Well... wrote an eMail to Plastruct detailing what was shorted or missing and then followed up with a phone call. Talked to Customer Service, but she said that the eMail would go to the office manager who would just get the parts pulled and mailed out. She transferred me, but I got voicemail. So... no further input to that discussion.
Really got into the Hi-Pressure Spheres.
I needed to drill three 1/8" holes in the spheres. One on the very bottom. There's a injection mold lug there which facilitates finding that. I didn't file these off knowing that I would use them for the bottom outlet. It also has two, vertical, off-axis holes for the two relief valves. It's tough to drill vertical holes in a sphere, so after spotting them with the awl, I milled two flats that were horizontal with the ground line to give a purchase for the drilling that followed. I used a 0.032" carbide drill in a pin vise to start the hole, followed up with a #50 also in a pin vise, and then took it to the drill press. I put the sphere on a role of masking tape so it sat still and then maneuvered it so I could drill the two holes. Worked good and the drill did not slip.
I had enough braces to do one tank. After getting them all glued and set, I put a wire around the legs to prevent them from spreading outwards, stuck some coarse adhesive sand paper on the sphere, put on a nitrile glove so I could get a good grip and then swiveled the sphere back and forth until each leg shape conformed to the curve better. All of them didn't come in precisely, but as you'll see, gluing and CA solved that problem.
Here's the fit after shaping.
Since I had already drilled the sphere for the two relief valves on top and the bottom outlet, and mounted the valves, I had to make sure that the valves were vertical and this meant that the seam line would be horizontal prior to gluing. I set it all up on the surface plate and fussed around with the sphere until the surface gauge showed a level seam line. Judicious use of Tamiya tape held that position so I could apply glue to each leg, only removing the next piece of tape when the leg showed it was adhering.
After gluing I went back and added med CA to any obvious gaps. One needed some granular filler with the CA to close the gap. But they were all glued and strong. The bottom outlet has a nozzle, a #4 pipe and an elbow. The relief valves are attached using a piece of #4 pipe, but no nozzle since it would fit against the severe curve.
Here's what the glued leg looks like. I'm happy with the fit. Again, the instructions on this critical step were very skimpy. I don't know how to get the legs positioned without having an assembly jig.
I pulled the assembly jig off to see it was still all stable and it was. Therefore, I can mount the tanks directly on my baseboard, AND I can use the templates to drill holes in the baseboard to insert the legs and further stabilize the assembly. I forgot to mark leg 1 on the tank and template so I went back and kept turning it until all the legs lined up. On Tank #2 I marked leg 1's position for going further. Live and learn.
Oh... and one more thing. I dropped HP Sphere #2. It hit the concrete bounced twice and then on the third bounce blew apart into two hemispheres as the glue line let go. I had to re-glue, re-fill and file it all over again. I added more filler and will finish sand tomorrow after it all cures.
I took this pic this morning for inclusion in the Plastruct eMail. It shows current progress before the completion of HP #1. Question for Al (or other refinery experts). The overhead line from the distillation tower goes to the top drum on the platform (reflux drum?), but instead of the line going directly to it, the distilling tower line goes to the pipe rack, T-s into the a #8 pipe with the ends blocked. The line runs the entire length of the pipe rack, and the reflux line T-s off this same long line. It wastes a lot of #8 piping with I want to use for the relief valve lines going to a flare knock out drum. What is the reason for running this long line that's blocked at both ends? (See the arrows).
While waiting for Plastruct's response, tomorrow I start building pipe racks, mounting pumps and other stuff onto faux concrete bases, and then get started building lighting systems. I have the silicone mold used in making the lampposts for the distillery, but the mold's not great and I'm going to re-mold it before casting. There was a bubble in the area where the pole interfaced with the light housing and required handwork to remove the resin the filled the bubble. I also have to finish up the details on the heater, build the cooling tower and a flare, plus and ops building. So I have a lot to do. I think my LHS has the #4 Plastruct channel which I need to finish up HP #2 leg assembly.
