Hi

I'm very new to all this so please be gentle!

I tried my first infusion mould at the weekend. After perserverence I seem to be struggling with leaks around the hose - bag seals.

However, what looks very simple in the online videos...ie putting the hose through the bag & into the silcone connector is always causing me leaks. I've tried tiny knicks in the bag to a bigger cut.

Should the hose force the bag in with it into the silcone connector?

What appears to happen is when the vacuum is applied wrinkles form around hose area & cause the leak.

Any help would be much appreciated on what appears to be quite simple.

Thanks in advance
Marcus

Hi Marcus,

Don't worry; we're here to help .

Should the hose force the bag in with it into the silcone connector?

No, definately not; this would lead to leaks. All you need to do is pucker the bag into a 'peak' and then cut off the tip of the peak with a pair of scissors which should leave you with a round hole just large enough to get the hose through. It doesn't matter is it's a few mm larger but you don't want it much bigger than that. You put the PVC tube through the hole and the push it firmly into the resin infusion connector (RIC) on the other side of the bag. Around the PVC hose you need a decent coil of bagging tape, around the size of a 50p. Of course you need to remove the backing from the tape when you do this! - You then stick the side of that coil down firmly onto the vacuum bag and at the same time press it really firmly onto the PVC tube. You should squash it enough that each coil of tape pretty much merges into the next. The seal is all made between the tape and the bag. The PVC tube into the resin infusion connection doesn't actually need to be an airtight seal because it's inside the sealed bag anyway.

It's the same story for everyone when you start out bagging - you just won't realise how much pushing and squishing of the tape is necessary to get a perfect seal.

What appears to happen is when the vacuum is applied wrinkles form around hose area & cause the leak.

Try to ensure that the bag around this area is reasonably flat. If wrinkles do form then try to unwrinkle them, under vacuum, pushing the tape seal as much as you can.

I hope this helps.

Best regards, Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Thanks Matt, I'll give this a try or maybe go for the upgraded connectors if necessary.

Marcus

Hello Marcus

What I do is put  the tube in the connector and then wrap the tape around the joint. I then make the hole in the bag and then slip the tube through from the inside of the bag pulling the tube out untill the tape contacts the inside of the bag. I press the bag down to get a good seal. I then put a roll of tacky tape around the tube where it exits the bag from the outside and push that down also. So in other words you have tacky tape on the inside and outside where the tube exits the bag. Works for me. I always had leaks too when I did it the way you did.

Hope this helps.

Fred