pressure pot junk?

[Paul Downes]

I got a Harbor Freight pressure pot about a year ago and just got it set up to pressurize some castings. The durn thing will only hold 40-50 lbs. before blowing through the gasket. I've tried the lid in different positions, made sure the gasket was clean and everything else I can think of but It just doesn't want to work. Has anyone else had this kind of problem? I have thought about heating the gasket a little to soften it and clamping it down to try to get it too seal. I also wondered about putting some vasiline on it to see if that would work. I checked the top of the pot to see if it was warped and didn't see anything obvious. The position of the air leak is not always in the same place so It doesn't seem to be a defective lid. I'm not sure if they will take it back on trade for a new one because they only have a 90 day warrenty.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

I got a Harbor Freight pressure pot about a year ago and just got it set up to pressurize some castings. The durn thing will only hold 40-50 lbs. before blowing through the gasket. I've tried the lid in different positions, made sure the gasket was clean and everything else I can think of but It just doesn't want to work. Has anyone else had this kind of problem? I have thought about heating the gasket a little to soften it and clamping it down to try to get it too seal. NO!!! I also wondered about putting some vasiline on it to see if that would work.YES!!! I checked the top of the pot to see if it was warped and didn't see anything obvious. The position of the air leak is not always in the same place so It doesn't seem to be a defective lid. I'm not sure if they will take it back on trade for a new one because they only have a 90 day warrenty.

But I see no reason to have it over 40lbs. of pressure. Vasiline will keep it nice and pliable.

 

[Monty]

Are you sure it's the gasket and not the PR valve? Have you verified exactly where it leaks by painting the suspected ares with soapy water?

 

[RHunter]

Paul,

Try pulling the gasket out of the lid and VERY LIBERALLY coat with silicone grease, then put it back into the lid.

You can pickup a small container at BORG or Blue BORG for about a $1- they are typically in the plumbing section, don't waste your time looking around the air fittings...

Mine wouldn't hold anything beyond 20lbs before the hissing started- I removed the gasket and coated, and now I can hold 80lbs overnight with only a 2-5lb loss.

I typically recoat the gasket in place about every 4-5 times I repressurize.

I also had to experiment with the lid placement to find the "sweet spot" where it won't leak. More than likely the quality manufacturing process produced a slightly out of round pot or lid- but hey, it's typical HF QC :biggrin:

-Doug

 

[Paul Downes]

Thanks for the replies. I suspected the gasket was too stiff. I was able to get 60 lbs. one time and then the hissing started. Most of the time the snake started talking @ 40 lbs. I'll go get some silicone grease.

 

[rodsaw]

Silicone grease is also commonly labeled as "Faucet Grease" or waterproof grease and should be able to be found with the faucet repair parts. Of course that is where I would put it from my days in retail home improvement...that doesn't seem to apply these days.

 

[Glass Scratcher]

We don't know what kind of rubber the seal is on the lid. So stay away from Vasiline. It can cause some rubbers to degrade.

Plumbers Grease, (sometimes labeled Faucet Grease) is what you want. It is a small flat plastic flip top "tub" on a card, I want to say it is made by Goop. You can find it near the PVC glues/solvents/cleaners at Lowes.

 

[td]

Start with the obvious... registration marks on your lid and pot before you ever remove the lid. Round is almost never round. Getting the lid back in the same position in which it was shipped gives you a better chance all the way around. After that.... all of the suggestions above.

I've never had a problem with my first HF pot and have since purchased two more.

Good Luck

 

[louie]

I found that I need to tighten the bolts with pliers. hand pressure doesn't get them tight enough to hold any reasonable pressure.