USM Fusion Group, Mark II Vacuum Progress Update

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Ed Meserve
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Real name: Ed Meserve
Location: Maine, USA

USM Fusion Group, Mark II Vacuum Progress Update

Post by Ed Meserve »

It's been a while since I have posted an update, mostly because we've only been able to work on the rig sporadically. We've made some progress in chasing down vacuum leaks and wanted to share some images.
We had been getting progressively better vacuum, (granted, small degrees) but we couldn't pull it down any further than the plasma image in the first picture.
Before Sealing the Viewport
Before Sealing the Viewport
beforesealingviewport.jpg (3.68 KiB) Viewed 2100 times
After racking our brains of where the vacuum leak was, we remembered that the view port came off an old electron microscope, and there was no telling how old the seals were on the glass. So we sealed the glass/metal seam on the viewport with some two part epoxy, and then ran the pump to see the effect. The second picture shows the plasma after sealing the viewport seams.
After Sealing the Viewport
After Sealing the Viewport
aftersealingviewport.jpg (4.66 KiB) Viewed 2100 times
Also Included is a set of frame grabs from the webcam looking into the chamber as the pressure drops. I have the webcam running on an old "sacrificial" laptop, so it can only grab a frame every two seconds. Still, I think it looks neat. The batteries are completely dead on the laptop, and that's the reason for the 2005 time-date stamp on the video.
http://youtu.be/aI32LIG2z-o

Ed
Ed Meserve
Alexandru_Calburean
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Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:30 pm
Real name: Alexandru Calburean

Re: USM Fusion Group, Mark II Vacuum Progress Update

Post by Alexandru_Calburean »

Well done on the progress, you are certainly getting there! Do you have a gauge to get quantitative data? That should let you know more accurately where you are, but more importantly, it will be a life saver in your leak testing progress. Speaking of leak testing, Doug Coulter has an excellent guide on doing it without a gauge if you need the help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIVyFwLku_I Good luck in your efforts!

All the best,
~Alex C.
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