Vacuum Bagging Starter Kit

Our Vacuum Bagging Starter Kit includes all fittings, and vacuum bagging consumables necessary to start making vacuum bagged carbon fibre or composite parts.

The kit is available to buy with or without the optional EC4 Composites Vacuum Pump at a special discounted price. Use the drop-down list at the top of the page to add a vacuum pump if required.

Further Information

Vacuum Bagging Process

The vacuum bagging process is used extensively in the manufacture of large, complex or performance critical composite parts. The vacuum bagging process improves consolidation, reducing resin content and therefore improving the strength-to-weight ratio of the finished part. The vacuum bagging process also allows more complicated shapes to be laminating without the voids or air bubbles associated with open wet-lay.

What's Included in the Kit

Our Vacuum Bagging Starter Kit includes all fittings, and vacuum bagging consumables necessary to start making vacuum bagged carbon fibre or composite parts.

The kit is available to buy with or without the optional EC4 Compact Composites Vacuum Pump at a special discounted price. Use the drop-down list at the top of the page to add a vacuum pump if required.

TBC2 Through-Bag Connector with a 1/4 turn valve and hose-tail barb fitting
2m 8mm ID Silicone Vacuum Hose
5m VB160 Vacuum Bagging Film (1.52m wide)
5m PP180 Peel Ply
5m R120-P3 Perforated Release Film
2x 15m Gum Sealant Tape
5m BR180 Breather Layer Cloth
2x HTC-8 8mm Hose-Tail Barb Connectors
8 Pairs of Nitrile gloves

Options

OPTIONAL: EC4 Compact Composites Vacuum Pump with hosetail barb fitting
OPTIONAL: Low Loss Vacuum Regulator

Optional Vacuum Pump

The kit is available to buy with or without the optional EC4 Compact Composites Vacuum Pump at a special discounted price. Use the drop-down list at the top of the page to add a vacuum pump if required.

The EC4 Compact Composites Vacuum Pump can only be used on 240V systems and is available with a choice of power leads for compatibility.

Optional Low Loss Vacuum Regulator

Depending on the resin system, type and amount of reinforcement and size and nature of the parts you are vacuum bagging it may be necessary to use a vacuum regulator to control the level of vacuum applied to the part. To avoid damage to the pump you should always use a sophisticated 'low loss' vacuum regulator. This will ensure that the pump can continue to pull against a full vacuum whilst the regulator precisely controls the level of vacuum applied to the bag.

If you intend to vacuum bag polyester resin (which will boil under full vacuum) or need precise control over the vacuum level in order to attain a perfect cosmetic finish then please choose to add a vacuum regulator from the drop-down list.

Specification

Mechanical Properties

Max Service Temp	180	°C

General Properties

Gross Weight	10	kg

Can’t find the answer you’re looking for?Ask our technical team a question.

With suitable precautions, these pumps will run for long periods including overnight. The main consideration is the consumption of oil whilst the pump is under load. The pump must not be allowed to run dry of oil otherwise damage will occur so regularly checking the oil level is a must. If the bag is properly sealed then you will find that the consumption of oil is minimal, in which case the pump will find fine to run overnight without danger of running low or out of oil. On the other hand, if the bag is not properly sealed (i.e. it leaks) then this will put the pump under more load and consume oil much more quickly. In this situation we would not advise leaving the pump unattended.

There is nothing including in this kit that would prevent resin from being drawn into the vacuum pump but the reason for this is because - with vacuum bagging - it is highly unlikely that this would be a risk. When vacuum bagging there is only as much resin in the laminate as you put there when you wet out the fabric; the vacuum then helps to consolidate the laminate and any excess resin squeezed out of the laminate is usually absorbed by the breather cloth. It would be extremely unusual for there to be enough resin in the laminate to fully saturate the breather layer and then make its way to the pump.

You will see that we include a catch-pot (resin trap) with our Resin Infusion Starter Kit but this is because the resin infusion process does not use any absorbent breather and also you have a ready-supply of resin feeding resin into the project which can easily mean that once the laminate is fully wetted through, the resin can start to progress down the vacuum line towards the vacuum pump. In this case, the catch-pot is required to prevent resin from reaching the vacuum pump but this is not necessary when following the vacuum bagging process.

ASK YOUR OWN QUESTION

Shipping Information

Restrictions

This product is not classed as dangerous goods for transport and can be shipped to all destinations without restriction.

Package Size

There are no package size restrictions or surcharges for this product.