Hi all,

I figured that I have done enough troubleshooting that I will post up on here and see if anyone can clue in. I am having a strange issue when I infuse flat sheet. I have attached some photos so you can take a look. Basically, once the sheet is cured, there is a faint holographic 'ripple' in the carbon. It almost looks like tiger stripes.

Initially I thought it was a defect in the reinforcement, but I examined it very closely before infusing and it was not present. Then I thought maybe it was the placement of my infusion spiral, but again, with different orientations it did not change. Finally I thought I had it solved, I deduced that it was the vacuum pump causing 'waves' from the internal mechanisms and variation in vacuum strength during the motor cycles. So, I tried went from a 2 stage rotary vane vacuum pump, to a dry Gast diaphragm pump, and low and behold...The rippling was STILL there.

So , needless to say, I am completely stumped.

I will try taping everything in place with flash tape!