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My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:52 pm
by Thomas Henderson
So after a year of parts collecting, I have finally pumped down my "collection" of misfit parts. I have vacuum!!! I am about $2300 in so far (including another xray transformer), the most expensive parts so far were the chamber, and Turbo pump. The cheapest to my surprise were the gauges. I am surprised how cheap one can get gauges with a analog 0-10v output... most people just skim over them online preferring ones with screens, but with a micro controller and a cool surplus display one can make an epic measurement system (real case coming soon) the Granville-Phillips 343 is my fav of the two, because the output is linear. I have managed to offset most of my project costs so far by actually renting out some of my parts to a local company who works with vacuum. people seem to love Turbo pumps <3
I feel it will still be awhile before I can start making neutrons, as I have a lot to work out on the HV side of things (and a garage to finish building), but this gets me started with all the vacuum fun I want to do.

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:53 pm
by Thomas Henderson
Just a little update. I have been bitten by the vacuum bug... I have been getting more and more excited just to be able to pump things down. I have recently acquired an RGA, and wow Is this thing fun! Things are starting to look silly with everything hanging off of the chamber, might need to condense some stuff on it. The RGA has taught me that water is the bane of my existence... why does it stick so well to stuff!!!?????
I now want to make another chamber just to Just to tinker with, and because I keep coming across random vacuum stuff, someone just gave me old bit of setup that looks like it came from a He leak detector, and its got all sorts of little KF bits and bobs, as well as a small diffusion pump inside!

Next steps are clean up the "vacuum table", Make that better stand, make a power supply for everything, as I want my bench supply back, work on a way to bake things out, maybe omit some of the vacuum gauges for now... the convection Pirani almost seems silly on the setup at this point.

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:13 pm
by Richard Hull
RGA's are the cat's PJs. With an electron multiplier option, they can go really deep.

Richard Hull

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:20 am
by Dennis P Brown
Nice and certainly a lot of possible science using the RGA. Of course a fusor can work well with trace water typically caused by opening the chamber to the air. A good plasma burn can handle the issue so getting it all out isn't important. But looking at the results with an RGA, again, could prove interesting to post here. You should consider posting your current work as an FYI so others can see what you have found.

Never heard of anyone renting out their equipment for profit - very nice! Hope that continues.

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2019 7:26 pm
by Thomas Henderson
A little update, I have been getting tired of loosing so much bench space to my setup, I decided to get a cart, make a box to replace the cardboard one, as well as make a better stand. I'm not sure whats more exciting, having my bench back, or how cool my chamber looks on the cart!

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:15 am
by Richard Hull
A good fusor setup, and yours looks good, demands an area or cart of its own. On a cart, it can be moved about for use or storage. Nice work!

Richard Hull

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:37 am
by John Futter
Thomas
excellent change to the cart.
Just a word of caution use a couple of locking casters minimum on the cart so that you cannot inadvertantly move it while the turbo is running.
The Precessional forces on the turbo bearings if you move will make for a very early bearing fail on the turbo.
We lost a good leak detector at work due to someone moving it just after finishing a run --they tidied up --he did say it was odd that the cart was hard to turn through 180 degrees (fighting turbo) but it did not start the next time used - timed out on run up with lots of bearing noise

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:58 pm
by Richard Hull
Great warning John! I think I would design some special "chocks" for all wheels when the cart was in a more or less permanent run position and remove them for storage or movement to another location.

Richard Hull

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 12:56 am
by Rich Feldman
How 'bout vacuum-operated brakes? :-)

Would depend on having a place that's under vacuum whenever the turbo is starting, running, or stopping,
and normally up to air when the turbo is stopped and forepump is turned off.

Re: My Setup so far, and Finally Under Vacuum!!!

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:49 pm
by Brandon_Cruz
Awesome project! Would you have to have a build list or guide you're using?