Hi, I've been trying to vacuum infuse basalt fibre using the EC infusion kit with an existing vacuum pump. The mould is made from aluminium, and the A side seems to be coming out really well, but the B side (peel ply side) looks to be aerated between the top few layers every time. I recently changed the direction of flow to run along the part rather than across it, which was an improvement but its still not coming out right. I've tried this 4 times now with various directions and layups but I can't seem to get it to work properly.

I wasn't able to order an EC epoxy as I'm in Australia so have used a local resin supplier. The vac pump pulls a strong vacuum, well under the -30inhg gauge minimum. I haven't degassed the resin.
Is there anything specifically that causes this type of failure?







The left one was resin flow across the part from left to right, and the right piece was flow from top to bottom, having to travel over the bends.

Thanks

Both methods work fine.  Pump on and good resin break will work well, as will pump off on a sealed bag.  It can be hard to get a great resin break if the flanges aren't that big which means the part would end up a little dry as some resin would still suck out during the cure process until it gels.  This is avoided by clamping off and switching off the pump - however you need vacuum to hold to a very high level until the resin has gelled.

So both techniques can be made to work and some people get on with one versus the other better.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant