Author Topic: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting  (Read 6495 times)

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Offline AuthenticDanger

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Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« on: Fri, 17 February 2017, 17:28:34 »
I'm looking at various pressure pots for resin casting, and I'm not 100% sure what I should be looking for in terms of features. My current front-runner is a Binks 83C-210 (2.8 Gal, single regulator).

Do I want single or dual regulator? I'm fairly certain that I need no agitator. Are there other terms I need to know when comparing tanks?


Also, if you are an established artisan/have many hours of experience casting under pressure, I'm very curious what model pressure chamber you use.
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Offline AuthenticDanger

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 20 February 2017, 00:36:49 »
80+ views and no insight  :(
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Offline sinusoid

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 22 February 2017, 16:05:38 »
Welp, there's not so many features to a pressure chamber that matter, really.
You want it to not blow up and not tear your limbs off. That's top of the list. :P

The two that matter really are max pressure and volume. AFAIR these are graded around 4 bars, which is the sweet spot for casting. Volume of the container lets you cast bigger things, but can pressurize more slowly if you have thin tubing between the chamber and the compressor, or a weak compressor.

You need a single regulator between the pot and the compressor, unless the max pressure of the compressor is equal or lower to the max pressure the chamber can withstand. Then you need none  ;D

Agitator is for use with paints and pastes when you use the chamber in accordance with its intended purpose: for delivery of fluids into spray paint guns. It's used when you're spraying a paint that separates easily, has fillers, etc. Metallic coating is one of such cases. It has nothing to do with pressure casting. The additional holes in the lid can be used for some stuff if you remove the agitator, but it shouldn't matter at this point.

Are you having any particular issues? Pressure chambers are really dumb devices, it's not like changing their non-essential parameters influences anything but your wallet.

Offline Wylte

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 22 February 2017, 16:35:57 »
Don't have as much info as Sinusoid, but thought I'd share our setup just as a reference.
161146-0
161148-1
161150-2

Smallish compressor that just happened to be on sale, and a modified pressure paint tank with a quick-release valve for filling and depress.  I still need to install a slightly stronger emergency release to get past 60psi, but overall it's a pretty simple deal.
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Offline AuthenticDanger

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 24 February 2017, 12:08:34 »
Awesome info! Thanks!
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Offline dgneo

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 24 February 2017, 12:11:12 »
http://www.finishsystems.com/resincastingpressurepots.html

Been using one of these for some time now and absolutely love it.

Binks is definitely gonna be a better option safety wise, but I've no concerns using the Finish Systems pot.

Offline AuthenticDanger

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 24 February 2017, 12:15:30 »
http://www.finishsystems.com/resincastingpressurepots.html

Been using one of these for some time now and absolutely love it.

Binks is definitely gonna be a better option safety wise, but I've no concerns using the Finish Systems pot.

Yeah, the 51-201C by C.A. Technologies looks like a community favorite as well and a bit cheaper than the Binks.
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Offline kenji

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 27 December 2017, 14:26:33 »
What'd you end up buying?

I've been looking into getting a pressure pot recently, too. It's hard to choose from all the different products and prices...

That C.A. Technologies pot has a max pressure that meets our needs and it also seems on the more affordable end on the spectrum, but I have heard many warnings about buying non-ASME rated equipment. Binge talks about it in his post here: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70967.0

Spending the extra $$$ to get an ASME rated pressure pot seems worth avoiding the chance the pot explodes...


« Last Edit: Wed, 27 December 2017, 14:33:53 by kenji »

Offline Rowanblood

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Re: Help with buying a Pressure Pot for casting
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 28 December 2017, 15:34:29 »
I've been using a modified 2.5 gallon "paint pressure tank" for awhile- they are used to spray material like paint and coating.
Got it for 40 bucks off craigslist, it was even already modified (outgoing pressure closed off).
Negative side is it has a 60 psi limit, but that's more than needed for the type of resin casting I'm doing.