Originally Posted by
Zac Penn
Kimini,
Your filter is coming along nicely. I do want to interject a little bit from experience, and you can do with it what you will...
Using silicone, foam rubber, epdm, etc... as the seal of the RDF creates some complications. The rubber will require lubrication to get it rotating smoothly against the plastic. This lubrication will eventually wash away/dry up as the seal rotates and squeegees the lubricant away from the rubber. Then you have rubber on plastic, and even at low RPM's the friction buildup is more than you would expect. The seal will start to leave some rubber on the plastic similar to a burnout strip at the racetrack. Then you have rubber on rubber and the friction gets even greater. This extra friction will try to rip the rubber off of the drum at the adhesive (which doesn't adhere well to HDPE) and then tear it at the mechanical fasteners.
You may want to look into LDPE as a seal material because it has a far less coefficient of friction and it is very pliable. I am pretty sure that is what is used on the Profidrum as a seal.
I do not envy you when it comes time to weld all those support rids on the drum. That is going to take forever!!!!!! Make sure you have some good tunes playing while you tackle that portion of the project.