Dip Tube varnish preservation.

[Don Andersen]

Dip tubes have been built of PVC, copper, aluminum, black pipe plus a number of types of plastics.
Plastics breathe leaking the solvents needed to keep the varnishes well.
For that reason, I chose to use an aluminum pipe c/w quality pipe fittings ending in a 2” brass ball valve. A black ABS 2” cap finishes off the setup.
The dip tube holds just a tad less that one litre of finish which fits with CDN standards.
One thing it failed at, the varnish didn’t completely fill the tube as I always left an 1 1/2” of free space at the top of the varnish for expansion as the dip tube was heated from 65F>95F prior to dipping. Of course failure to allow for expansion would certainly lead to a splitting of the dip tube dumping the contents on top of the heating element making Damn Sure the house would burn down.
The expansion free space needed to be filled with a non Oxidizing agent.
I chose CO2.
But how to secure a viable supply? A CO2 volcano system only took two hours to clean up the shop and was rejected.
In a discussion with Bret Nickerson of Calgary, Alberta he suggested a paint ball cylinder c/w a control valve and a rubber tube. I’ve used this system for years and get refills as needed from companies who service fire extinguishers. This is one damn decent idea. I secured his permission to share the idea with others.
Paintball tanks are relatively cheap with under $40 getting a setup.


Regards,

Don

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, I have NEVER had a skim in my varnish tank. I did the screw on cap [still have it, but...........] Bloxygen, thinner on top, etc......... THIS WORKS! See the picture, it's easy to not reinvent the wheel. I got the idea from The Garrison book. It's not my idea, it just works.....

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=113432&p=802800&hi ... sh#p802800

Jay Edwards

[eastprong]

I use a PVC tube. So, this:
https://www.zoro.com/cherne-industries- ... gIm9vD_BwE

+ this:
https://www.rockler.com/bloxygen-gas-fo ... gKoI_D_BwE

= happy varnish

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, So, it looks like the cap from my Heddon 125 tube oughta work swell!

Jay Edwards

[reidrods]

I use pvc tubes also. Am just finishing up the last of my 1983 MOW spar varnish. I just use
Bloxygen, no thinner. The last dip tube I opened was a 6' 6" pvc tube I used last in 2007 for a one-piece rod. It was perfect. (I have several different tubes.)

Willis

[StePhDen]

I decided to go with black pipe instead of risking $150 on 3 gallons of varnish to fill a 6 foot long 3 inch diameter monstrosity of a dip tank. Now I’m looking at a 5 ft long 2 inch diameter black pipe tank. I cleaned the pipe as well as I could with IPA and then threaded a cap on with pipe dope. Should I worry about the pipe dope contaminating the varnish? I have another pipe I can whip one up with PTFE tape instead?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluesjay]

Hi Guys, See above post; /\

Jay Edwards