Gotta warp, these members can help. [Vinyl Flat]

folsom_lives said:
So after 8 months of having the Vinyl Flat sitting in my closet, I think I am finally ready to give flattening a go. I just have so many lingering questions on temperature and time since some of the documents gave me conflicting info. But after reading a lot of posts here I am betting that an hour at around 130 degrees is the best/safest spot to start for most cases. Increasing at 15 minutes afterward if it doesn't work and no more than 3 cook cycles period.

One question I have for after cooking is, do you allow the VF to cool in the still warm (but powered off) pouch? Or are you colling at room temp outside of the pouch.

I also noticed on the pre-heating of the pouch is that is has WILDLY high and inconsistent temps for the like the first 15-20 minutes. Like even on low it spiked to nearly 150 in the center. After that lengthy pre-heat it did seem to stabilize to 134 in the center and high 120s at the edge/fold.
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Following as I just starting using the VF as well. Yesterday, I kept it in the pouch during cool-down.
 
folsom_lives said:
So after 8 months of having the Vinyl Flat sitting in my closet, I think I am finally ready to give flattening a go. I just have so many lingering questions on temperature and time since some of the documents gave me conflicting info. But after reading a lot of posts here I am betting that an hour at around 130 degrees is the best/safest spot to start for most cases. Increasing at 15 minutes afterward if it doesn't work and no more than 3 cook cycles period.

One question I have for after cooking is, do you allow the VF to cool in the still warm (but powered off) pouch? Or are you colling at room temp outside of the pouch.

I also noticed on the pre-heating of the pouch is that is has WILDLY high and inconsistent temps for the like the first 15-20 minutes. Like even on low it spiked to nearly 150 in the center. After that lengthy pre-heat it did seem to stabilize to 134 in the center and high 120s at the edge/fold.
Click to expand...
I let it cool in the pouch.
 
folsom_lives said:
So after 8 months of having the Vinyl Flat sitting in my closet, I think I am finally ready to give flattening a go. I just have so many lingering questions on temperature and time since some of the documents gave me conflicting info. But after reading a lot of posts here I am betting that an hour at around 130 degrees is the best/safest spot to start for most cases. Increasing at 15 minutes afterward if it doesn't work and no more than 3 cook cycles period.

One question I have for after cooking is, do you allow the VF to cool in the still warm (but powered off) pouch? Or are you colling at room temp outside of the pouch.

I also noticed on the pre-heating of the pouch is that is has WILDLY high and inconsistent temps for the like the first 15-20 minutes. Like even on low it spiked to nearly 150 in the center. After that lengthy pre-heat it did seem to stabilize to 134 in the center and high 120s at the edge/fold.
Click to expand...
I'm also team "cool in pouch". One thing I want to note that I learned is anything clear or opaque heats quicker. So be mindful and lop off some time. Ive ruined a few. I have a cheat sheet somewhere but I think everyone's heater works differently depending on what pouch they gave you and your environment. Test on some beaters first.
 
Ok. First go at flattening was somewhat successful but I noticed a few things.

The temperature with the VF in the pouch was anywhere from 8 to 15 degrees cooler than when it was just the pouch during the "calibration" test. On low the pouch alone settled out at a nice 130-132 degrees. With the VF it had a hard time cracking 120 even after a 30 minute preheat on high and all the way through a 75 minute cook on low. Some of the edges away from the fold were even cooler. I did a rotation of the VF about halfway through to correct this and even things out.

The disc I was trying to flatten had a decent little bend warp, not really a complete dish, but half the disc had a rise and fall of about 3/8-inch.

The 75 minutes cut that in half, but still didn't go all the way. So the question is do I keep the process as is (i.e. on low with the preheat) but increase the time another 15 minutes. Or do I bump it up to medium where it will hopefully get to 130 degrees and keep it at a 75 minute cook?

I think I already know the answer, but I am really just more curious about the temperature discrepancy.
 
folsom_lives said:
Ok. First go at flattening was somewhat successful but I noticed a few things.

The temperature with the VF in the pouch was anywhere from 8 to 15 degrees cooler than when it was just the pouch during the "calibration" test. On low the pouch alone settled out at a nice 130-132 degrees. With the VF it had a hard time cracking 120 even after a 30 minute preheat on high and all the way through a 75 minute cook on low. Some of the edges away from the fold were even cooler. I did a rotation of the VF about halfway through to correct this and even things out.

The disc I was trying to flatten had a decent little bend warp, not really a complete dish, but half the disc had a rise and fall of about 3/8-inch.

The 75 minutes cut that in half, but still didn't go all the way. So the question is do I keep the process as is (i.e. on low with the preheat) but increase the time another 15 minutes. Or do I bump it up to medium where it will hopefully get to 130 degrees and keep it at a 75 minute cook?

I think I already know the answer, but I am really just more curious about the temperature discrepancy.
Click to expand...
120 will still do the job, it'll just take a bit longer. By comparison, my RecordPi's default temperature is about 126 degrees, give or take.
 
folsom_lives said:
Ok. First go at flattening was somewhat successful but I noticed a few things.

The temperature with the VF in the pouch was anywhere from 8 to 15 degrees cooler than when it was just the pouch during the "calibration" test. On low the pouch alone settled out at a nice 130-132 degrees. With the VF it had a hard time cracking 120 even after a 30 minute preheat on high and all the way through a 75 minute cook on low. Some of the edges away from the fold were even cooler. I did a rotation of the VF about halfway through to correct this and even things out.

The disc I was trying to flatten had a decent little bend warp, not really a complete dish, but half the disc had a rise and fall of about 3/8-inch.

The 75 minutes cut that in half, but still didn't go all the way. So the question is do I keep the process as is (i.e. on low with the preheat) but increase the time another 15 minutes. Or do I bump it up to medium where it will hopefully get to 130 degrees and keep it at a 75 minute cook?

I think I already know the answer, but I am really just more curious about the temperature discrepancy.
Click to expand...
Low and slow is always the best route. After I don't know how many albums I've flattened at this point, a standard weight album is averaging, and my current go to, 90 minutes at the medium temp setting. The most important part of the process being cool down, leave the album in the VF until the plates are back to room temp.

Something else to keep in mind when you're checking temps is that the metal plates are going to absorb a lot of heat, as they should, so that's why your temp may read a little different. Again, medium has worked best for me across the board, adjusting times for album weight/thickness and using the VF seam as the hottest spot of the pouch for edge warps.
 
AnthonyI said:
Low and slow is always the best route. After I don't know how many albums I've flattened at this point, a standard weight album is averaging, and my current go to, 90 minutes at the medium temp setting. The most important part of the process being cool down, leave the album in the VF until the plates are back to room temp.

Something else to keep in mind when you're checking temps is that the metal plates are going to absorb a lot of heat, as they should, so that's why your temp may read a little different. Again, medium has worked best for me across the board, adjusting times for album weight/thickness and using the VF seam as the hottest spot of the pouch for edge warps.
Click to expand...
So the "calibration temp" and "actual cooking with the VF in the pouch temp" is where I'm confused. Low for me gave me about 130 with an empty pouch and medium was well into the 140s. So should I be cooking with the assumed empty pouch temp or the temp I'm getting with the VF in there too?
 
folsom_lives said:
So the "calibration temp" and "actual cooking with the VF in the pouch temp" is where I'm confused. Low for me gave me about 130 with an empty pouch and medium was well into the 140s. So should I be cooking with the assumed empty pouch temp or the temp I'm getting with the VF in there too?
Click to expand...
I based my testing on the temp with the pouch empty, at medium I get temps from 135-150 (the seam getting a bit hotter). I'm sure each pouch is going to be a little different, but I'd say as long as you're not hitting temps well into the 150's, you should be ok. Again, the plates will absorb some heat, even the felt is going to pull some heat from the album surface, so it's going to average out in the end.

All this is based on my testing and experience, if you're not comfy with what you're doing, break out a few $1 bin records and do some testing ;)
 
folsom_lives said:
So the "calibration temp" and "actual cooking with the VF in the pouch temp" is where I'm confused. Low for me gave me about 130 with an empty pouch and medium was well into the 140s. So should I be cooking with the assumed empty pouch temp or the temp I'm getting with the VF in there too?
Click to expand...
I cooked mine at medium, but I don't know that I measured the VF temp vs the pouch temp. I think I just measured the pouch at the fold.

One thing I love about the RecordPi is that it uses a suction cup to attach a heat sensor to the center of the bottom plate, so you're getting a temperature read on the flattener itself.
 
Finally a success. Had to fine tune the process to get it here but here’s what I did.

Preheat on high for a good 15 minutes with the VF in the pouch. Turning a few times to get all sides and edges warm to touch. Put it back together with the warped vinyl and switch it back to low. Had to cook for 1:45 and let cool overnight but here are the results.

trim.44E6BC6F-AA6A-4F2A-90F6-1D7E852A9E94.gif
trim.0A068505-8CDC-45F8-AAFD-1E5CBEE79F00.gif
 
folsom_lives said:
Finally a success. Had to fine tune the process to get it here but here’s what I did.

Preheat on high for a good 15 minutes with the VF in the pouch. Turning a few times to get all sides and edges warm to touch. Put it back together with the warped vinyl and switch it back to low. Had to cook for 1:45 and let cool overnight but here are the results.

View attachment 180876
View attachment 180877
Click to expand...
Nice! I'd up your pre-heat time, the plates are only going to get so hot based on what you have the heat set on. I pre-heat for 45 minutes, probably a little overkill, but maybe go 30 minutes and I wouldn't worry about having to turn it to even out the heat.

That said, whatever works for you isn't wrong ;)
 
AnthonyI said:
Nice! I'd up your pre-heat time, the plates are only going to get so hot based on what you have the heat set on. I pre-heat for 45 minutes, probably a little overkill, but maybe go 30 minutes and I wouldn't worry about having to turn it to even out the heat.

That said, whatever works for you isn't wrong ;)
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It probably is closer to 30 minute preheat but my pouch gets CRAZY hot on high. Like even with the plates in it was over 165. I didn’t want to risk it so I just get them all warm to the touch. On medium when the pouch is empty it tops out at 151 in the center. I must have a really good heating element or something.
 
folsom_lives said:
It probably is closer to 30 minute preheat but my pouch gets CRAZY hot on high. Like even with the plates in it was over 165. I didn’t want to risk it so I just get them all warm to the touch. On medium when the pouch is empty it tops out at 151 in the center. I must have a really good heating element or something.
Click to expand...
Ah, ya, I only run it at the medium setting.
 
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