pressure pot completed but casting resin question

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splinter99

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OK first of all I would like to say thank you to all of you who have answered my questions..I startrd putting this time machine/pressure pot together last night at 9.00 pm..by 10.00 pm I realized I was still missing 2 fittings. (2)3/8 to 1/4 bushings that I still swear I bought (quite a bit of swearing actually)..Ready to give up and just make trip three to the hardware store in the morning, I took one last look around the shop then remembered I had a box of broken air tools that I had acquired and there they where..one was on an old air ratchet and one on an air hammer. Back in buisness..put everything together and by 11.00 pm I was hooking up the A/C to test for leaks..Incrediblely..no leaks..was able to pull a vacume and hold it and able to pressurize and hold the pressure..

Got up early and gathered all neccessary mixing equipment, plastic containers etc(all pillfered from the kitchen before the wife gets home) open the can of casting resin from Micheals and it wont pour out of the can..Its like jello..is it supposed to be that stiff?

It took me 15 minutes with a plastic fork handle to get 10 oz out of the can to have enough to fill the mold
I managed to get some color mixed in and put into the pot, pulled a vac on it for 10 min to degass..mixed in the catalyst poured into molds and pulled a vac again for 6 min to degass some more.. Then switched to 30 psi pressure..It's still in the pot so I dont know if it will turn out or not.

Could this be old or is that how its supposed to look??


here is a pic of the set up


200794155750_pressurepot.jpg




Greg..thanks for putting together the tutorial
 
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gketell

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Harold, You are VERY welcome!

No, your resin should not be that thick; you have a can of bad resin. Take it back and get your money back. It should pour like thick maple syrup. Someone has said that PR has about a 90-180 shelf life so if the stores don't sell much...

Depends on how much you trust your mixing/resin/etc. I'm still a newbie to this so I put mine under pressure in the afternoon and open it up the following morning.

GK
 

its_virgil

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WOW! Makes mine look like a wimp...but it works [:D] Here's mine. The guage is both vacuum and pressure and I use the compressor regulator for pressure adjustment and I have a shut off valve on the vacuum pump.

200794164336_PP%20whole.jpg

Do a good turn daily!
Don



Originally posted by splinter99
<br />
here is a pic of the set up
 

splinter99

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If this dont work for casting blanks im going to figure out away to make moonshine with it (the wife casts a hairy eyeball on anything I build that has a pot with tubes comming out of it)
 

txbatons

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Don,
Nice to see a setup that I think I can do! After purchasing my pot on Sunday I started reading all of the different setups in the threads. I don't think NASA spent as much time finagling their stuff to get a man on the moon as some of these pots are configured!

I just might be able to do this!
 

MesquiteMan

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I prefer simple also and it serves me very well. But then again I am not using my pot for vacuum, only pressure. Here is mine:

20079512230_pot1.jpg
<br />
 
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I don't understand why you all have so much "stuff" hanging off the top of your pots.

I have my pot set up for pressure and vacuum. I use my compressor to regulate the pressure.

Here is the pressure setup:

PressurePot.jpg


My gauge is a vacuum/pressure like Don's. When I want vacuum I connect my HF venturi that I stripped out and fitted with couplings:
(Note that I have left the pressure relief valve in place. It is visible in this picture)

VacuumPot.jpg


In additon to the cost of the pot I have $25-$35 in parts... All from Lowes (except the vacuum/pressure gauge). The shipping on the gauge cost more than the gauge itself.
Simple, and works like a charm.
 

dalemcginnis

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A question, in all your pictures I do not see a pressure relief valve. How do you insure you do not go over the max rated pressure? Maybe I'm paranoid but I would not pressurize a pot without a pressure relief valve. I know you have gauges on the pot but if that gauge should fail or be inaccurate you could over pressurize.
 

gketell

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Curtis, you understand that your pressure regulator IS NOT regulating the pot at all, right?

The valve regulates the hole opposite the vacuum gauge (where your cut-off valve is) and lets full pressure pass through the hole with the arrow so you can hook up more pots in line.

I just disassembled my setup to confirm this.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL!! [:0]

GK
 

gketell

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Scott, to answer your question there were three reasons I did it the way I did:
1) I wanted to keep all the parts together at all times so I wouldn't lose them.
2) I wanted to keep the pressure regulator and didn't know what would happen to it if I vacuumed it.
3) I mistakenly thought the quick-connects would not work for vacuum usage.

Mostly #2 and #3. But #1 is a very real concern in my garage/store-room/shop.

GK
 

its_virgil

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My pressure relief valve was leaking so I removed it (the one that came with the pot). I cast at 25 psi, the tank is rated to 75psi which means it will withstand more...they are rated at less than they will actually hold so an engineer at a local vessel factory has told me. If I were casting at a pressure closer to the rating of the pressure pot I would install a new relief valve. I have backed off from 60 psi to 25 psi and get excellent results....using polyester resin. Several even cast at 15 to 20 psi.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Originally posted by dalemcginnis
<br />A question, in all your pictures I do not see a pressure relief valve. How do you insure you do not go over the max rated pressure? Maybe I'm paranoid but I would not pressurize a pot without a pressure relief valve. I know you have gauges on the pot but if that gauge should fail or be inaccurate you could over pressurize.
 

MesquiteMan

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Greg,

I am certainly not an expert on pressure regulators but this is what I have experienced with my setup. If I turn the regulator all the way in (or is it out) it does not allow any air into my pressure pot. I can confirm this by the fact that I hear no air going in and then when I remove the lid, no pressure escapes. Also, if I let it fill until it reached the set point of 60 psi the incomming air noise stops. If I then turn the regulator adjustment one way, it lets air out and if I turn it the other way, it lets air in. Based on this I would have to say that the regulator is indeed doing its job just fine for what I need.
 

gketell

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Dale, My PRV was leaking too at very very low pressure. My solution is to use two regulators, the one on the pot set to 40psi and the one on my compressor set to 70psi. I would have to have a dual failure of both regulators before my pot could exceed its 80psi maximum.

GK
 

gketell

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That is very scary, then.

We both have the same paint pot from the same company with the same "looking" regulator but they both work differently.

As I said, I took mine apart (taking the cap off the arrow-port) and dialed the regulator to zero. When I hooked up my compressor full pressure blew out the uncapped arrow-port.

I'm very glad yours works the way it does considering how you have it hooked up!


GK
 

MesquiteMan

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Greg,

Thank you very much for your concern. I sincerely mean that and appreciate it!

Your regulator must be a different one than the one I have. I got concerned based on the PM you sent so I went out to the shop to double check. I tested it as you suggested by taking the lid off the pot and adding air. I then unscrewed the regulator post and can indeed completely cut off the air coming into my pot. If I screw the regulator post back in, air starts coming out the lid based. Based on this, I would have to confirm that my set-up is indeed regulating the pressure in my pot.

Thanks again for the concern and comments. I really do appreciate it!
 
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