrication date, given the ASME PVHO-2 service-life rules above, plus any test or inspection records.
• Relief-valve settings as shipped — the Sechrist H-series, for example, publishes two relief valves at 35.00 psi on the 3300H and 36.00 psi on the 3600H and 4100H (specifications).
• Warranty terms in writing. Published examples: Summit to Sea publishes a two-year manufacturer warranty on the Grand Dive (retailer listing); OxyHealth publishes a five-year warranty on the Fortius 420 (manufacturer page); Prestige publishes a three-year residential warranty across its line (Prestige specifications). The Sechrist brochure publishes no warranty term.
• The K-number for the clearance the seller is relying on, so you can verify it against FDA's database yourself — see what clearance actually means.

Storage between delivery and installation

If the chamber arrives before the room is finished, storage conditions matter. The Sechrist H-series publishes an operating temperature range of 50–100 °F and relative humidity of 30–90% at 77 °F (specifications), and UHMS reports the manufacturer's recommendation of a 68–74 °F room, with seal performance affected below 50 °F and temperatures above 100 °F beyond the acrylic's design conditions (UHMS standards and codes FAQ). An unconditioned garage in August or a barn in January is not neutral storage.

For unused acrylic windows specifically, ASME PVHO-2 permits storage for up to ten years from fabrication under stated conditions (ASME PVHO-2-2019 preview pages) — which is another reason to record the window's fabrication date at delivery rather than discovering it years later.

Sequencing, so the chamber is not waiting on the room

The order that works: confirm crated weight and dimensions, then measure the full delivery path, then complete electrical work and any required building work, then confirm room temperature and humidity are inside the operating range, then book delivery with the correct service level and an appointment window, then receive and inspect, then install and commission. The order that fails is booking delivery first and discovering the corridor afterwards.