Here are a few use cases and the types of pumps that would be well suited to the jobs: 1.) One of the primary reasons why the mist may appear while the pump is switched on is due to a noisy pump.
The amount of vacuum you pull is directly proportional to the pressure on your work so youll need a pump that lets you get what you need. The pump will try to provide enough pressure into the chamber.
Updated 6/17/20: video integration, example pumps and pics, Updated 1/13/21: wet layup and infusion sections links and better heading layouts, Updated 5/6/21: smaller graphics, PNG for sketches, lower quality jpegs, no embedded youtube just link with picture. Max. Green is positive pressure (car tire) and everything else is vacuum. With two pumps, each gets to do the job it does best and you dont have to worry about the pressure under an active infusion dropping because somebody is pulling down a bag elsewhere in the factory. So you can adjust the vacuum level to tailor the pressure required for the job. Thats a lot!
And make sure you get the right oil for your pump. Given how expensive composites materials are and how much labor contributes to most parts, it is not a good idea to risk it all on some rando pump from the internet. This requires (ideally) really high vacuum. 0000028210 00000 n
For more about pre-pregs check out my article on Laminating with Pre-pregs. For high temperature oven or autoclave use you will pay more money but its worth getting the right kind of hoses. Wire-reinforced silicone radiator hose works too. Is your vacuum pump smoking and you are worried that it is malfunctioning? It is not healthy, and it is not good for all your clean oil-free work surfaces and materials. Many manufacturers make multiple versions of the same pump with different performance specifications like the older Busch RA, RB and RC designations. vacuum in red is a product of pump type oil lubrication (three on the right) yields high vacuum. Many people tend to think that whenever there is smoke emitting from the pump, it means there is something wrong with the machine. It is generally better to have too large a pump and one capable of pulling more vacuum than you really need but youll run it a lot and it will use power. 0000100213 00000 n
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You should ideally not breathe this. Enter your phone number and we'll send you a download link. The types of pumps you need for composites are different from what is required in labs and industrial high vacuum service. Unless you are fussy or have a specific application, an absolute gauge is probably not necessary for basic bagging. There are several common types of vacuum pumps that make sense for composites applications. 0000006386 00000 n
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McMaster Carr sells (you can also buy by the roll and have your hose-maker use this) a yellow vacuum-rated Gorilla-brand hose that works great at room temperature.
The high-vac one will not like being regulated down to low vacuum if it means air will be flowing though.
The 12 cfm vacuum pump that we offer is the best in its class, and were confident that youll love it. For cooking, there needs to be enough volume to handle any moisture gracefully and as close to full vacuum as possible for optimal compaction.
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There is nothing to worry when you notice this kind of vapor because the pump emits it while pumping on a specific chamber from the atmosphere. If youre serious about commercial level infusion my advice is to get two pumps high and low.
Ill get back to gauges later on. You run a cook overnight and a small crew does layup and debulking during the day. This part is made of a fibrous material that gets wet when oil passes through it. They can run continuously and are easy to repair. Somebody also gave me a Gast piston pump that I re-gifted to a friend after tiring of the noise super noisy! 0000098989 00000 n
oil) TRIVAC D 16 B, Major maintenance kit (excl. I would rather see you get a used Busch off Ebay but one of these for a backup wouldnt be a bad idea. The atmosphere outside presses down on the outside of the bag with its full weight, which is approximately 14.7 lbs per square inch or about 10,300 kg per square meter (101 kPa). So now you want a low vacuum pump maybe 20inHg or even lower. The larger Gast and the Becker in the charts and video are this kind. 0000028534 00000 n
You pay extra for the convenience, but the concept and execution is excellent. Eventually, the pump will run out of oil; running the pump without oil will cause damage to the internals. 0000031573 00000 n
Were confident that youll be satisfied with your purchase and will recommend us to all your friends. Genuine OEM product. We can measure the amount of air removed from a vacuum bag relative to the air outside (atmospheric pressure) with a relative vacuum gauge. What types of composite processes are you going to be doing? DESCRIPTION
Long term exposure to water can rust and damage the internal bits of the pump. Be mindful of this as you look at pumps and be sure to ask manufacturers (or consult datasheets online) to get an idea how much drop in flow to expect as vacuum levels increase. The air pumped into the chamber moves through the oil reservoir. Noise can be a problem these are louder than oil lubricated pumps and if you are working in the same room with one all day youll notice. In this case, the ideal pump would be a large (30+CFM, but maybe much larger) oil-lubricated rotary vane pump. 412962
If youre looking for the best car-related products on the market, look no further. This article and video include six small example pumps from my collection. These are all of common types that can be good for use in a variety of composites processes.
One company worth looking at if you are in a manufacturing environment is Vacmobiles in NZ. The ones I have used have been noisier that would be ideal, but they can often be found very cheap used. Dry (oil-less) rotary vane pumps are a great option for higher volume (CFM) and medium vacuum level say up to 25 inHg. You still need to pull vacuum on the part, but if you keep the high vacuum going, any moisture or volatile components of the resin (MEKP or styrene for example or moisture in the materials) will boil off and create bubbles. For this type of work you need good vacuum and really good durability because youre going to run it hard and put it away wet often literally! Swap legs if you have it wrong. If you see any mistakes or disagree with anything here I would love to have a chance to learn from you please let me know! Check out the little Gast one in the video and charts.
You can give it a quick bump to make sure its going the right way before the electrician leaves, but nothing more.
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This article discusses the options and my opinions on what the best choices are for different types of composites work. So practically it isnt much of an issue but it is important to understand. and will include prejudices based on my limited experience. If youre relying on a vacuum pump for your day-to-day commercial activities or your boss asked you to buy one its probably safer to buy a new one and the support and warranty that comes with. They spew oil all over if you run them open, and they get very hot. For room temperature use, heavy-duty air hose is fine for vacuum if youre not shooting for high performance. As the vacuum level increases, the pump has to pull harder to remove air and the efficiency goes down.
You may (you definitely will) even want a dedicated cook pump for oven (or autoclave) operation, and so you have a backup. 0000030409 00000 n
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Shaft Seal, 3/8"
My favorites are the Becker dry rotary vane pump and a oil-lubricated Busch RA 0025 which is 3 phase and not shown here. This is why astronauts wear pressurized suits while space-walking! 0000002191 00000 n
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Welch 1402PP KIT,PRIMARY,Phenolic vanes Mechanical Seal
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I have bought several pumps on Ebay, and on Craigslist and from online surplus dealers like HGR Surplus. You should plumb the exhaust from your pump outside, especially with an oil-lubricated pump. 0000009777 00000 n
New ones are several hundred dollars but they can be found on Ebay and surplus sites for less. 616385
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I make no promises about its usefulness! As you get into bigger pumps, it starts to make more sense to buy new. I have killed (or mortally wounded) several pumps by using them to cook MDF which generates lots of water vapor that condenses in the oil. I had a Leybold Sogevac pump once that supposedly did this and it needed special oil not sure how much it helped but it was a nice pump. Theres no ideal one-size-fits-all vacuum pump! I would only use one of these for very high vacuum, low flow pre-preg use in a situation where there is little or no moisture from the materials or tooling. In other words, as a volume of air enters the vacuum pump, more oil mist is created. Total length of the joint is a few feet (1m) and you are using two 12 oz (400gsm) tapes. You could do with less, but if there are some leaks you could end up with less pressure than you need. So when you pull the air out of a vacuum bag, there is no more air pressure inside. 0000031057 00000 n
I know of one that has been degassing resin daily for 5+ years.
Looking for common and well supported brands of pump is a good idea. Something went wrong. 412963
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If you remove only some of the air inside a vacuum bag, the atmospheric pressure only pushes with a fraction of the potential 14.7 psi / 101kPa. See the 110v Becker dry rotary pump in the video and charts below it is perfect for this type of work. Check your manufacturers suggestions. There are some special cases with vacuum infusion where youll want two very different things out of a vacuum pump and my strong suggestion is that you get two different pumps! PART NUMBER
Gauge pressure is relative to atmospheric pressure, where absolute pressure is absolute. 0000047440 00000 n
It usually remains closed with a cover plate. Overall, there are lots of perfectly good pumps available at auctions and factory closings.
On more than one occasion I have seen a fog of oil mist fill a room. When an oil-lubricated pump is run open with lots of air flowing through it, the oil can (and will) come out the exhaust in a fine mist. There is no oil to spill or get blown out all over the room though if theres a big leak in your bag. Debulking benefits from high volume to save time and high vacuum levels to really squish plies. You dont need much of a pump here maybe 10-20 inHg and a few CFM. Bigger pumps are available used too often at even steeper discounts because they are huge and need three-phase power.
Most oil mist eliminators have replaceable filters which need to be changed when they become saturated with oil. If you need a 7hp vacuum pump for composites work, you have something going on and you know better than I do what you want. PART NUMBER
Addressing issues with excess oil mist as soon as they occur will help to extend the lifespan of the pump. This doesnt take much pressure! Running a pump backwards is super bad for it it ruins the vanes and youll need to rebuild it. In many cases, the smoke you see is actually mechanical pump oil vapor. 0000042895 00000 n
You wont get super high vacuum from a diaphragm pump but small ones are portable and you dont have oil to deal with. We dont feel it because we are pressurized from the inside to compensate and our bodies are designed to handle it. Absolute gauges are more repeatable because the atmospheric pressure changes with the weather. Explore Composites!
You will notice more vapor/smoke when there is more pressure. Hose attachment point to pipe the mist away - 14 - 15mm ID Hose required. 616385
Charts from the video are shown below in the Example Pumps section.
Think in terms of: power (hp), volume (CFM or m^3/hr), maximum vacuum level (inHg, torr, millibar). For reusable bag or Light RTM infusion, you may be dealing with a much lower cavity vacuum level if there is a vacuum clamp involved. Both of them were bought used from surplus dealers and for substantially under $1000 total.
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This might be 25inHg / 0.85bar or so. 0000001605 00000 n
Electricians will know this procedure and most pumps are marked with a rotation direction on the casting. It covers many of the same things and shows six actual pumps. If you are looking to get a first vacuum pump or to do simple vacuum bagging then a smaller oil-less pump piston, diaphragm, or rotary vane would be a good place to start. 0000054354 00000 n
They dont make actual pumps but they set them up on carts with manifolds and catch-pots. 0000029160 00000 n
A pump with an exhaust oil filter like the Gardner Denver and the Busch will capture that oil and recirculate it rather than let it blow out. You will need to vacuum bag some foam core and then several layers of fiberglass in epoxy resin. So heres a video that goes with this article. A few were total crap.
Buying a used pump can be a great choice, and knowing how to maintain it yourself is always nice. H$ML^->dgCe@+Ew|1.wqo.\R,mrJ[-6Jcn_~|q?_oG First off, please dont get one of those refrigerant service pumps from Harbor Freight. 16 0 obj
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Here a medium sized piston pump or diaphragm pump would be ok, but a nice dry rotary vane would be ideal. The more the oil passes through this part, the more chances of the smoke emitting when the pump is operating in full throttle.
Some designs of vacuum pumps contain an internal oil mist separator inside the exhaust cavity.
Also before you bid, try to call up the brands service provider in your area and see about parts availability. First a bit about vacuum in general. The vacuum exhaust is all the air that came out from under the bag, so it can include volatiles from the resin. Youll have to replace the oil with new oil before you run it. You are running a small shop making pre-preg automotive parts. Do your research, shop around talk to people and ask questions. a series 0000050871 00000 n
Hose Barb fitting, 1/4 inch thread NPT, 6mm hose barb Can be used with Vpump vacuum pumps.
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Some of this stuff can be dangerous and the warning dont try this at home applies. Mechanical Shaft Seal with Screws, 0 Edwards E2M12 E2M18 E2M28 E2M30 Mounting Foot 26501031. 0000029821 00000 n
I have used them at work and always wanted one for myself but been too cheap to get one! 4
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Over the years I have owned more than a dozen vacuum pumps and have dealt with many dozens more that belonged to friends, customers or employers. Backpressure can lead to leakage in the seals as they are forced backwards to their design, and in some cases can even damage or break the seals. Video: How to Choose a Vacuum Pump for Vacuum Bagging Composites. The vacuum level will be high and the pump will be quiet and reliable. 0000006595 00000 n
Technicians think that it is not uncommon for oil-filled pumps to emit a mist when air is moving through the pump. The article has more in-depth information though! And heres another reason to trust us: all our products come with a warranty and service anywhere in the world.
Some were great. 0000032110 00000 n
Smoke or mist out of your exhaust indicates there is a volume traveling through the pump; if you see a constant flow of mist out of the exhaust, and you think you have exhausted your vessel or chamber that you are pumping down, it may indicate there is a leak somewhere into the pump, or that the gas ballast is in the open position. Both Gast pumps and the Becker from the video and charts below would be ideal for this. POWER CORD_HANDLE_SWITCH, Description: An up-rated filter to reduce oil mist from a rotary vane vacuum pump. Exhaust Valve, Bypass
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It isnt necessary or really all that helpful and pumps that have this feature are often too high strung for composites work and will fail sooner than a more standard duty pump. I recommend always plumbing the exhaust out of your work area (outside ideally) in case you have a bag pop or somebody forgets to close a valve.
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Getting a relative gauge up to 29.9 inHg or an absolute gauge down near 0 (millibar, torr, kPa) is very possible with a good bag, good plumbing and a well maintained pump. I would suggest a oil-lubricated rotary vane pump for pre-pregs in almost every case. 0000002078 00000 n
Replacement internal filter available, Standard adaptor plug for UK 3 pin to Euro, Flare, SAE thread Plastic Blanking caps for vacuum pumps. They dont like having lots of air flowing through so it is best to only use an oil-lubricated rotary vane pump for very high vacuum. The second goal is to bleed off excess resin from a wet-out laminate. It was probably 20 years old when I got it and is probably still going somewhere out there. In practice, a bag will only get better as you remove leaks. Used on Welch DirecTorr 8917A
Vacuum pumps are pretty simple and the technology hasnt evolved much in several decades at least at the low end of the vacuum range where composites processing hangs out. Vacuum bags are an almost magical tool you can press really hard on things in ways no other clamping mechanism can match. 0000029619 00000 n
These pumps handle less-than-perfect bags better and provide more reliable service in a less then perfect industrial environment so ideally this is what you should get for high-vacuum vacuum-bagging. replaces A20405024, Browse by Brand, Custom LED Lighting & more, Semiconductor Dry Pump Repair Kits and Parts, Vacuum Fittings - Clamps, Flanges and Hardware, 1402PP PRIMARY KIT with Phenolic vanes and Mechanical Seal, Major maintenance kit (excl. Dry pumps also dont mind having the vacuum level regulated down and will gladly run all day with air flowing through. The brass manifold with the three flare fittings needs to be removed from the vacuum pump. articles, videos, photos: Copyright 2022 Chris Rogers. Please do not copy without permission. 412996
Whenever the full vacuum pulls down the chamber, you will notice that the smoke disappears.
And another below showing the maximum vacuum for each pump in several units with some context. Here is a chart comparing the capacity and maximum vacuum of these six pumps. O-Ring,Viton,82.22 X 2.62 MM
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Again, air flowing through this type of pump is not ideal. Here you dont need lots of vacuum pressure, maybe only 10-15 inHg (500 mbar, 380 Torr) but the bag seal may not be perfect and a lot of it is overhead so youll want some capacity, maybe 10CFM or more.
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\hr-IE_ckr1}:Yagm?a"V"i4PnW. Some pumps run at a higher temperature and are better suited (supposedly) to handling moisture. It will tolerate being moved around and can run on 110v (or whatever your wall-outlet power is) and a 1.5hp pump will pull 20+ inHg at 15 CFM or so. 1
With an oil-lubricated pump the exhaust will include oil mist if the pump is run at less than full vacuum for much time. Adixen. First, you need to suck down your bag and pull all the volatiles and moisture out of your materials. Many brands make similar pumps and there are tons of them available new and used in a wide variety of conditions. For small pumps, I have that Gast 1/8 hp diaphragm pump that has served me well for eight years. Oil-Lubricated Rotary Vane pumps if you can get one, this is the best option for high vacuum. 1
A vacuum pump is necessary equipment for many types of composite processes. Are you concerned about possible damages? 0000054171 00000 n
Replacement power cord, handle and switch assembly Robinair Vacuum Pump spare - REPL. LeyboldReplacement filter element FE 16-25
More vacuum equals more compaction pressure and there are few reasons to use less pressure. It can do small work all day long and if youre careful you can infuse something 25 feet (8m) long no problem. It is also good to have a backup if you are working on expensive parts because many processes are guaranteed to fail without vacuum its cheap insurance. Of the oil-lubricated pumps shown in the video and the image above, the Edwards pump has no oil filter and this makes it less suitable to general composites work. You are setting up a work-cell for a set of production infused parts with reusable silicone vacuum bags. Consider the cost of even a single failed part, and bake that into your decision. These low vacuum levels really rule out the oil-lubricated rotary vane pumps because they dont do well running at reduced vacuum with air flowing through for hours.
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The reason a vacuum bag presses down on its contents is that the atmosphere (air, sky, all the clear stuff up there) weighs a whole lot. If you bought a 3-phase pump, you need to make sure the motor runs in the right direction. 3.) 0000056579 00000 n
There are lots of other better and worse options. Vacuum is where the rubber meets the road for a lot of composites processing techniques. Vacuum is just volume without any molecules in it. A vacuum pump has several essential parts, and the oil reservoir is one of them. Some high-vacuum pumps run hot to boil off moisture and need special oil. Here are short descriptions of each: Diaphragm pumps are a lot like piston pumps except that they are often quieter because instead of a piston they use a flexible diaphragm! The rotary-vane Gast pump shown above is also nice, and it has more volume capacity but its a little noisier. I will gladly insert additional information and differing opinions so readers are more aware of the diversity of right answers! Check the tag and look up the datasheet if you need specific performance like very high vacuum for debulking infusion stacks or high vapor handling for cooking MDF molds in an autoclave.
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