Water Table Bladder Build

[ltbald1]

Hello Guys,

I am new to the CNC Plasma Table realm. I bought a used table (Arclight 9600) and when talking with the previous owner about things he liked and disliked. His comments led me to look into a way to drain and refill the water table when using. I found this forum and I did not find that much on the subject, not a lot of pictures of guys builds or design. So, Thought I would post some pics of what I did and I would hope it will help the next guy design and build his bladder system. I used 2" PVC so very little friction and it fills and drains in about 3 minutes. I know online it says not to pressurize those blue plastic drums as they can explode at low PSI (17-35) depending on where you look. For what I have it only takes 2psi to move that water. I put on two types of pressure regulators on the air supply for added safety, a regular type pressure regulator and adjustable propane regulator. I was hoping to be able to adjust the propane regulator to stop filling when the table was full but there is such a small difference in the pressure it is not possible so I have to watch it when filling and stop before it overfills.

[SONIC]

Very cool!
I've got a LDR table and what they did was build a tank on top of a tank with holes in the bottom one.
You add air to the bottom tank and it displaces the water to the top tray.
Clever design.

It's really convenient for cleaning the table and for adjusting water level for different metals.
I cut thin stuff with the water touching, sometimes underwater depending on the situation. It stops it from warping.

[motoguy]

I did something similar, based on _Ogre's water bladder build. Fills my 6x12 table in about 7 minutes. Drained faster when new, than it does now. I also used the blue plastic barrels. I put a baffle above the drain hole, so water doesn't come geyser-ing out when I apply air pressure. I find that 3psi is all I need to get plenty of pressure/7 minute fill time.

I ran into issues sealing the fittings to the blue plastic barrels, I didn't realize those threads are not pipe threads, which are self sealing. I had to buy a bunch of rubber rings (rings for the fill valve at the top of a toilet tank) to serve as a gasket. Once installing those, the tanks work great.

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[_Ogre]

i cheaped out when i saw the price for those barrel adapters and just used the 3/4'' line in between the barrels
the only other thing we did was to add a 3-way valve in the air line; one direction fills the tank the other direction exhausts
the pcv valve didn't last long, it got so tight we broke the valve stem off, have since gone to a 2'' brass valve

original setup



this is the 3-way valve mounted all air piping is 1/4'' poly tube
we have to run a hose to fill or add water, the guys use the tanks mostly for reserve water to top off the water table
when we clean the table we fill up the table and one barrel, this still allows us room to lower the table for part retrieval
the operator used to over fill the table on a regular basis, after a few squeegee days he has learned to stay close

[SeanP]

Don't know if I dare show you my new tank, the 2mm steel tank I built under the table had some strange pit hole corroding going on and started leaking so I needed a quick fix.

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[motoguy]

Don't know if I dare show you my new tank, the 2mm steel tank I built under the table had some strange pit hole corroding going on and started leaking so I needed a quick fix.

tank_resize.jpg

When I move facilities, that's what I'll use!

[_Ogre]

i like it
wouldn't work to well here in snow country though
over here those are 330 gal i believe or 6 barrels

i like the valve linkage

[SeanP]

Yes thats a 1000L tank the 600L would have been a better size maybe, certainly don't need to keep topping up due to evaporation now like I had to with the steel tank, I didn't have much leeway there.
It's actually about 3' below the level of the table where it is, that takes a bit more pressure to lift the water, ah it fills pretty quick, I'd say 2mins, draining is faster still I would say.
Yes hope we don't get any serious frost, drained it down the other night as it was getting cool!

[Brand X]

Yes hope we don't get any serious frost, drained it down the other night as it was getting cool!

Of course you would need to find the correct voltage for yours..


http://www.khmfg.com/ultimate-stock-tank-de-icer.html

[steel 35]

I planed on building a steel tank under the table until I found Ogre's tanks,Thanks. Almost the same design but just couldn't put a valve on the tanks to contain the pressure so here is how I did the penetration.
I fill at 4 psi and try to drain slow. speaking of drain wish I would have put a valve low for that, easy fix.
For the fill pressure I can say mine have been proof tested by the little bride when she screamed I walked in and the water was running from the valeted ceiling down the wall 12 to 13' up. I shut the air off and drug her out.

[allan101]

[img][img][img][img][/img][/img][/img][/img]Here are a few photos of my setup, I welded up a aluminum tank with 2" npt fittings and 1/4 inch npt fitting for under the table,added some air push and pull control valves, a 2" hose from the bottom of the tank to the bottom of the table.Excuse the mess in the shop I have a little knife grinder build going on

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It takes 1:18 seconds to fill and :58 seconds to drain, all the airlines to the valves are 1/4" I built a control panel for the on/off valves which also have 2-highspeed USB ports, all the airlines are 1/4" which I put inside 1" clear vinyl tubing for cable management. I will probably cut the aluminum tank and install a door on the side of the tank with a seal ,so to make cleaning the inside easier if I ever have to. The table is 4'x8'.
Some photos will not load they exceed file limit will try to figure out and post later

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[DMoneyAllstar]

Building my own version of the PPLLC 5x10 table with water tray. Stole a 100gal heavy duty steel oil tank (44x29x20" rectangle) off CL for $75 a short drive from home at a tractor repair shop (old furnace supply tank). They even forklift-loaded it for me). Scour CL for oil/fuel/hydraulic tanks -- they're out there. Welding a pair of 2" bungs for drain/fill and a single 1/2" bung for air. Might add a pair of bungs for a sight water level. I wanted a steel tank for [1] safety and [2] so I can locate the tank remote and can move water further with more pressure permitted by the steel tank. I'm storing sheet material under my table. Then found a pair of SMC manual push-button valves for pressure filling, and vented draining. No electrical to mess with. Using 1/4" quick connects and flex-line for air from eBay.

[Nacs Fab]

I just fill mine with a garden hose. LOL

[leggman]

Mine uses an old air compressor tank laying on its side. Like you said it only takes about three psi to fill my table. Works great for a first build.

[islander261]

Hello

I am not comfortable with pressurizing non certified vessels. I just use a cheap HF sump pump for filling and gravity draining. The cheap HF sump pump has been running for four years now with no problems. My tank is a 100 gallon stock tank filled to about 90 gal.

John

[allan101]

I originally used a plastic rv water tank, when I put 5 psi into it, it would swell like a balloon ,scared me so I made the aluminum tank . No swelling now