Any tips or idea what I am doing wrong?

[KMCloonan]

Hi - I have had several problems with the plastic pumps you install on gallon jugs of resin for casting. I ordered 2 pumps, one for Part A, the other for Part B.



After only a couple uses, the Part A pump seized and would not pump. I end up unscrewing the pump from the bottle and pouring the resin into the mixing container. Needless to say, pouring is not as precise as pumping. I thought, OK - I got a bad pump. So I ordered another. Same thing - several uses and seized. I'm afraid to push too hard on the pump, for fear it suddenly lets loose, or worse, breaks.

I didn't think there was any maintenance or cleaning for these pumps. The only no-no was to switch them between A & B for obvious reasons.

So, did I just get a couple duds, or is there something I can do to get the pump working again, or is there a better source for these pumps? I got these from TurnTex and Exotic blanks, and I honestly can't tell which I got from which supplier.

 

[lorbay]

Hi - I have had several problems with the plastic pumps you install on gallon jugs of resin for casting. I ordered 2 pumps, one for Part A, the other for Part B.

View attachment 337208

After only a couple uses, the Part A pump seized and would not pump. I end up unscrewing the pump from the bottle and pouring the resin into the mixing container. Needless to say, pouring is not as precise as pumping. I thought, OK - I got a bad pump. So I ordered another. Same thing - several uses and seized. I'm afraid to push too hard on the pump, for fear it suddenly lets loose, or worse, breaks.

I didn't think there was any maintenance or cleaning for these pumps. The only no-no was to switch them between A & B for obvious reasons.

So, did I just get a couple duds, or is there something I can do to get the pump working again, or is there a better source for these pumps? I got these from TurnTex and Exotic blanks, and I honestly can't tell which I got from which supplier.

I have had the same problem with the west systems epoxy. So what I did was to pump from each pump into a container and weigh it and printed that on a cheat sheet and done away with the pumps. Easy peezy
Lin

 

[jrista]

I suspect its drying in the pump. Have you tried sealing the nozzle on the pumps, maybe just wrap with clingwrap each time you are done?

 

[Mortalis]

My thought is the epoxy parts are too viscous for pumps. I also IMHO think you are being a bit too critical on quantities for mixing.
If you are dead set on how critical the part amounts are then I would recommend getting a couple squeeze bottles and fill them from the larger containers and use them for measuring your amounts. Also If you are being that critical I would hope you are relying on a scale and not a sight line for measure.

 

[darrin1200]

I have never used a pump for Alumilite clear slow. I would think it would be awkward holding the gallon jug over the scale and pumping it. It takes a little getting used to, but I can pour the resin quite quickly, accurate to 1g.
Even Alumilite's website says the pumps may not last long using Urethane.

 

[KMCloonan]

My thought is the epoxy parts are too viscous for pumps. I also IMHO think you are being a bit too critical on quantities for mixing.
If you are dead set on how critical the part amounts are then I would recommend getting a couple squeeze bottles and fill them from the larger containers and use them for measuring your amounts. Also If you are being that critical I would hope you are relying on a scale and not a sight line for measure.

I'm not necessarily dead set on how critical the amounts are - but everything I have been told is that you need to be fairly precise with Alumilite, and it's measured by weight, not volume, and you want to get as close to equal parts A & B as possible. Most of the videos I have watched on using Alumilite incude a weighing step using a scale for accuracy, which is the method I have always used.

I have never used a pump for Alumilite clear slow. I would think it would be awkward holding the gallon jug over the scale and pumping it. It takes a little getting used to, but I can pour the resin quite quickly, accurate to 1g.
Even Alumilite's website says the pumps may not last long using Urethane.

Thanks for the info. I have watched numerous YouTube videos about casting with Alumilite, and some even show the presenter using the pump to dispense the resin. I just assumed the pump was a standard practice for dispensing the resin. I was not aware that the Alumilite website mentions that pumps may not last long.

I suspect its drying in the pump. Have you tried sealing the nozzle on the pumps, maybe just wrap with clingwrap each time you are done?

I thought about this, but did not do anything more than wipe the nozzle to collect drips. I did not think about the resin drying out. Thanks for the suggestion.