when infusions go bad!

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#1

lol,i knew i was asking for trouble on this one,its an old bit of film that i already had problems sealing but my new stock doesnt arrive for another 2 days.bagged it up and it failed leakdown test miserably but i thought i could stop the leak after the infusion started,lol.no chance! it was like a jacuzzi in there lol,i dread t think how the part turns out…fortunately this is only a test piece and i just need to know if it physically fits its destination.moral of the story-

NEVER INFUSE IF YOUR BAG DOESNT HOLD A VACUUM FOR 10 MINUTES.

#2

Ouch! Hope you only wasted glass and not carbon

#3

2 layers of carbon but its a very small part so were just offcuts,i will post results in the morning,its 1am here…

#4

moral number 2- IF THE PEEL PLY HAS NO RESIN ON IT THEN NIETHER DOES THE CARBON!

#5

All very true m8. What happened then, where was the leak. An awfull lot of bag there for that part by the way. There is no need to have the flow media going round the radius on the top part of pic thats a potential problem, possible bridging point. I know it is neccessary in places but try to keep it to a minimum if you can

Should be postng your sample 4 x 4 carbon today.

Baz

#6

yeah,way too much bag,rubbish resin line and the media moved while i was trying to find the leak(never did find it)but the test did its purpose and the part will work so i will do a proper test when my new film and tape arrives this week.

#7

did you keep the swearing down to a minimum ? I got a leak in a headliner I did a couple days ago and made for some dumb repairs. I sore up a storm lol

#8

Dude Ive done it every way possible.

Seems that resin takes longer to kick under vacuum so I decided to over harden it…MISTAKE! I got half a part infused and clogged up the inlet…SCRATCH THAT PART…

Im messed up more than I care to admit.

Hey DUAL TWILL…Ill need some info on doing the headliners…I want to do my mustang and my truck in my silver tex but I only have 50 in wide and its not enough to do it without seaming…so that means I cant overlay it very well…

#9

the headliners are over 50 inches wide, wow!

#10

Yeah my truck is the priority right now…

Its 54X58 (extended cab ford) simple enough in shape but I cant do it without getting some silver tex in 60" wide and thats hard to come by.

#11

your guesss is as good as mine as to finding the fabric that you need

#12

Thats why I said Ill be asking you about doing a headliner…even if I have to make a mold for one stupid assed headliner I want it in my truck.

#13

well what a difference proper kit makes! i now have proper vac bagging film and the thicker tape,sealed the bag perfectly in no time at all :slight_smile: i was also able to seal the resin inlet pipe with ease,this was impossible with the thinner tape i was using.

#14

depending on the resin you are using, your really don’t need any flow media in that part. I am infusing 40x40 inch roof caps with only using about 40x5 inch piece of flow media

#15

im just using some old west stuff i have left,when i get some proper infusion resin i wont need as much :slight_smile:

#16

Looking good m8, it even looks like one of mine lol. I had to look twice to make sure. Yep the West can be a little slow.

Baz

#17

Im using infusion resin and if I dont pretty much cover the whole part I get problems with infusion time and saturation.

#18

hmmm,maybe i should have re-read my post before this bit,the tiny white patch near the vac was dry but i presumed that being as it was surrounded my wetted out fabric then the carbon must be wet…not so,it was dry.how can one spot be dry when further down the infusion is wet??? fortunately its an easy fix and again another test piece.
quick release vac fitting also got some resin on it :frowning:

#19

It became surrounded by the resin and left no path for the air to escape, did you notice this happening. It does seem strange that it should be there. I assume you watched the infusion, if so was the path of the resin as expected stronger along the netting. Was the patch larger and then got smaller before no more air could escape. I have seen this happen on a couple of my infusions on high points, or i should say i have seen the potential for it happening, i have at this point played heat from a heat gun on that point which speeded up the resin flow in that area. Although i would not have expected this problem on a small part like yours. You could have manipulated the resin by adding pressure with your fingers if you noticed it or added a little heat.

The vac line is also very close to the edge which may have been saturated early. On this part it would probably have been better to add the vac port in the same way as the resin inlet, which would have kept it further away from the part. You need the vac line to be not in touch with the carbon to form a break and slow the flow a little. It`s not good to have the resin enter the vac line if possible. I assume you clamped the resin line about 75% from full infusion, not fully infused before clamping.

Baz

#20

i tried pressing it and had the hairdryer on full blast top and bottom of the mold,the vac connector is now blocked with dried resin lol so i will just use a pipe the next time.i need to get some proper resin…