My edwards 28 is leaking oil and i have been pulling full vac with it with the gas ballast knob fully open which i think might be the problem. Could someone please explain what exactly the gas ballast does and how to use?
Thank you in advance
It’s not needed in cannabis but can be used for some hacks.
When the gas ballast is open it super saturates the oil with atmosphere and this creates a vapor eduction process. It can also help with educting solvents from pumps in short bursts while in process. It’s not as useful as people think. For u20 oil it works well because at temp it doesn’t like to help saturated vapors. The process only works well if the pump oil is near as clean as possible in certain industrial processes.
.leaving the gas ballast open will generally increase friction and forces on the atetoe and the second stage essentially causing damage. If your exhaust filter or port is clogged and you open the ballast it will also ballast the pump rapidly and blow the cork seal around it.
Using the gas ballast in our applications generally isn’t good for the pump and wears it out.
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Thank you for the detailed explanation, i really appreciate it
What @Lightbulb said and, in terms even I can understand, oil is displaced by gas. More gas load = more likely that oil will be displaced and sputter out of the pump. Having your gas ballast open will add to the gas load.
Close the gas ballast and run your process. Ideally there should not be a gas load sufficient to displace a noticeable amount of oil.
It is good practice to run your pump closed (isolated at the inlet if possible) for 30 minutes before and after your process. This will help warm the oil on the front side and process out any trapped gas/moisture on the backside of the process.
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