Author Topic: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards  (Read 46503 times)

surfcowboy

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #90 on: March 19, 2019, 03:24:53 AM »
Magenta, I’d use the air pumps. Water pumps are usually different things and do need to be kept wet. A cheap aquarium pump will run forever as it’s made to run dry and has no impeller.

magentawave

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #91 on: March 20, 2019, 07:15:41 PM »
I had a vent plug membrane failure resulting in 8lb weight gain. Drilled a couple 1/4" holes in the swallow tail, inserted aquarium air tubing, sealed with silicone sealant, made a water trap out of an old pasta sauce bottle, reversed the $23.00 pump (this pulls a 5 torr vacuum), removed the vent plug....wow, evacuating the water very quickly :) I don't know what the LPM is, but you can hear air sounds at the vent plug. The RH is going to be 30-40% this week....should get the job done.

Thanks for this thread guys! It saved me a lot of time.

The air pump was delivered today but mine has two OUTlets for blowing air bubbles into an aquarium. How the heck did you reverse the flow so it sucks? And why does the salt water flowing through your pump not destroy your pump? What am I missing here?? :-\
« Last Edit: March 20, 2019, 07:22:34 PM by magentawave »
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

Surfside

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OkiWild

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #93 on: March 21, 2019, 01:27:02 AM »
Interesting thread, for sure. Concerning damage to the foam/laminate bond, I wonder what the effect of a vacuum high enough to actually dry the moisture would be? I have the equipment to pull a 200 liter board down to 50 microns pretty quick...LOL. I see Beasho pulled it down to 25 inHg, and didn't seem to have a problem, but what of the horror stories of sealed boards after a flight. Cabin pressure kept at 10,000' is only a depression of 9.3 inHg from sea level. Maybe just a larger volume race board issue?


Surfside

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #94 on: March 21, 2019, 04:14:31 AM »

The air pump was delivered today but mine has two OUTlets for blowing air bubbles into an aquarium. How the heck did you reverse the flow so it sucks? And why does the salt water flowing through your pump not destroy your pump? What am I missing here?? :-\

Make a water trap out of an old bottle and lid. Drill two 1/4" holes into the lid and silicone the air tubes. You don't want large volumes of water traveling into the pump.....moisture is okay.

Beasho

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #95 on: March 21, 2019, 06:58:21 AM »
I found the aquarium pump 'good' for getting 85% of the water out of the board.  However the aquarium pump would probably work to get 95% of the water out IF you attack the ding right away.  It could even get you to 11.

The benefit of either a full tilt vacuum pump, or lower negative pressure aquarium pump is that you can put your board in the sun.  What typically fries boards in the sun is air and water expansion creating internal pressure and therefore delamination.   

Even with a small amount of vacuum this risk is virtually eliminated.  This means that you can put your board in direct sunlight (maybe not in Hawaii) and then start sucking and get the advantages of both heat, low pressure and NO risk of delamination. 

Here was my older Paddle Surf Hawaii that had gained weight.  I did a few rounds in the sun with 15/64" holes and irrigation tubing and managed to reduce 1/2 pound.  I was hoping for more. 

This board would historically delam in minutes under the hot sun (probably because it was water logged).  No problem under vacuum.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2019, 07:00:31 AM by Beasho »

Bean

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #96 on: March 21, 2019, 07:37:24 AM »
That's pretty cool Beasho. 

I wonder which is more effective, attaching the vacuum at the high point or the low point in this situation.

Hey, is that red and black PSH the same board as in the first picture? ;D ;D


magentawave

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #97 on: March 21, 2019, 11:28:37 AM »
https://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Pump-from-Aquarium-Air-Pump/

Well crap. I didn't know it had to be a Tetra so I ordered a different air pump because it has a little more pressure and more positive reviews. I'll send this one back and order the Tetra.

Are you done sucking all of the water out? Did you suck it while leaving it in the sun? How much weight did you pull out?
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

Surfside

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #98 on: March 21, 2019, 04:25:26 PM »
Magentawave, down 6 lb, so far and yes it has been in the sun a couple of days.

PonoBill

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #99 on: March 21, 2019, 07:32:48 PM »
Wow, that's three quarts of water.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Surfside

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #100 on: March 22, 2019, 04:43:05 AM »
PB, after drilling the holes, most of it dripped out the first 24 hours. The vacuum process is very slow in removing the water. Placing it in the sun seems to help....if I had a G5 vibrator to shake things up then maybe a few more ounces might come out.....(just an idea guys).

On another note, my buddy received a DW 5'11" the other day and loves it! Super stable. Hope to try it this weekend. :)

magentawave

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #101 on: March 24, 2019, 11:27:05 AM »
I've been using the aquarium pump for the last couple days with the deck vent open and it has pulled very little water out. The bulk of the water (which was a lot!) happened BEFORE I started using the pump from the hole in the tail. The interesting thing is that you can hear the deck vent hissing as it sucks in air with the pump on. I'm thinking that the final phase of drying the board out won't happen until we start getting hot sunny days here so the pump can get warm air flowing through the EPS. In lieu of no warm sunny days, I think a way to blow warm air into the deck vent while the pump sucks at the tail should do a good job of drying out the foam. Actually, it would probably be better to close the deck vent (*if it worked) and drill another hole in the nose so the warm air flows from nose to tail.

Should I be leaving the deck vent open while using the pump?

*Creek very kindly offered to send me a new deck vent plug when he returns from Portugal soon. :)
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

Beasho

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #102 on: March 24, 2019, 11:51:59 AM »
Should I be leaving the deck vent open while using the pump?

Yes! or drill additional holes.

What I learned from this whole process is that you need a healthy combination of 1) Vacuum  2) Heat  3) Flow

To remove water.

This is difficult to do because with flow you lose vacuum.  When you apply the heat, or the vacuum, the water will vaporize.  Unless you get it OUT of the board you are net ZERO impact.  So while you may not SEE the moisture if you maintain the flow under heat and vacuum you may be drawing out the water vapor.  It just takes time BUT is 100% dependent on having flow through the board. 

magentawave

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #103 on: March 24, 2019, 04:08:03 PM »
Should I be leaving the deck vent open while using the pump?

Yes! or drill additional holes.

What I learned from this whole process is that you need a healthy combination of 1) Vacuum  2) Heat  3) Flow

To remove water.

This is difficult to do because with flow you lose vacuum.  When you apply the heat, or the vacuum, the water will vaporize.  Unless you get it OUT of the board you are net ZERO impact.  So while you may not SEE the moisture if you maintain the flow under heat and vacuum you may be drawing out the water vapor.  It just takes time BUT is 100% dependent on having flow through the board.

Got it. I suspected that so since the problem started at the air vent (which means there's water forward of the vent) I taped over it and drilled a hole in the nose so there's flow from nose to tail now.

Thanks
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

magentawave

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Re: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards
« Reply #104 on: April 09, 2019, 07:53:22 PM »
I've been running the aquarium pump 24/7 for about 2 1/2 weeks and little by little my Sunova is feeling pretty darn close to its original weight. It hasn't been that warm since I started drying so I only see moisture in the tubes with the occasional water drop. However, there was one hot sunny day last week that resulted in about an inch of water in a jar with a diameter of about 3". So, those results got me to thinking that if it's sunny (but not too hot) that tenting the board in black visqueen could expedite the drying process. Anyone done that?

P.S. The culprit was the deck vent and Rick (Creek) was kind enough to send sent me a new vent after returning from Portugal. Thanks again, Rick! You da man. ;D
Pluto Platter: 7-10 x 29.25 x 4.25 x 114.5 liters

 


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