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Vaccum pump sucking epoxy
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:34 pm
by kirol
has anyone ever had a problem with their vaccuum pump sucking up epoxy? and if so how was the problem dealt with? Thanks
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:11 pm
by RoboGeek
usually a layer of felt, flannel, cotton, or similar on top of the plastic covering the topsheet not only gives an even vacuum, but allows epoxy to seep into it and avoid the pump
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:19 pm
by kirol
RoboGeek wrote:usually a layer of felt, flannel, cotton, or similar on top of the plastic covering the topsheet not only gives an even vacuum, but allows epoxy to seep into it and avoid the pump
I like that idea... We designed our mold to be sucked from the bottom so do you think if we put the flannel under our skis it should work?
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:29 pm
by endre
if you connect an empty container of some sort (glas works fine, plastic bottles will implode) between the pump and the thing you ar sucking, the epoxy wil go in the container, but not further. If you get epoxy in your pump you are f***d
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:53 am
by collin
I agree with endre, but would like to add use a canning jar instead of reusing something (they're stronger), and I'd put the jar in a small wooden box in case of implosion.
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:23 am
by kirol
collin wrote:I agree with endre, but would like to add use a canning jar instead of reusing something (they're stronger), and I'd put the jar in a small wooden box in case of implosion.
is there an easy way to build some kind of t or some kind of manifold to run my vacuum hose through the jar?
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:03 pm
by Idris
Don't use so much epoxy. If you smear it on the base etc. And wet out your glass with a paintbrush. You end up with not much wasted epoxy, hence no problem of epoxy clogging the vacuum pump.
If you are using a high set speed epoxy and heat setting this might not be an option. But this is not normally true of a home vacuum setup.
At PMgear we are using epoxy that has a pot life of 20 min and use high temp and a pneumatic press to make skis. We have quite a lot of epoxy runoff. But
we don't really have the time I would take when pressing skis at home. And epoxy starvation in a ski is more of a worry than wasting epoxy.
xxx
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:56 pm
by wildschnee
youse an epoxy trap .....
burton
Re: xxx
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:53 pm
by kirol
wildschnee wrote:youse an epoxy trap .....
burton
Where could I get one? Isn't the glass jar basicaly an epoxy trap?
Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:17 am
by endre
that's right. It is a container on your hose. can be connected with a glue gun (hot glue), silicone or whatever.
(didn't remember the english term for it earlier, but I guess "trap" is the right word)