Prometheus Fusion Perfection

I _think_ (hope) I have all the parts necessary to operate the vacuum chamber for the first time. Tonight I try. I’ll timelapse the progress.

I spoke with MDC about how tight to go on the conflats. He said that for the 2.75″ conflats you want to keep the gasket very parallel. finger tightening in a kris kross pattern. He said not much beyond finger tight. The larger flanges require more torque.

So I was able to get the chamber all buttoned up. I tried running the pump for a while. After about 45 minutes, the rough pump cutout and the turbopump remained on.  Not sure it this is supposed to happen. I’m asking the manufacture if this is normal behaviour.

Here is a timelapse of the setup:

Next up is testing out the Hornet. I have to start by ensuring the chamber itself is properly grounded. Ion gauges use high voltage which could shock you if the chamber is not well grounded.