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Skygeek dehydrator plugs

dhmoose

Well Known Member
Am I nuts? I have been using the typical dehydrator plugs for my 6 cyl IO540. They are of this design:

http://www.skygeek.com/ms27215-2.html

I've been replacing the dessicant often lately as the engine is essentially "open" to the world (mounted with FAB on, pipes installed, etc). To replace the desiccant, I remove the dehydrators from the cylinders, remove the beads from the plastic casing of the plugs, and then heat the beads in the oven until they turn blue. On a recent episode of this process, I went to place a plug back into the cylinder and I suddenly saw the bead level change :eek: I realized that the gold disc inside the dehydrator plug had slipped down and stopped at the top of the cylinder! I carefully unscrewed the plugs "top" and with the beads sitting on top of the disc, I used a tweezers to pull each bead off. I managed to do this without dropping a bead passed the disc and into the cylinder. The whole experience reinforced my belief that the design of these plugs seems flawed. So, I placed an order with Skygeek for these:

http://www.skygeek.com/dehydrator-plug-18mm-thread-ms27215-1.html

Having just received them, I'm glad to see that there doesn't seem to be a way for the beads to ever escape and go down a cylinder. Whew. I also noticed that the desiccant is already pink :( Now the problem: How the heck do you get the beads out of this design to dry them in the oven? There doesn't seem to be any way to unscrew anything. Can i put the whole thing in the oven at 250F for hours...or will i return to an upset wife and a pile of melted plastic? I'll admit, it's been a long day and I'm tired. Can anyone help?

Thanks,
David
 
David, sorry I'm not much help on how to change out the beads on the new plugs but if you figure it out here's a link to 1 quart of desiccant beads for 11$. I replaced my plugs every week for months and still have over half the quart left. For me the ease of just throwing the pink ones away and pouring in new was worth the 11$ for me. You may feel other wise, sorry for the thread drift.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000OUXA2Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1372310884&sr=8-2&pi=SL75


-david
 
Try pushing the "filter" in at the edge hopefully causing the opposite side to tip out a bit where you should be able to grab it with needle nose pliers/ leatherman etc and pull it out.

Bevan
 
Saw the end off and get some plastic caps then you can easily pour the stuff out and heat it and replace it. I tried putting the whole thing in the oven and the plastic melted.
 
The ones I got from Skygeek have a plastic tube secured by a wire retainer and a brass cap. Simply push/pivot the brass cap to the side. Don't remove the wire or cap from the white screw in base. The plastic tube with desiccant slips off easily. Bake the desiccant crystals in a metal pan for 250 deg for 10 minutes and reassemble all.
 
Greetings dhmoose,

I think ninerhawk is on the right track, here?particularly in the baking of the beads at 250 degrees for 10 minutes. Of course ovens bake differently according to different altitudes so the times may vary. Also, ninerhawk, is the plug you have the same plug with the same part number? In order to best help dhmoose out it?ll help in knowing if we?re all talking about the same plug (MS27215-1).

Flyguytki, I agree that if the beads are pink and do not change back after being put in the oven, buying more beads may help. However, you have to be careful. The -1 seems to be reusable but not refillable according to the spec (I?m not 100% on this but just be careful). Unfortunately, this plug is not from some known manufacturer like Continental or 3M or a place you can contact customer service. It is made by the military. Good luck trying to go through all the chains of command to find your answer?

Bevan has some good advice as well. Based on the links you provided, dhmoose, I searched around skygeek?s site and found some things. If you go to the ?Reviews? tab in the following link you will see the problem with emptying and refilling, so I guess you are not alone in having issues:

http://www.skygeek.com/dehydrator-plug-18mm-thread-ms27215-1.html

I also roamed the site and found that a blog post was made on dehydrator plugs. Heck, they even feature a disassembled image of the MS2715-1:

http://blog.skygeek.com/2013/03/dehydrator-plugs/

Who knows, some additional info might be of help to you on that post and that image may help you re-assemble it?

Wilddog, not sure sawing off the end is a good idea if you plan on reusing. Plus, when heating in the oven, only the beads need to be placed in the oven, otherwise?well burnt plastic don?t smell nice.

Finally, dhmoose, you said it in your post, you were tired so you may have missed something that a good night sleep and a fresh pair of eyes may have remedied. Anyway, sorry for the long post, just want to be thorough?
 
Greetings dhmoose,

I think ninerhawk is on the right track, here?particularly in the baking of the beads at 250 degrees for 10 minutes. Of course ovens bake differently according to different altitudes so the times may vary. Also, ninerhawk, is the plug you have the same plug with the same part number? In order to best help dhmoose out it?ll help in knowing if we?re all talking about the same plug (MS27215-1).

Indeed. It seems like there are various plug designs and what I recevied is the first I've seen that appears to be a sealed unit. This is unlike the wire/cap design or the two plastic pieces that unscrew from one another.

Flyguytki, I agree that if the beads are pink and do not change back after being put in the oven, buying more beads may help. However, you have to be careful. The -1 seems to be reusable but not refillable according to the spec (I?m not 100% on this but just be careful). Unfortunately, this plug is not from some known manufacturer like Continental or 3M or a place you can contact customer service. It is made by the military. Good luck trying to go through all the chains of command to find your answer?

Bevan has some good advice as well. Based on the links you provided, dhmoose, I searched around skygeek?s site and found some things. If you go to the ?Reviews? tab in the following link you will see the problem with emptying and refilling, so I guess you are not alone in having issues:

http://www.skygeek.com/dehydrator-plug-18mm-thread-ms27215-1.html

I also roamed the site and found that a blog post was made on dehydrator plugs. Heck, they even feature a disassembled image of the MS2715-1:

http://blog.skygeek.com/2013/03/dehydrator-plugs/

Who knows, some additional info might be of help to you on that post and that image may help you re-assemble it?

I saw this...but again, I can't see a way to separate the two pieces. My old plugs were of this variety....but these new ones aren't. They appear to be a single piece of plastic.


Wilddog, not sure sawing off the end is a good idea if you plan on reusing. Plus, when heating in the oven, only the beads need to be placed in the oven, otherwise?well burnt plastic don?t smell nice.

Actually, this idea is the most realistic! I can see this as a solution that would make it easy to recharge the beads and still not worry about dropping beads into the cylinders. It just seems odd to have to resort to sawing the darn thing into two!

Finally, dhmoose, you said it in your post, you were tired so you may have missed something that a good night sleep and a fresh pair of eyes may have remedied. Anyway, sorry for the long post, just want to be thorough?

Responses are in red above :)
 
I have been TOLD, but I don't KNOW (and I haven't even slept in a Holiday Inn recently) that one should not use a GAS oven for replenishing these beads. CH4 + O2 = CO2 & H2O. The H2O will keep the beads hydrated so use an ELECTRIC oven. That being said, I have the one quart of the blue beads that I swap when the installed ones turn pink which is only occasionally as the engine is sealed up. I just save the pink ones and if I ever have to replenish them (doubtful) I will use my ELECTRIC oven.
 
Good suggestion

...but how do I get the beads out! Surely someone out there has purchased these plugs from Skygeek, right? They seem to be a military grade item...so I can't be the only one. I am waiting to hear back from Skygeek...but at this point, the only solution that seems to make sense is to throw the whole plug into the oven and hope the melting temp of the plastic is higher then 250 :)

Prior to doing that, I'll wait for more replies!
D
 
Microwave??

I have found that two or three minutes in a microwave will turn the beads from pink to blue. Been doing mine this way for quite some time now and nothing has melted, broken or blown up so far. Worst thing that happened was spilling some of them down the sink when I was pouring them back into the glass tubes.

Clive Whittfield
Auckland
New Zealand
RV6 getting close...
 
To be honest, I am stumped. Why design a plug with beads when you can?t get them out? The manufacturer has to know that sometimes the beads could get wet during transportation and that would necessitate having to remove them once you receive them. I?m wondering if it is a defect?

N526JS brought up a good point. It might not be good to use a gas oven but an electric one instead. I know the review for the item said the reviewer HAS removed them and baked them. If only there was a way to contact this person, ?Flyr from KLPC.? :). The reviewer also said a CONVECTION oven was used?.

Perhaps whittfic is on to something, i.e. using a microwave might be a possibility. Of course, different microwaves use different wattages (have you ever tried making popcorn in one and then another with a higher wattage; charcoal popcorn stinks up the place). But for this pesky problem you might just have to think outside the box. It would be wise to monitor it at all times while nuking it. Just be ready with the fire extinguisher;)

?And I agree with what you said before, dhmoose, the design of this plug DOES seem flawed. The only thing I can add is that the spec of this item with this dash number (-1) says it is ?reusable? but not refillable. Maybe this document can be of some assistance. The specs can be found using this link:

http://www.everyspec.com/MS-Specs/MS2/MS27000-MS27999/MS27215C_43773/

Click the ?Download file? button that appears in orange?

Man, this is a mystery only MacGyver could solve. :cool:

Whatever decision you make, post us the outcome. I am now curious as to what comes of all of this.
 
Update

So... I decided to call SkyGeek to see if they had any information to share on this problem. Their technicians were holding some of the plugs in their hands and unable to determine how to reuse the beads. The MS27215-1 plugs are called "reusable" and the MS27215-2 plugs are called "reusable and refillable". So, if the -1 plugs are reusable, it begs the question..."why reuse them if they have accumulated moisture and lack the ability to be dried out!" . Keep in mind I received them already pink/wet. Sounds like a better description for the -1 plugs is "disposable".

I'm still a bit shocked that these are mil spec plugs and after 444 views of this thread, I seem to be the only person dealing with the problem! Weird. Oh well. SkyGeek was very polite and friendly about it and they are happy to exchange these plugs for the -2 plugs or a credit back to my account.

Live and learn. I do appreciate everyone's input though!
 
The answer

I think I found the answer!

I was in an experimental mood and my wife took her eyes off the oven, so I put the 6 dehydrator plugs in for 8 hours at 225 F on a sheet of aluminum foil. 8 hours later...blue desiccant and no distortion of the plastic. Better yet, no wife yelling about the oven catching fire or the house smelling like burnt plastic! I suspect this is what the manufacturer (Desser Argus) meant by "reusable but not refillable".

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for what happens to your oven, plugs, wife, etc! :p

Hope the information helps.

David
 
Happy Trails

Awesome! I think, all things considered, it was probably best to contact SkyGeek by phone and send it back. Hopefully once the -1s sell out they won?t replace them since I don?t see the reason to keep an outdated, or inactive Mil-Spec. the -2s seem a more ?user-friendly? version.

As for the oven trick, that?s cool that you figured that out. You could have just as easily been done with it by sending it back. Good gumption met by the wife not sending you to sleep on the couch is always a good thing?

Oh, and I decided, just out of curiosity, to check the SkyGeek blog one last time. Apparently the feedback you gave them worked. They updated the blog post and even mentioned your name:

http://blog.skygeek.com/2013/03/dehydrator-plugs/

Looks like you?re an RV-rockstar now.:cool:

Happy trails and enjoy your new-found fame and ?reusable? dehydrator plugs?
 
Thanks

Thanks Soarenheim19. But let me clarify. I now love the plugs and hope SkyGeek does not discontinue them! Why? Because they solve my problems! They eliminated the risk of dropping beads into the cylinder ( since they are sealed), they don't require assembly/disassembly to extra/heat/replace beads, and they work as advertised. So, I'm now a huge fan!

As for the RV fame on the SkyGeek website...I won't let it to to my head! I do appreciate their mention of me though. :)

D
 
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