what causes flakey cracked insulation inside of cables? [Pace] *crinkle crinkle*

[coppercone2]

edit: bought a solder x-tractor by PACE because why not. I can setup both channels to have a good PCB rework bench. I want to clear up another table that I will use for desoldering & crimping and leave the solder sucker in the normal lab for light work. So when I have a big project I can go to the assembly area and have a hakko 888D (I actually like the analog one better, so  that one is being banished), pace soldr-x-tractor and the atomoscope hot air blower in one area.

[coppercone2]

So kinda like this, but on the inside?
(Attachment Link)

sorry I forgot to reply to this, no, not quite that nasty. It just is totally hard and cracks like glass or something. It does not look repulsive.

[coppercone2]

I restored it without the vacuum adjust knob (can't get it) and a few dicky strain reliefs (waiting on good ones that fit), and oh man, this is a fucking game changer. , so there is a hose barb wrapped in paper sticking out of the suction port, but at least I got the air filter disk ($$$)

Even without the 2nd graphite plate it works and it seems to be extracting great, I replaced TO-transistor cans. It's great, I can actually replace the part like you are supposed to, without doing some kinda bullshit like yanking on it while I use the soldering iron then trying to use the manual sucker and then getting stuck with solder in the hole. The pump is also not heating up anymore, since I guess its lubricated now, so I am almost wondering if I should bother with the 2nd wear plate.

wow, seriously, i kinda wish I got one sooner. Can't believe I am that late in the game.

If you only have one wear plate, use short controlled bursts, when you really floor it the pump starts to squeel after like 10 seconds, but even so its not getting nearly as warm as it was when I started this whole thing, it was too hot to touch in 20 seconds, after 20 seconds its barely appreciably warm. But thats all you need unless you are doing something crazy, one pin at a time warm up and suction off.

I wanna play tenis with the manual pump now,

everything I was told is a lie. I tried several. People keep suggesting it.

If you stop using it and press the foot pedal again, the noise goes away, so I can hopefully replace my hot air soldering station with it. Long live the graphite pump

[coppercone2]

actually, what the hell is this material. I thought it was graphite but when I got a graphite sheet its real soft and nothing like the thing in there, i realize now that carbon might not mean graphite.

I have a sheet of light, somewhat durable flakey material which cuts easily, is highly electrically conductive, and when cut with a saw 'frays' or delaminates and requires post processing sanding.

I mean I don't see why this would not make a pump gasket, but they use something else.... its fragile

So I see a carbon vane is not a graphite vane... the vanes would never work from this graphite material I have, but the seal might..

So what the hell form is that, its clearly not diamond and its not graphite.

And, is a graphite wear plate suitable?

[helius]

Probably a sintered mixture of graphite and phenolic resins, like a carbon brush. The carbonized resin forms a matrix that keeps the material from shedding.

[coppercone2]

so if it seems to run OK without the part, it came without the part, but in the manual it wants the part, do you think adding a 2mm piece of soft graphite would do anything positive or just leave it alone?

The very end of the pump is without the carbon, according to the manual there should be a 'wear plate' on the end, meaning 2 wear plates, but I only got one. I put it between the motor and the pump body because it made more sense to me to put it there then at the very end.

What is the best action? It's running pretty cool now, NOTHING compared to the 'break in' period.

[helius]

You might get better vacuum with a completely sealed manifold as intended

[coppercone2]

yeah this material does look like it makes a good seal, but will it fuck something up being pure graphite rather then carbon graphite? Like make too much dust or something?

I mean I dunno how it could fuck it up because its slippery as hell and feels soft, kinda perfect actually for an end face. I don't know why they used hard brittle shit in the first place if this is good

I can make a circle on a belt sander and probobly drill this with an ice pick if I wanted to (its the most bizzare thing I held in a while, I dealt with graphite powder and plenty of pencils and 'carbon' from brushes n shit like that but I thought it would all be very similar.

it reminds me more like if you made mica more foamlike some how then anything else.