i tried that with PER and it worked well,what do you do with the foam that you end up with though??
As soon as the vacuum is released, the bubbles & foam collapse because they’re subjected to atmospheric pressure. Since they’re on the top surface they’re effectively removed from the resin.
I have been thining out the resin with acetone a little and that might be doing it. I will try degasing my resin and also extra check my bag. My molds are 8 layers of fiberglass so I would think there should be no leak in the mold
Yes that is most likely the culprit.
dont you have a smaller mold to practise with?
I am using fiberglass till I get it down but I have a surplus of materials so I am not too worried about it.
is there something else I can thin it out with instead of acetone?
Liquid Styrene…
Thanks I will give that a try.
the number one problem I see with any of this is the seal on the bag.
I “Never” de-gas my vinyl ester due to the length of time it takes versus the gel time (pot life) of the VE.
I also have always infused at between 20 and 25 inches. Not because I can’t get the inches of mercury, but because I want it to infuce slower. I figure the part will be saturated at the bottom as well as top if I infuse slower.
I have had those little bubbles and found that a leak detector id worth it’s wait in gold if you plan on doing this very much.
I have gotten several tools from customers that request parts made from their tools.
I have had several tools leak and wound up going back and enveloping the entire tool.
so with a leak detector you have zero bubbles?? how about vac bagging,is it as important?? the only tools i have seen for this are extremely expensive 
My first leak detector was a $5 stethoscope from rite aid.
I now have a Airtech leak detector (pricey)
If we have no leaks and the bag holds vacuum and doesn’t lose more than One inch of mercury in 5 minutes, then we rarely have leaks.
this is what i meant to ask a while back,with my robinair that pulls 29"+,if i vac the bag and shut the lever down on the pump so its not sucking anymore,should the bag maintain full vacuum still presuming there are no leaks?? as soon as i close my lever down the bag gets lots of air in it,im not using proper vac tape yet and im coming round to the fact that this is causing me lots of problems :oops:
it is extremely tough to get a good seal on a vacbagged part. you are fighting time. your part can kick before you find the leak. I se vinylester and it sets too fast for much effective leak detection. best bet is to vac bag it tight, let it run at a lower vacuum setting and I never let it run beynd "b"stage cure. I always pull my bag early to avoid the wrestling match of removing peelply where the resin has puddles deeply and My parts are better for it.
The way I have been storing my bags, I have been setting them on some wood and it has punctured little holes in it all over and that has been the problem and als I am leaking where my resin line is, I am going to a smaller resin line systems and going to try silicone re-usable bags too. I have been fighting this for awhile to find that my bag has about 10 mini very small holes that are very very hard to find and don’t let off any hissing sounds when bagged to show they are leaking
One of the benefits of the infusion process is the fact that there is no hurry to infuse the part with resin. There is an infinite amount of time to test the bag for leaks. I’ll often leave a layup under vacuum for several hours before I actually start infusing resin. I always have a 100% confidence level, before I even mix the resin, that the bag has no leaks. A $15 vacuum guage is a necessary tool to have inline (vacuum side) with the bagged laminate - mine is mounted on my resin catch reservoir.
There’s no excuse for bag leaks when you are doing the infusion process because you can take your time to check and correct leaks.
Doogie- there is a peel ply out there that is remarkably easy to seperate even when the resin fully cures. A buddy of mine gave me some to try and it is incredible. He tells me that West System makes it, but I have yet to find it anywhere. I’ll do more research on it tomorrow…
that is a problem as well! my vacuum gauge is at the pump before the resin trap so I will move that as well. I bagged one today and perfect no bubbles or leaks. I had som streachalon laying around that I used and perfection 
I am confident now. I ordered one of those ultra-sonic leak detectors as well.
pics man!!!
Here is a close up of an part that I infused and if you look in the circle, this is where it wet out and then the resin was getting sucked out. There is where my dry spots are. Why is this happening.
