pressue pot

[elody21]

I have been away from casting for about a year. about a month ago I tried to cast a pen and had a whole host of problems. Because of everyone those problems were taken care of. I ended up with a final problem and no time left so I gave the graduate another pen. Here was the last problem. I have used a pressure pot before with no problems but this time was different. I ran into the problem where the resin would get displaced by the air coming into the pot. I could swear that before this was never an issue. Is it necessary to place the mold under a shelf to fix this or is something wrong with the pressure pot? At the time of the first casting I had a power outage and then when it came back on there was a big surge in pressure to the pot. Could this have damaged something inside the pot? Is there supposed to be a valve that disperses the air when it enters the pot?

Any ideas?

Thanks so much,
Alice

 

[workinforwood]

You should have an elbow inside the lid to divert air off to the wall of the pot rather than blowing down on your resin.

Yes, there should be a safety pressure valve if you put in too much pressure. What I do not understand is why the power came back on and then more air went into the pot. Do you have the pot hooked up to the compressor non stop? If so, that is not right. You should have a valve on your post. You hook up the hose, then turn the valve to put air in the pot. Then you turn off the valve and you un hook the hose. The air should stay in the pot. Then to get rid of the air, you just turn the valve back on and the air will exit the inlet.

 

[ElMostro]

What Jeff said and have in mind that putting something over the mold to keep the air from hitting the resin may help BUT if the air inlet is opened all the way suddenly when you start filling the pot then the air may blow the cover you put over the mold and make a mess. The best solution is to put an elbow or cardboard baffle to divert the incoming air away from the mold and also to fill the pot slowly so that you do not have that rush of air moving things around inside the pot.

Eugene.

 

[elody21]

thanks guys!
Yes I did have the hose on the whole time.The pot seems to loose some pressure after a while. Also, I did not realize I was supposed to unhook either. I will check the inside of the pot to see if there is an elbow for diverting the air. I guess I also have to check the seal if it is leaking air.
I think I will also make another shelf and put the molds under that. The one I had before got really messy and I tossed it.
I really appreciate all of the help.
Thanks Alice