Another fluid bed post :)

[Dungeonhawk]

Good evening TU folks.

Just wanted to post a few observations etc about my new fluid bed, and ask for some assistance as well.

First off. I made a 5 pot system, all with separate valves, tubes etc. I have 5 main colors, and didnt want to have to switch pots.

Im running in a few issues.

First. Only the lighter colors seem to suspend the way I need them too.(with brown paper bag) White and Chartruese are working flawlessly. doubling in volume, and working great.

The dark colors however (black, green pumpkin etc) are not. Same setup as the others, they just wont fluff. With my darker colors im getting about 10-20 geysers, and very little fluff or volumizing. And of course, with the geysers comes paint coming out the top, naturally.

Talking with another board member (from TJs tackle of course) and from experience now, this is an air flow issue. Are the darker colors just a bit thicker and thus require a different membrane?

Perhaps with just the darker colors a coffee filter would work right, and the lighter colors, the brown paper bag works best.????

One last question as well. How do you all prevent, or minimize overflow? My white and to some extent, chartruese, by nature of fluidizing better seem to stay contained better, but there is still a slight dusting around the outside. Is this not really fixable?

Im thiking I may take some glad press n seal, and put it over the top of the bed, and leave a 1 inch gap down the middle for dipping.

Any other bright ideas?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

And as a service to the board, when im finished, I will post an in depth how to, with pictures and perhaps videos. I know the original how to was lost in the crash.

Thanks

Ryan

[akriverrat]

intresting that you mention geysers and very little fluff and paint coming out the top. are you running all these pots off one air compessor? have you tried to run different colors in different pots. i am not really experianced in mulitiple fluid bed running but im thinking that your air flow is not enough to run all your beds. i have used the coffee filter for a membrane but i found some allergy pillowcase material before the paper bag deal came about and i am happy with it. i have small geyesers but i also have doubling of volumn and everything seems to be working correctly. i usually run my fluidized powder pretty close to the top and i think a little overflow spillage is pretty common. maybe turn the air down just a bit to keep this in check. as for your other beds maybe they need there own air supply?

john

[cadman]

I run (2) fluid beds, however, my air pump has four separate air ports, so I use 1 port for each fluid bed. I am thinking on the same lines as Akriverrat. You don't have enough air flow pressure to run all five at the same time, if that's what you're doing. Before I made my fluid bed my two worst colors were white and silver. With the fluid bed, my problem with silver went away. I still have a problem with white on and off. I have gone through 30 different white powder paint shades, and 10 different PP companies. I have yet to find a white powder that flows like my chart., or black. My quest continues, and when I find it , I will post the paint color and manufacturer. Humidity plays a big roll in PP, along with different PP companies.

[Dungeonhawk]

First off, no , im not running them all together. just one at a time. I open whichever valve I need to just run the pot im working on. So I know air flow is good to that pot.

All of my seals and everything are caulked adequately, I know im not getting any air leaks.

I may try the coffee filter, and or the allergy pillowcase idea and see how that works.

I guess it could be not enough powder in the pot. When I first started working on it, I didnt put enough in to make it fluidize right. Then i started using 2oz and it started to work, until i got to the dark colors.

I dont know im drawing at straws here.

Thanks for the assists so far.

[Dungeonhawk]

OK, update.

I picked up an allergy pillow case and some coffee filters.

Filters just make a mess haha.

The pillow case is working, sort of. Im getting about 50% volume increase, but NO fluidizing. It fluffs, but doesnt swirl or move.

I know the pump is enough because the white with a paper bag membrane is working 100% as needed.

Any suggestions?

[akriverrat]

i am using a two inch fluid bed and about three to four onces of paint when i get my bed going. my cup is 6 inches tall and when the powder is stagnant it is about three inches high. i dont get double in volumn but its really close. another thing i noticed was that in the air chamber it seemed most the air was coming up the opposite side so i put a loosely crumpled coffee filter in the chamber to break up the direct flow. this seemed to help and make the air come up through the whole area of the cup. my powder dosent really swirl when its running but more like hovering with little fart bubbles all over. if i swirl the cup when its running its definately fluidized and acts as water. my bed seemed to have a bit of a break in period and seems to work better now than the first few times i used it. let her run a bit and try different amounts of powder. hope this helps.

john

[reeves]

I run two fluid beds, one for color and one for clear w/glitter. They both act differently. I too have noticed the different colors fluidizing differently, some seem to be heavier than others and require more air to fluidize. Watermelon is terrible for me, white and black and chartruese work perfectly.

I always try to set the air so the level of powder raises and NO bubbling. Increase air til it bubbles then back off to where the powder is moving across the top. As you use paint and the level decreases, you will get some bubbling and it must be adjusted.

Want to see what is hitting the air of your shop? Try this. Have your fluid bed running the way you would have it when painting. Turn off all the lights in the room. With a flashlight, shine it across the top of the powder cup and take a real deep breath.

You might also try swithcing powder cups from one bed to another to see if there is any difference, I have had success doing this.

[Dungeonhawk]

I seem to have tried about everything. LIke i mentioned before. with the allergy pillowcase as a membrane it raised the powder up about 50% but no movement at all.

Paper sack had lots of volcanos and spewing, coffee filter was a disaster lol.

Ive tried adjust air flow 100 different times.

Oh, and I just realized why the powder with the allergy sheet raised. its because the sheet flexed upwards with the air. I dont think im getting much of anything else through it.

I wish it was just as easy as the white and chartruese were. those are 100% perfect right now.

The black, brown, green pumpkin suck crap making me mad.

Thanks for the suggestions, Im trying them all. Just nothing seems to help.

Even tried using a cofee filter AND paper bag, still volcanos

[LedHed]

Dungeonhawk

PM your snail mail address

[kelly]

my dark colors have the same problem when I start. but I use a paper clip bent flat and rub it on the bottom until the filter is almost pluged until it flows correctly.

[dayooper]

The darker colors of powder paint are heavier than the lighter colors due to the dark pigments. Some of the heaviest powder paints are the blues, browns, blacks, etc. They will still fluidize as we do not have any problems with them, but they will not expand quite as much as the green chartreuse for example.

[Dungeonhawk]

I made a bunch of jigs tonight, and did most of them in white and chartruese, well, I tried one in the black, and although it fluffed up a bit, didnt fluidide, but dipped it anyway. well, too much paint, and curing in the oven it got a drip on the bottom, of course .

we will what happens, who knows