By igs_au - 5/22/2019 10:54:20 PM
Hi all, I'm making a carbon fiber part with a basic bend, no dramas there. All parts sorted. I've got a vacuum pump, basic oil based. It creates vacuum alright, but when I switch it off, air comes back into the bag and no more vacuum. It's a bit frustrating really. Should I just keep the pump running until the whole thing at least starts to cure? I've got the bag sealed ok, I think, and the connector, which I made myself, looks solid. When the pump is running, you can see that the pipe is flattened, sucking all air out. and when I switch the pump off, the pipe fills with air again. Very frustrating. Any advice would be great.
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By JasonFL - 5/23/2019 11:36:17 AM
The way I was thought for Resin Infusion If the bag loses no more then 1” of vacuum in on hour the bag is sealed (I no longer do it this way). For others theyll do a full 1 day leak test for 1” loss.
Myself, I now check my bag with an ultrasonic leak detector, then wait 1 hour, if I lose any vacuum I recheck the bag, and repeat the 1 hour leak test.
My pump does the same thing as yours. I use two ball locks depending on what I’m trying to accomplish. One ball lock cuts the vacuum pump off from the reservoir and bag. The other cuts the bag off from the Reservoir and the pump.
For you a simple setup would be a ball lock directly off your pump, and then a vacuum gauge directly after the ball lock on your vacuum line. Shut the ball lock down, and if the gauge loses vacuum you know your bag is not sealed.
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