Vacuum Stuff for Composites: Hoses, Connectors, Gauges and More!
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- Опубликовано: 26 фев 2021
- This video is about all the stuff that goes between your vacuum pump and your part when vacuum bagging composites: hoses, connectors, fittings, gauges and catch pots! It goes with this article at Explore Composites!
explorecomposites.com/article...
There is another article about choosing a vacuum pump here:
explorecomposites.com/article...
And one about vacuum bagging here:
explorecomposites.com/article...
These bits and pieces make up a basic "vacuum system" for composites work. Different processes require different components - this isn't always clear and it is easy to mess stuff up if you use the wrong things together. Curing resin is unforgiving! 
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i fell down the rabbit hole watching the different lamination schedule experiments. well done brother, exceptional attention to detail. but now i want to know how strong those panels are. as each video ended, that was my last thought. for me these materials are too expensive to experiment with, i need data before i can justify the expense. nothing too crazy into material science, simple deflection tests like fixed at one point and fixed at 2 points compared to a commonly observed material like plywood of equal thickness. testing things like shear and tensile might be expensive to test but itd be cool.
Always great info, especially for the beginner.
This is very helpful to me- thankya!
Dude! These vids are fantastic, thank you. You have about 1% the traction you deserve, keep this up and no doubt more and more people will find you. Keep 'em coming!
Thanks! I'm having fun doing it!
VERY helpful! Thank you!
One interesting option i found for infusion : "bag ports" purchased from Eldon James. $1 a piece, place under the bag with sealant tape on top for the bag to seal over, and the nipple protruding through. There 2 sized that fit PE hose perfectly. Extremely low profile for use on infusion mesh or over a flat resin runner, can be easily reused 2-3 times but very cheap and makes little waste anyway. Love them. Only downside, make sure your hose does not flex it too much as they are very soft. Never had one fail me, though.
That's a great idea - I'll have to see if I can get my hands on some to try out. Thanks!
Yeah.. I am new to carbon but am willing to learn. I have my resin/hardener/ jellcoat- still need to get the carbon - my attempt will be to make a composite top frame for my motion simulator. (already working out of welded steel) so I have a rough idea of what to do and how to start spending lots of money on carbon. haha! I appreciate you going through all the hoses and guages etc.. nice informative video. .DMAX
west systems has a line of vacuum stuff under the pro-vac brand. their tubing is a metric euro size so its not compatible with sae size poly tubing fittings. 1/4 ID poly tubing like you can get at Home Depot or from suppliers like Composite Envisions will fit inside Pro-Vac 10 mm so with some tacky tape you can join the two. Pro- Vac has their own T connects, valves etc. The tubing is thinner walled and is a little easier to handle, bend and route around. The valves are really good quality, barbs insert and seal in tubes nicely. pricing is reasonable and in line with a consumable. Mostly only available in full rolls, etc. I don't know of any cut quantity suppliers
I haven't use the Pro-Vac stuff yet but hoping to get some - right now I don't exactly tear through rolls of anything! It makes sense they'd source good stuff. I'd be interested to hear how you like the valves.
Chris, can you do more on valves, clamping, controlling / stopping resin flow, etc. There are lots of ways to do this. Valves that are "consumable" like the Pro-Vac. Expensive fancy threaded squeezers like in your videos, Vice grip like hose clamps, bending and folding the tube, etc. Our mutual pal JK gets really adamant about not having anything like a valve that is a potential vacuum leak. Every time I clamp down on the tube with the vice-grip-hose-clamp I'm wondering if it going to split or rupture it. Folding the input tube has its own set of drawbacks, like pulling it out of the pot, flicking resin around, resin waste, etc. Some of your expertise here, especially as the part size gets bigger.
I am not sure how I feel about clamps and valves - there aren't any 100% awesome perfect solutions that I know of. The valves do work but I have also heard of them leaking - it is asking for trouble but how much trouble I don't know. I haven't used the Pro-Vac ones but I'm trying to get a few. I used the wide flat Vise-grips for carpet for years and never broke a hose though I worried about it too. Often two Vise-grips in line on a hose for complete clamping. The fancy squeezers with the knob are the best yet - but they are too expensive to use on every hose for larger infusions... or are they? My feeling is that in a factory situation they would be 100% worth it. You could make your own pretty easily too. definitely
Thanks! This is really helpful. What do you think of the wire reinforced PVC hose? It has been working fine for me. (I use those hydraulic fittings all the time in my job, but never thought of them for vacuum.)
I have used the larger wire reinforced PVC hose stuff for flexible drops on vacuum systems and it works great. Not cheap but cheaper than other large diameter alternatives! Never used it for smaller vacuum hoses but no doubt it would work. What sizes do you use? It can be bought vacuum rated too I think?
@@ExploreComposites I have some 3/8". I use it for everything, from degassing urethane (high vacuum) to low temp bagging. I think it is intended for food grade vacuum applications. I found it on Ebay for a decent price.
What if you want to vacuum bag on a wet layup a large area say 14’x10’? I am planning on a project and plan to use carbon glass and coremat as sandwich material. I am not experienced in vacuum bagging. Does this mean I’d need bigger hoses or hose fittings and a bigger vacuum pump?
If you are well prepared and tidy, two or three hoses with breather wrapped around should do fine as-long as they are off the part clear of resin. Bigger hoses and pumps help but aren’t necessary. Even a 3-5cfm pump will work. The key is getting the sealant down clean without any resin mess under and then work the edge pretty well as the bag comes down. Make sure you can limit the vacuum level! Also not sure on coremat with wet bagging - never done it! May suck up quite a bit or resin and starve out the skins. A smaller test first will really teach you lots!
Shot in the dark here, but here's my question - The vacuum regulator you show @10:43 ... Is that a hydraulic flow valve? It looks a lot like one.
You are right - it is a hydraulic flow control and says "Parker Par Trol PN600B -40BT" and "MAX 2000 PSI" which is more than vacuum is ever going to give it. I don't recall where I got it from, but it was part of something I bought used because I never purchased it by itself or even considered what it might be besides a vacuum regulator. Thank you for making me learn!
@@ExploreComposites Most excellent reply! Thanks!
edit: I found one similar on eBay - Thanks for confirming that. That's one more piece of the puzzle!
Can you share the surfaces you use to work on? Example: you mention a teflon table, or heated tables?
The tables have a Teflon/PTFE film release on them - its like a sticker. It doesn't give a perfect finish, but lasts for may releases, has no transfer and doesn't require (stinky) release agents.
The tables I use for the samples are heated to manage the often-cold work environment. One is an aluminum plate with a 3D printer bed heater stuck to the back. The larger one is a carbon/aluminum honeycomb panel with a soft drum heater blanket under it. The aluminum core transmits heat very well.
@@ExploreComposites thanks, this is very informative.