Vacuum degassing chamber

[Canobi]

Fine !
what kind of pump did you use ?

Hi Christophe


I used a 3CFM vacuum pump (the sort used for air cool systems). I did find it to be slightly under powered as pullung a completed vacuum can take up to 3 mins. It's not a problem for most silicone rubbers as the catalytic procress doesn't start till about 20mins after mixing. Resins are a different ball game with some only taking minutes before they start turning, or "gelling".

The pump itself is a good unit and can't really justify getting a replacement as they get more expensive the more CFM they can pull.

One workaround I'm looking into is a secondary chamber to use as an air dump for the main chamber. I could then just use the pump to reach the required negative pressures in a much shorter time.

As a bonus, most gas bottles can be used as the secondary since it only takes the right fittings to connect the two chambers and as such, no potentially dangerous modifications to the bottle are required.