I just started my first gold recovery! Nine days ago I put some monitor and flat-screen tv fingers in Vinegar & Salt. Today all the flashing is floating around just waiting for the slightly thicker fingers to be removed.
Thanks for the great idea about the foam for vibration dampening. Would be worthwhile to test if the pump oil eats the foam first I think- just in case that oil eats the foam into a nasty goo. Having been a scientific glassblower for the last 18 years I have a few thoughts I'd like to add. I don't do a lot of fluid chemistry, but that trap looks really cool. It might be a good idea to turn the trap into a little bong, bubbling in vacuum oil to help preserve the oil in the pump- where all the junky junk ends up. Then again, hot fluids are rarely filtered... less vapors. I inverted a plastic storage bin and added cutouts for power and hose to the pump, to keep down the little clouds of pump oil vapor that these types of pumps tend to produce. The pump ends up bathed in its own oil, and potentially any chemicals that may have made it into the oil. That oil bath really catches dust and filth. One has to be sure to use stout enough hose like heavy wall vinyl or nylon, because latex tube will collapse, dry rot and start to leak quickly. It's worth working the nylon hose with a heat gun to form it to your work station. This will help keep the stiff hose from toppling your glassware and keep stress off the fittings. The tiny, toaster sized shop vacs, although VERY noisy, are good alternative since you don't actually need a high vacuum. They are cheaper to buy AND maintain, don't blow oil everywhere, and sometimes come with a handy wall mounting bracket.
Also the accessory is generally called a vacuum jar or a vacuum filter jar. Cheaper made ones use a molded plastic and the quality ones use the clear Lexan like yours. If you are going to use any higher pressures you don't want the ones that have the two-piece bottoms. (Tube with a round filler part glued in the bottom) And definitely don't get the glass ones! Just the vibration can break those.
I have a Gast diaphragm pump like yours. They're probably the best type for refining, because they're not particularly sensitive to the corrosive vapors. The exposed metal may get a little superficial corrosion, but the diaphragm is plastic and is pretty resistant. I think it would even survive having liquid inadvertently run through it, something which would instantly destroy a piston pump and possibly a rotary vane pump. If you have a mishap, you can easily pop off the top and inspect or clean out the pump cavity and diaphragm [and reed valves].
The gast pump hose connector I have doesn’t fit into my Büchner funnel ? How do I change the hose barb to fit a new hose connector to fit my Buchner filter??
You don't use pressure guages? My GAST pump from ebay didn't come with pressure guages, and the glassware says it shouldn't be used with more than 1.45psi. Yet the pump says it's max is 60psi. Don't you need pressure guages?
Gast is actually a quality manufacturer when it comes to vacuum pumps. We used that company for food packaging machines.
I just started my first gold recovery! Nine days ago I put some monitor and flat-screen tv fingers in Vinegar & Salt. Today all the flashing is floating around just waiting for the slightly thicker fingers to be removed.
Thanks for the great idea about the foam for vibration dampening. Would be worthwhile to test if the pump oil eats the foam first I think- just in case that oil eats the foam into a nasty goo.
Having been a scientific glassblower for the last 18 years I have a few thoughts I'd like to add. I don't do a lot of fluid chemistry, but that trap looks really cool. It might be a good idea to turn the trap into a little bong, bubbling in vacuum oil to help preserve the oil in the pump- where all the junky junk ends up. Then again, hot fluids are rarely filtered... less vapors.
I inverted a plastic storage bin and added cutouts for power and hose to the pump, to keep down the little clouds of pump oil vapor that these types of pumps tend to produce. The pump ends up bathed in its own oil, and potentially any chemicals that may have made it into the oil. That oil bath really catches dust and filth.
One has to be sure to use stout enough hose like heavy wall vinyl or nylon, because latex tube will collapse, dry rot and start to leak quickly. It's worth working the nylon hose with a heat gun to form it to your work station. This will help keep the stiff hose from toppling your glassware and keep stress off the fittings.
The tiny, toaster sized shop vacs, although VERY noisy, are good alternative since you don't actually need a high vacuum. They are cheaper to buy AND maintain, don't blow oil everywhere, and sometimes come with a handy wall mounting bracket.
Also the accessory is generally called a vacuum jar or a vacuum filter jar. Cheaper made ones use a molded plastic and the quality ones use the clear Lexan like yours. If you are going to use any higher pressures you don't want the ones that have the two-piece bottoms. (Tube with a round filler part glued in the bottom) And definitely don't get the glass ones! Just the vibration can break those.
I have a Gast diaphragm pump like yours. They're probably the best type for refining, because they're not particularly sensitive to the corrosive vapors. The exposed metal may get a little superficial corrosion, but the diaphragm is plastic and is pretty resistant. I think it would even survive having liquid inadvertently run through it, something which would instantly destroy a piston pump and possibly a rotary vane pump. If you have a mishap, you can easily pop off the top and inspect or clean out the pump cavity and diaphragm [and reed valves].
Thank you for your time and insight
Thank you very much!! Greatly appreciated. Take Care, Jim
Excellent work as ALWAYS good sir !!
EXCELLENT INFORMATION!!
Thank you!
Thanks very much
i use a venturi tipe vacume. no moving parts. think thay call them vacuum asperator
I was able to find a very good quality pump with a vacuum chamber (something I needed) for less than $100 with free shipping.
The gast pump hose connector I have doesn’t fit into my Büchner funnel ? How do I change the hose barb to fit a new hose connector to fit my Buchner filter??
How about a different size hose and an adapter? A trip to the hardware store may be in order.
It’s called a vacuum moisture trap.
You don't use pressure guages? My GAST pump from ebay didn't come with pressure guages, and the glassware says it shouldn't be used with more than 1.45psi. Yet the pump says it's max is 60psi. Don't you need pressure guages?
Yeah, DIANNE!