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pugmill silicone gasket

updated thu 10 aug 00

 

Lorraine Pierce on wed 9 aug 00


Hi all...my extended family of clayart buds....I am about to replace the
gasket on my Venco pugmill with a silicone one that I plan to squeeze from a
tube of GE 100% Silicone Gasket and Seal, and need some information from one
who has successfully done it. ( the GE answer line could not help me).

After you applied the silicone bead to the bottom section of the cleaned
auger housing, did you immediately place the top of the housing in position
? If so, did you tighten the bolts before or after the silicone had cured? I
am wondering if it is feasible to sandwich the silicone in place between an
upper and lower piece of saran wrap which I would later remove, thus
creating a permanent gasket that would release ( not stick) to the housing,
for future cleaning of the mill, or if that would prevent the airtight seal
I need.
GE suggested a 3/16th bead of sealant. Did you make two or three of these
narrow beads on the rim, or one the width of the rim?

My pressure is about 80, instead of the usual 90 and I am finding my clay
has tiny air bubbles where before it had none. Hope to hear from a
claybud with a Venco. As I remember the actual 'how to' was not in the
posts. Thanks, Lori in New Port Richey, Fl.

Tommy Humphries on wed 9 aug 00


We usually use either blue or black RTV gasket sealer on our pugmills, It is
made for higher temps and pressure. Lay our a 1/4-3/8" bead along one
surface, and let skin over for a couple minutes, then apply the other side
of the barrel and bolt down.

Don't have a venco though, this is for a large industrial 9" barrel mill.
The application should be the same though.

Tommy Humphries


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lorraine Pierce"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2000 9:22 AM
Subject: pugmill silicone gasket


> Hi all...my extended family of clayart buds....I am about to replace the
> gasket on my Venco pugmill with a silicone one that I plan to squeeze from
a
> tube of GE 100% Silicone Gasket and Seal, and need some information from
one
> who has successfully done it. ( the GE answer line could not help me).
>
> After you applied the silicone bead to the bottom section of the cleaned
> auger housing, did you immediately place the top of the housing in
position
> ? If so, did you tighten the bolts before or after the silicone had cured?
I
> am wondering if it is feasible to sandwich the silicone in place between
an
> upper and lower piece of saran wrap which I would later remove, thus
> creating a permanent gasket that would release ( not stick) to the
housing,
> for future cleaning of the mill, or if that would prevent the airtight
seal
> I need.
> GE suggested a 3/16th bead of sealant. Did you make two or three of these
> narrow beads on the rim, or one the width of the rim?
>
> My pressure is about 80, instead of the usual 90 and I am finding my clay
> has tiny air bubbles where before it had none. Hope to hear from a
> claybud with a Venco. As I remember the actual 'how to' was not in the
> posts. Thanks, Lori in New Port Richey, Fl.
>
>
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Craig Martell on wed 9 aug 00


Hi Lori:

I've used silicone before but not the GE stuff. One thing to be aware of
is that the silicone shouldn't be adhesive. If it is, separating the
barrel next time and cleaning the surface will be real hard. The way I've
done it is to apply one thickness of black electrical tape to both the
upper and lower surfaces of the barrel. Then place a very thin bead of
silicone sealant toward the outer edge of the barrel, between the two
layers of tape. You don't want this stuff to ooze into the inner part of
the barrel when you torque down the bolts. I put the barrel halves
together right away and torque the bolts down immediately and then let the
mill set for a day to allow the silicone to cure. Putting the sealant
between the tape makes an easier cleanup of the mating surfaces next time.

The way I've been sealing the mill lately is to apply a double thickness of
electrical tape to the bottom barrel half and just join the two halves and
torque them down. I then use plumbers putty to seal any problem
areas. Plumbers putty is a bit like clay but it stays moist and plyable
and seals really well. I seal the shredding screen covers and the
plexiglass cover over the deairing chamber with wheel bearing grease. Put
a liberal coat of grease on the metal surfaces and then place the gaskets
over that and put on the covers and tighten the bolts on the side
plates. Be careful not to torque these down too much because the studs
might be brass and they are easy to strip or break. Same with any bolts
that thread into the aluminum barrel. Aluminum is a softer metal than
steel and it's easy to strip the threads.

later, Craig Martell in Oregon