Water in material...not your standard moisture

[moldingppm]

Hey all,

Well, last winter in the below 0*F temps we had, a water pipe for our bathrooms had burst over our material storage area. Thinking nothing of it, I fixed it and went along my business.

Well, this morning I grabbed a barrel that had been sitting there and started running a job, only to find it's popping when purging. In the bottom of the 55 gal drum, is about 4 gallons of water. I've found 4 barrels like this total. And yes, they were covered, but with stretch wrap and some had holes in the top for god knows what reason.

So my question, what the hell can I do to save my materials? These are expensive materials that I can't afford to replace. I ran one material in a desiccant dryer, and it got some but not all water/moisture out.

What can I do other than throwing this material away?!


Thanks guys, and have a good weekend... I know I won't.

[Suhas]

PPM,
All you can do is to try and dry it. First dry to drain out all the water and leave it out in the open (not in the sun) for couple weeks. Then use the desiccant dryer and see if it helps. If you have a moisture analyzer, it is worth a before and after test. Note that you may need more drying time than normal. Do not increase drying temps, just the time and see what happens.
Have a good weekend, don;t let the small things bother you. May be a lot of money, but now worth as much as your health and happiness.
Take care my friend!
Suhas

[moldingppm]

PPM,
All you can do is to try and dry it. First dry to drain out all the water and leave it out in the open (not in the sun) for couple weeks. Then use the desiccant dryer and see if it helps. If you have a moisture analyzer, it is worth a before and after test. Note that you may need more drying time than normal. Do not increase drying temps, just the time and see what happens.
Have a good weekend, don;t let the small things bother you. May be a lot of money, but now worth as much as your health and happiness.
Take care my friend!
Suhas

I was thinking of some way to strain the water out for the original removal. Then dry it in a hot air dryer (as I don't want to plug my desiccant up with all that moisture) then dry it again in the desiccant finally. I'll leave it to dry over night and see if I get any less moisture.

Any suggestions on a cheap moisture analyzer? I've been considering buying one for testing, but can't afford to drop a lot of money on one.

I'm planning on having a good weekend, as long as my fridge is stocked with beer!
Thank you sir!

[brentb]

What is resin involved?

KOM

brent

[moldingppm]

What is resin involved?

KOM

brent

Brent,

HIPS, ABS and 14% GF PA 6/6. I got the ABS and HIPS to run fine with drying, but the GF is/was giving me a hell of a time.

This morning, it seems to be running fine, granted I've dried it for 12+ hours in the last 3 days. I'll report how it's run at the end of the day.