Vacuum Kiln

[hawby]

Jason,

You got any idea if it is any good at all?

I'm in West Michigan, near Kalamazoo. What would it cost from where you are at?

If you can get me a weight, I can check it out. I am interested if it is fairly good shape.

hawby

[Jason_WI]

It powers up but the FLT light is on. Could be as simple as clearing the memory or it could be the cmos battery is dead.

I guess it weighs about 10 lbs in all.

Jason

[shopteacher]

Jason, find a nice 5' X 12' SS tank and try that offer again. ;D

[Jason_WI]

Fault code 0056h according to the HHT under diag menu.

Jason

[Jason_WI]

Jason, find a nice 5' X 12' SS tank and try that offer again.  

How about round milk bulk tanks. They are SS and are dished on the ends. You would have to cut the outside shell off and strip the cooling guts out of it. Then shore up the shell with stainless angle iron around the outside. Dunno hou thick they are though ???  You may end up with SS shrinkwrapped lumber

These can be had for a few hundred bux at farm auctions.

Jason

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy  too thin : : ;D

[james]

re heat exchanger go to a place that parts out wrecked simi tractors get a turbocharger intercooler they usally have a 3-5 inch tube for airflow

[Fla._Deadheader]

  The perfect size Vacuum Kiln Chamber drove past the house on Sat. It was on the back of a 2 ton truck, and was haulin PROPANE.  ;D ;D

  Y'all gotta start hittin them truck salvage yards. There's GOTTA be one available, somewhere. ;D ;D

  I could convert the one end to seal in a couple of days. The rest would be up to Den ;) ;) ;D ;D

[old3dogg]

Fla.-Deadheader.
So whata think?Will one of those ole propane thanks work for a vac chamber?
I have been asking a lot of questions about then lately.
My only concern so far is crossion from inside the chamber while drying Red Oak.
From the sounds of things they can take a lot of pressure.
Dogg.

[Fla._Deadheader]

The BIG ones are about ¼" thick. I do know that to make liquified Propane you have to compress it to 250 pounds pressure and that keeps it liquified, I think.  When you release the LP, it turns into a gas with pressure behind it.

  There is NO WAY a vacuum would collapse a big propane tank, like folks have in their yards.

  In Ar. we used them to make rollers for mashin the rocks back into the wet ground in the springtime. I have cut open probably 8-10. We used them for furnaces, also.

[bowlblanksandmore]

Den,

I have a question? If you pull a 30 torr vacuum on a charge of lumber, but do not add any heat will the wood still dry slowly or would the temperature of the lumber have to to be above the water vapor boiling point of 84 degrees F?

Also is there a reason for starting the drying process at a lower vaccum? Is this so that you do not remove to much of the free water to fast?

Am I reading what Serg is saying right? Since he leaves the humidity in the chamber and removes it as condensate at a set rate per cycle the lumber cannot dry to fast because the surface is allways damp from the humidity in the chamber?

Just trying to wrap my mind around all the information I have been reading and trying to pack into my brain.

Craig

[Den Socling]

Craig,

If you pulled to 30 Torr and didn't add heat, water would evaporate and the vapor would carry heat away from the wood. The wood would be cooled by evaporation until the vapor pressure of the water in the wood would be below 30 Torr. Then, evaporation would stop.

I start new loads at low pressure for a number of reasons. Low pressure means low boiling point which results in low wood temperature. Also, the first hours of drying are not the fastest so the pump doesn't need to move the maximum amount of vapor. Vac pump capacity diminishes as you reach the low end of the pump curve.

Sergey's kiln works like a superheated steam vac but without the fans. To get convection he has to have air and/or vapor in the chamber. To create circulation, he has to condense vapor at the top/center of the chamber.

Den

[Tom_Averwater]

Den,
     Any recent updates on this project? I've been lurking  in the shadows till now. My brother-in law is an Electronics Engineer.  I think he could do the electronics for me.  ??? :P Tom