My $18 dollar stabilizing chamber

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stoneyb232

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so after wanting to get into stabilizing for a while and not being able to afford a pressure pot....I put some thought...here is what I came up with.....I purchased a water filter chamber....it came with clear chamber and the inlets are 1/4 and it has its own bleeder valve.....now I paid 12.00 for the chamber and put another 6 into it....now I'm just waiting on my stabilization juice to arrive...tell me what ya think
 

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I'll be curious to see your long term results. My main question is:

Have you looked into the type of plastic used for the body, and it's possible interaction with the stabilizing resins? Curtis could likely shed some light on it, but I know that the stabilizing resins have been known to etch and stain some of the chambers if left in there for too long. I would want to know that continued use would not affect the structural rigidity of the chamber. While pressure used in casting is more dangerous than vacuum used in stabilizing, I wouldn't want to be near either in the event of a failure...
 
Thanks toddlajoie... I would love to hear what the effects of the juice are...the great thing I guess is the clear cylinders are Easily
replaced and are cheap ( 6 bucks for the 10 inch if I recall correct). I. Could replace with glass ones as they are also available but more expensive.....the plastic is very think as is built to withstand 120 psi....but again I don't know. What type of plastic it is Styrene Acrylonitrile
 
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Not sure what the cost is for the Glass ones, but I would think that they would remove any chance of a reaction with the stabilizing resins... If it were me, and they did not bring the cost up significantly (meaning into the realm of a purpose built commercially available stabilizing chamber) I wouldn't even think about it and go with glass...
 
ok I may a left a few things out...

let me first say thank you to Larry and Toddla for the replies.

A little back ground. First Larry I read that article on air vs water testing. I have been a master plumber now for almost 20 years and hold my master license in 9 states. I truly understand the dangers of "air testing plumbing lines" The major problem with it ( it is illegal to do in my state) is that air testing lines will tend to shoot off the test plugs faster than the water will. But air test is more accurate as stated in the article. Now when I say line I mostly mean the drain or sewer lines. Air testing water lines is no problem and is legal to do in my state. The article in my opinion does leave out one key fact. Even though water isn't "compressible" putting 120 psi of water on test is equal to putting 120 psi of air. If something fails the same amount of pressure will propel what ever at a very high rate. Be there done that. So that all being said I feel confident that I do not have a "bomb". In fact most plumbing man air test there products in there factor. That all being said I will surely wear protective safety equipment when pressuring the chamber.

ok now to the chamber itself....i have a very good friend of mine who works for a major polymer chemical company and he is checking on the resin doing damage to the chamber it self.

now again that you to all comments and that is the reason that I posted this, to bring up some questions that I haven't though about....
 
Jason,

You do not mention what resin you are planning to use but if it is Cactus Juice or one of the copycats, your "chamber" will very likely be at least cosmetically damaged by it.
 
yes I do plan on using it as a vacuum to stabilize and use it to cast with pressure to get the bubbles out...


MesquiteMan

I don't mind the cosmetic damage but a bit concerned with it damaging it to cause failure...again i can buy more of the chambers if needed....I do plan on using cactus juice
 
Stoney,

Not knowing what that is made from, it is hard to say if you will have structural damage. I bought a $2,000 bottling machine a year ago for filling Cactus Juice bottles. Part of the machine was an inline filter with a clear bottom, similar to what you have but smaller. After just a month or so, it had failed and cracked, allowing my pump to suck air. I ended up taking it out of the system and all is well now. I suspect you will find similar results if I had to guess.

If you can get a glass bottom, I would go that route. If you do, be careful! It may be rated for pressure but that does not mean it will handle vacuum! My first round chamber prototype was made with thin wall PVC that was rated to 90 PSI and it imploded the first time I tried it. Also, glass is dangerous in the shop since all it takes is one little accident and you will be cleaning up Juice with glass shards in it! No fun for sure.

Please don't let any of this discourage you. Great thinking outside the box and I hope it works great for you.
 
MesquiteMan,

Thank you for the encouragement. I will work on getting a glass. the plastic one is made out of Styrene Acrylonrile. I guess trial and error will let me know what effect the resin will have on it. Also I have a good friend of mine that is a a chemical engineer that specializes in polymers. he sent me this link to a company that uses the same plastic to produce their chambers.

Bel-Art 420430000 Vacuum Chamber Jar with ABS Plate, 7-7/8 x 4-3/8-Inch, Clear Polycarbonate: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Now that being said what don't know is how the resin will react to it.......more to follow



I figured worst case scenario I have a $18 pressure post to cast in...not that big but i'm not a big production guy.

again thank you for the input and I will be ordering some cactus juice from you soon to try it out.
 
Keep us posted as you progress.

You may want a second one in series to function as an overflow trap for boilovers.

That is the application that has my interest.
 
triw51 said:
Is there a way you can put the chamber into a larger container. Like a gallon glass jar so if the glass chamber imploded the mess would be contained. Just a though
Click to expand...

Underwater in a 5G bucket would probably work for vacuum. I wouldn't try it for pressure just because I don't like getting fragged.
 
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