The bearings went out on our reactor turbo pump. It started making a loud whine. A rebuilt Leybold 150 costs like $4000, so swapping them out myself seemed like the only real option. Here’s how it went: Step 1: Remove the heatsink and housing. Use a metric allen wrench to remove the housing. It’s got a rubber o-ring holding it […]
Category: Physics
IEC Reactor Update
After a bit of a hiatus, we’re making good progress on the reactor! We recently replaced the cathode and feedthrough with a titanium surgical rod and a titanium bicycle stem spacer. Alumina tubing at this size is extraordinarily expensive, so we repurposed TIG welding nozzles for the shielding. I’m quite impressed with the results, but the new materials have added […]
Building an IEC Fusion Reactor
This may sound crazy, but it’s been my dream to build a nuclear reactor since I was a kid. I started college as a physics major, but switched when I discovered biology. Now that I’m working in the UPS Physics Department, the stars have aligned and I finally have an opportunity build a fusor! What’s a fusor, you ask? It’s […]