Popular Post taylor1595 Posted January 25, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Let me preface this little write up by saying I'm in no way affiliated with Ultra Molds and haven't been and won't be compensated for this post. The reason for doing this is that I know there is interest in this product but there is very little hands on info about it and I would have loved to have someone shorten the learning curve and give me pointers before I got mine. Hopefully this will not be removed and thought of as an advertisement because that is not it's purpose at all, it's simply some tips and tricks to help people decide if this system might be for them. With all that said I wanted to wait after I've had the system a few months and have ran around 300 gallons of plastic through it before I gave my thoughts. The system comes with two pots with stirring motors and heaters with digital controls connected by a manifold for dual injecting. You also need to by the dual injector that has the tips that fit in and turn the valves on each pot and the manifold. First thing I would recommend is getting the Universal Heater that they sell. There are a couple of reasons for this. One reason is that the first thing I do when I walk into the shop is turn on the Universal Heater with my dual injector sitting in it and let it start getting hot. While it's heating I then can clean the pots out from the residue from the day before and the injector will be up to temp by the time I'm done cleaning and heating the plastic up. Another reason for the Universal Heater is that I run it's temp up to 325 on the digital control but I run the pots at a different temp. (more on this later) A couple of other "options" that I opted for and almost didn't and am so glad I did after using the system. You can get a mounting plate with holes all pre drilled and everything ready to mount it on. I almost didn't get this but it made it very easy to set up in the shop. I drilled 4 holes in the stainless bench that I have it on in the shop and mounted the plate with system on it and fastened it with bolts and wing nuts so I can remove it easily if I need the room for something else. Another thing I almost didn't get and can't imagine using the system without is the locking brackets. The way Rupert explained these to me is that they designed these for a customer that had a disability and had limited use of one arm so he need to be able to draw the plastic one handed. The brackets make drawing plastic so much easier that I honestly think if you have a system without them you need to spend the 20 bucks or so and get them. Instead of having to push in with one hand to seat the injector and pull on the handle and working against yourself and making it easy to suck air the brackets keep the injector firmly seated and you can draw plastic one handed. Very slick and like I said I would hate using it without it now. As far as actually using and running the system it's pretty simple and straight forward once you get the feel of the valves and injector. Here are some observations and tips from things I've found after running it a few months. 1. I seem to have the best luck with reducing dents, getting good laminates, not discoloring the plastic, if I run the digital controls on each pot set at 300 degrees. (remember I set my Universal Heater at 325) I keep my injector sitting in the Universal injector set at 325 the whole time I shoot. I feel like by keeping the injector on that heater it will stay much much hotter and I have no problems with it plugging up. It would probably work fine sitting in the middle cradle between the pots, but I feel like it keeps things flowing better when the injector is really hot. 2. I heat my plastic in the microwave and then add my coloring, glitter, etc before I put it in the pots. You can heat from raw to workable temp in the pot, but it's going to take longer and you are going to have to turn the temp up and then back down. I run on 60 ounce batches and it takes 12-15 minutes to heat 60 ounces of plastic to temp depending on the strength of your microwave. I put 60 oz in each pot. If I'm doing single color baits both sides get the same color, for laminates I have one color in each. the 60 oz comes up to just under the top of the stirring paddles. 3. Cleaning is not as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. All I normally do between colors is after the pots have cooled I peel what plastic I can out including the "puck" at the bottom, then spray the inside with simple green and wipe out with a paper towel. When I take my plastic out of the microwave I turn on the pot heaters to begin heating the pots. I don't do this before then because I don't want what is leftover in the channel to the valve and manifold to melt and run back into the pot before I add the new plastic. After I get the colorant and glitter I dump the plastic in the pots and then I purge the manifold and injector by drawing an inch or so out and shooting it on the table. Usually doing this 2-3 times and you are rid of the previous color and ready to go. I read on here somewhere about blowing the channels out with an air compressor and am going to try that pretty soon as that may reduce the amount of plastic I have to purge. Shooting Star vs Presto Pots I started out trying to run two presto pots with a Basstackle Twinjector setup. For what I do and my personal preference I can't imagine going back to the prestos. I feel like I'm much more efficient with the shooting star (even though Frank could still shoot circles around me out of his Prestos, but that doesn't count because he is a machine) there is no blending block to clean out and your injectors aren't submerged in the hot plastic The shooting star is a pretty well sealed and contained unit so the smoke is very much reduced. I still run a vent system, but I couldn't handle the smoke that the presto pots put out. There is very little waste when you are done with a batch and I always had a hard time with sucking air when I got close to empty with the prestos. One thing I will note is that the single injector you can get for the system is kind of difficult to use with the system due to the push/pull thing I talked of earlier and the opening and closing of the valves can unseat the injector tip. I have found the single injector extremely useful for doing remelts though. I heat the injector in the universal heater and melt sprues in a big pyrex and just draw from the pyrex with the single injector and wipe it and sit it back on the heater between shots. After using it for several months I would say I'm very happy with the system and Rupert was very easy to deal with whenever I had a small issue and went above and beyond to get it resolved. I also had him build me an air clamp that you can see on the right side of the picture of my setup. This is a huge time saver as well not having to mess with manual clamps. Like I said, this is not meant as an advertisement, but mainly to give info on a fairly new system and to answer questions people might have that are on the fence about it. If anyone has any other questions I'd be happy to answer as I'm sure I've left something off. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I think this is a great post. There should be a lot of interest in this type of machine. A lot of thing don't get any attention because the maker does not have any info on there site. One thing I don't really get is the heated holder, what is this for? And why don't you leave it on the middle block? What was the cost of the whole unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylor1595 Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Frank, I'd like to first thank you for what you share with the public. Your videos were the best things I watched when I was starting out and it's still crazy to me how efficient you are with the presto and twinjector setup. I like the stand alone heater because I like to hear the injector hotter than what my plastic is and be able to have the injector getting hot before I turn on the pots and stay hot between batches. I can turn the pots off and let them cool enough to clean up and change color and the injector stays hot on the universal heater and is handy right there by the molds and pots. I hardly ever take the injector apart. By heating it and keeping it hot like that you can purge what tiny bit is in it easily. About the only time I take it apart to clean it is if I'm going to shoot straight white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylor1595 Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 And I'd have to look at my paperwork but the system was around 1,000 base price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylor1595 Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I forgot another thing about having the universal heater because I run full batches always now. If you have two injectors you can have them like I do in the picture and time it to where you can shoot two different sets of molds alternating. In other words you could be shooting Pearl swimbaits from one pot with one of the injectors and while they cool shoot green pumpkin craws with the other pot and injector. The injector on the middle will be cooler and the plastic will start to thicken the last inch or two of the stroke when running the pots set at 300 like I like to though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMc1 Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Great write up. I've been running a couple of the large systems for a couple years now. I'll give you a great tip, best thing I did with this is grab some galvanized ductwork the right size and wrapped it around the insulation and hold it there with a couple stainless hose clamps. keeps the insulation from getting so messy. The large system also has a pair of cartridge heaters in the manifold and a 3rd temp controller, not sure why one isn't used with this smaller unit as well. Edited January 25, 2016 by DaveMc1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camrynekai Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Love my Ultra molds system. For two color shoots its a dream! really cant imaging doing it any other way. I run my blending block at 333 and my pots at 302-305....no denting issues at all What a very well thought out product!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Great write up! Thanks for sharing. Maybe this could be a sticky, so everyone thinking about trying that system can have access to all your great information. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ute Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I have been running this system for about a year and I agree with everything that you said. I have been thinking about adding the stand alone injector heater and you just convinced me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Frank, I'd like to first thank you for what you share with the public. Your videos were the best things I watched when I was starting out and it's still crazy to me how efficient you are with the presto and twinjector setup. I like the stand alone heater because I like to hear the injector hotter than what my plastic is and be able to have the injector getting hot before I turn on the pots and stay hot between batches. I can turn the pots off and let them cool enough to clean up and change color and the injector stays hot on the universal heater and is handy right there by the molds and pots. I hardly ever take the injector apart. By heating it and keeping it hot like that you can purge what tiny bit is in it easily. About the only time I take it apart to clean it is if I'm going to shoot straight white. Thank you for the kind words. I know the way I do it for big jobs is hard to beat at least for me, but smaller jobs this looks pretty good. I don't like to looks of it with all the insulation but it could be cleaned up like Dave says. Does the 1k include everything in the picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camrynekai Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 Here is the Ultra Molds Shooting Star system in action. http://www.facebook.com/thomas.kail.7/videos/vb.1223306871/10205797428954603/?type=3&theater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmaiden38 Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 i can second what he said about this post its really a slick setup i have the same setup. rubert has be awesome with customer service second 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pouringbaits55 Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Great Post !!! I have also had this system several months. Any chance to speak with you on the phone ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter1 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Can you tell me about the power needs to feed this system, with the Universal Heater Block? Do the individual pots and the UHB each require a 50 or 60 amp dedicated 110v line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Dead Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 1] Solid thick walled aluminum pots with funneled base and sump, to maximize plastic usage 2] Ceramic wrap insulation for pots. 3] 1000 watt, 110 volt heater (10 amp) for each pot. 4] Digital temperature controller with thermocouple for each pot 5] Lid with stirrer motor and fill/view port with rotating cover 6] Stirrer paddle shaped to fit the sump for maximum mixing potential 7] Injector port on each pot for single color application 8] Central manifold for twin color application with injector heater pocket. 9] Insulated mounting feet. 10] 2qt. pot capacity Mini 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleardrift Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 1] Solid thick walled aluminum pots with funneled base and sump, to maximize plastic usage 2] Ceramic wrap insulation for pots. 3] 1000 watt, 110 volt heater (10 amp) for each pot. 4] Digital temperature controller with thermocouple for each pot 5] Lid with stirrer motor and fill/view port with rotating cover 6] Stirrer paddle shaped to fit the sump for maximum mixing potential 7] Injector port on each pot for single color application 8] Central manifold for twin color application with injector heater pocket. 9] Insulated mounting feet. 10] 2qt. pot capacity Mini Walking Dead curios how are the fumes with this machine? I am really thinking about getting one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Probably one of the biggest savings, is not having to clean out the injector after every pour operation. The local injector heater is a clever idea. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Dead Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Clear drift, don't have one yet. Just posted to provide data given me. On the verge though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 1] Solid thick walled aluminum pots with funneled base and sump, to maximize plastic usage 2] Ceramic wrap insulation for pots. 3] 1000 watt, 110 volt heater (10 amp) for each pot. 4] Digital temperature controller with thermocouple for each pot 5] Lid with stirrer motor and fill/view port with rotating cover 6] Stirrer paddle shaped to fit the sump for maximum mixing potential 7] Injector port on each pot for single color application 8] Central manifold for twin color application with injector heater pocket. 9] Insulated mounting feet. 10] 2qt. pot capacity Mini Will this system trip the breaker on a 20 amp 110 v circuit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrat69 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 How does this mini system shoot salt? Like a heavy batch for sticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taylor1595 Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 I'm not much of an electrician so I had a buddy that is an electrician come over and fix my work area where I could set up everything. I'll take a pic of the plugs and breaker box setup he put in for me. elrat69, That's possibly the only issue I've ever had but I'm not sure if it was because I was using salt that was not fine enough or because of the system. I had some inconsistency between the first baits being too heavy with salt and the last few having too little salt. I absolutely hate using salt so I don't mess with it except when I do sticks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMc1 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Will this system trip the breaker on a 20 amp 110 v circuit? I am not sure about the mini setup, I have the large ones and with 2000 watt heaters under each pot you will want each pot on a separate circuit. I run one pot and the manifold on one circuit and the second pot on it's own. How does this mini system shoot salt? Like a heavy batch for sticks. Not sure with the mini but I haven't had an issue with the large one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Using the formula W=VA: W = power = 1000Watts per pot = 2000W V = Voltage = 110 A = current re-arranging the formula : A = W / V : A = 2000 / 110 : A = 18.182 Amps. This means that the setup of 2 x 1KW pots should run on a 20A system, but it is close. If the wiring is only rated for 20 Amps, then prolonged use is going to heat the wiring circuits. If you are going to be running a 1KW microwave on the same circuit at the same time, then obviously the limits of the circuit are going to be exceeded. Also, does the 1000W rating only refer to the pot heater elements, in which case, the stirrer motor current must be taken into consideration. Another consideration; is the heater for the injector also separate, if so, this adds more current to the equation. The list quoted in post No15 would indicate that the maximum power used is going to be greater than 2KW, as the pot heaters are referred to as 1KW each, see item No3 in the list. I would be consulting an electrician for peace of mind. DAve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowFISH Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Using the formula W=VA: W = power = 1000Watts per pot = 2000W V = Voltage = 110 A = current re-arranging the formula : A = W / V : A = 2000 / 110 : A = 18.182 Amps. This means that the setup of 2 x 1KW pots should run on a 20A system, but it is close. If the wiring is only rated for 20 Amps, then prolonged use is going to heat the wiring circuits. If you are going to be running a 1KW microwave on the same circuit at the same time, then obviously the limits of the circuit are going to be exceeded. Also, does the 1000W rating only refer to the pot heater elements, in which case, the stirrer motor current must be taken into consideration. Another consideration; is the heater for the injector also separate, if so, this adds more current to the equation. The list quoted in post No15 would indicate that the maximum power used is going to be greater than 2KW, as the pot heaters are referred to as 1KW each, see item No3 in the list. I would be consulting an electrician for peace of mind. DAve Not an electrician - but have been reading up a ton to plan out my basement renovation with lighting and the compressor. Something running a constant 18amps would be a bit too much on a 20amp circuit. I know the pots won't run constantly - but I'd imagine on first heatup if your starting from scratch, have stirrers going and the heating elements you'd be pushing not only tripping the breaker but also drawing alot of current for a decent amount of time which could be dangerous. Most recommend staying under 75%-80% the amperage on a constant load - so as DaveMC1 stated - running each pot on a different circuit is probably a very smart idea. BTW this thread is killing me - I love that ultra mold mini system.... eventually I gotta get my hands on one!!! J. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Good post SlowFISH, I totally agree. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
