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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc to a sterilizer for under $30 [Re: Kimble]
    #26531260 -

Kimble said:
Sure can. The only thing is because I modded the PC as per the OP, it pulls a vacuum. Which, over time can cause the gauge to give a false reading. The stock gauge I have does not go into a vacuum and has a stop for the dial at the zero position.

For the sake of curiosity and not wanting to damage the stock one, I'd like to replace it with one that can read both pressure and vacuum. Something designed for this purpose.

I spoke to a company that would make it for me but the first unit would be $400. Cheaper thereafter scaling as you would imagine.


Can’t you prevent the vacuum by releasing the valve when it reaches zero though? That’s how I understand the older style petcock works on my PC. I’ve not done any jars yet, but that was my plan to prevent the vacuum, hopefully that’s not going to cause me any problems.


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc to a sterilizer for under $30 [Re: R3dstaffy] * 1
    #26531263 -

Sure can do that just fine. I'd like to not have to wait by the pc until it hits zero but it does work that way alright.


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc to a sterilizer for under $30 [Re: Kimble]
    #26531336 -

Gotcha. Good luck with whichever way you go. The specialist gauge you mentioned does sound nice, but unless you’re wealthy it seems unviable in terms of bang for buck, to me anyway.


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc to a sterilizer for under $30 [Re: bodhisatta]
    #27143105 -

Thanks for the post :smile:

Im looking at buying a pc or sterilizer to do pre sealed grain bags im strongly considering getting an all american pc and doing this mod or getting a sterilizer.

Am i correct in thinking that either a modded all american or sterilizer will prevent bags expanding/bursting either by the rocker releasing pressure during the cycle or cool down?

Ive read a good bit of this hread and cant understand where this tube the sterilizer has conects or how it functions?  Ive read its only needed if using the basket, ive not seen the basket is it solid or mesh? Would either type of basket make any difference to wether you need the tube?

Thanks

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: 36fuckin5]
    #28090532 -

Quote:
What does normal release like a rocker mean? This setup has a manual/automatic release valve. It opens at 26psi. Or you can manually open it at -15 to +25psi. It can even be locked open.


The valve you're talking about certainly does NOT have a release at 26 PSI. It stays shut to form a vacuum or build pressure. Maybe the rubber overpressure plug blows at the pressure.

Again, have you ever seen an All American sterilizer?


I know this is old, but the AA 1941 valve or the All American 65K Control Valve replacement that he is using there, says in the documentation that it comes with, from the manufacturer that it is supposed to begin venting between 26 and 28psi; if this fails for some reason then the over pressure plug blows between 30-50psi again that is according the manufactures documentation that comes with it.

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: Dark_Faust]
    #28325534 -

I dont like  these valves.  Some of the metal is very brittle and unless your careful it will break and there is no way to replace it.
Mine broke recently, I'm glad it did, it had a slow leak in the pressure during the cooldown phase because the internal gasket doesn't
Make a perfect seal.

Here's the deal:  you can buy the over pressure plug and simply use the 15 psi rocker jiggle weight and add a bit of weight to it by tacking on some magnets or whatever you can find that does the trick.
You may have to do one additional Thing here to make sure you dont leak too much pressure when you get into higher psi like 20plus.
Get a tube of rtv red silicone,
Get a toothpick or similar item, take a tiny dab of silicone and put it inside the "female" part of the rocker where it says 15 psi.  Just a bit all the way to the bottom.
Now take a thin piece of plastic, like from a plastic bag let's say one inch square and place it over the valve that vents steam snugly and tie with a rubber band.  Then put the round rocker weight on the release valve with 15 psi showing and place it back on the release valve squish it down onto the release valve hard so the rtv flattens out.  Let it dry for a day then remove the plastic with the rubber band.  The bit of rtv is now form fitted to the very tip of the release valve and should help a lot in terms or reducing unwanted leaking.  The plastic is to prevent the rtv from bonding to the vent pipe, pressure release noZzle whatever the hell it's called, the part that's about 1 inch long and screws into the as lid and which the round factory rocker/jiggler weight sits on.

You still have the advantage of the rocker releasing the pressure at 30 or wherever you dial it into just based on trial and error...

It takes about an extra ounce and a half of magnets to get to the 30-35 range.

Oh and dont go over 35 unless you like melted bags.  The red over pressure plug will start leaking a bit at around 30psi just fyi.

So...  if you can understand all that, you can accomplish the same effect without throwing away 35 bucks on a piece of junk that was designed to break.

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: invitro]
    #28327308 -

also, AA sells sterilizer parts, put in a red overpressure and replace the rocker with a stopcock, viola, lol...


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: AyePlus]
    #28329122 -

The stopcock that they sell at the AA site is super brittle in certain ways, which seems like it was obviously designed to break if you try to hand tighten it instead of pinching it at the base with a pair of pliers (which is counterintuitive) the inner seal leaked on mine preventing the ability to pull a vacuum after cooking.

I was presenting a low cost alternative.  It's not guaranteed to pull a vacuum doing it my way but it's no worse than the AA stopcock.


Edited by invitro (05/22/23 08:09 AM)

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: invitro]
    #28546559 -

Thanks all for this thread.
I just did the upgrades with parts currently available from All American's website:
All American 925 25 Quart Pressure Canner modified with a control valve (pcAA65), Sterilizer Steam Gauge (pcAA72S) and Over Pressure Plug (pcAA1010) for the All American Autoclave Sterilizers.

I noticed that the sterilizers have a different venting procedure outlined in AA's instructions for use of their sterilizers on their website.

Essentially, heat to build pressure inside the sterilizer. Steam must continually escape from the control valve for at least 5 minutes. Once this has occurred, close the valve and let the pressure build until the gauge reads in the “green” sterilization zone. Open the control valve a second time and vent the chamber an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Close the control valve and build pressure until gauge reads within the green sterilization zone.

Has anyone been using this venting procedure? It seems like it would more effectively swap air for steam inside of jars and bags by raising and dropping the pressure quickly. It also sounds like people have experienced broken jars that they attributed to quick shifts in pressure.

I did my first run this way and had no cracked or broken jars. However, I did let it cool over night before opening the control valve.

Thoughts?

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: HighDesert] * 1
    #28546570 -

I've never followed AA's venting procedure because the risk of damaging bags with the abrupt pressure changes.  Just turn on the burner and leave the vent open for at least 10-15 minutes after steam starts coming out before closing it to allow pressure to build.  Longer vent times won't hurt anything.

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: HighDesert]
    #28546755 -

I wrote up how I do it Here I would never open the valve at pressure.
I thought the instructions explicitly said never to do that, but by manual is pretty old too.


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Edited by thirdeyewild (11/17/23 07:51 PM)

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: PBJ710]
    #28546830 -

PBJ710 said:
I've never followed AA's venting procedure because the risk of damaging bags with the abrupt pressure changes.  Just turn on the burner and leave the vent open for at least 10-15 minutes after steam starts coming out before closing it to allow pressure to build.  Longer vent times won't hurt anything.


This is what I do too.

Stove on high, set timer once venting steam. Shut the valve at 00:15 and drop heat to low/medium, and set timer for desired cycle length once it hits 15 PSI.

I dial back the heat after it hits pressure and usually don’t have to mess with it too much once it’s been stable at 15-17 PSI for a few minutes.


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: Nonagon]
    #28873666 -

What fundamental difference occurs with these mods that make it a "sterilizer" rather than a PC?  Does it hold a vacuum now when it did not previously?

Edited by dcell (07/20/24 04:42 AM)

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: dcell]
    #28875717 -

Yes, it holds a vacuum. Also it does not lose water once the petcock is closed.


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: thirdeyewild]
    #28877428 -

I thought this modification would make it run at 30psi, instead of 15.

Is 30psi just the blow-out pressure?  I'm gathering that it's up to the operator to maintain 15psi or so. 

I thought a benefit of this was higher operating pressure.  What is a reasonable safe pressure?

I have an AA931 and this last time I was concerned because the lid would wobble, or teeter on top of the PC before I bolted it down.  I was concerned I bent something out of true, but everything seems straight.  I just balanced the lid on there and did a run at 15psi with the rocker style weight, and it didn't seem to leak, but I'm worried to take it to higher pressures.

Edited by Generic (07/20/24 04:11 PM)

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: Generic]
    #28877490 -

Bolt down the lid when cold. Leave the petcock open till steam builds up (or the weight off, but definately start with the lid bolted on). Yes you have to maintain pressure manually but once you hit the sweet spot you really don't need to do anything. The blowout plug will go at about 25 psi I think. 20 is going into the danger zone. I run mine at 15.
I don't know If you can get a higher rated blowout plug or not. I definitely would not be running mine at 30.
Mine came from the factory with the petcock.

A few posts up I put a link to how I run mine. I have the same model as you but older when they didn't come with a rocker.

One more tip, only tighten the bolts finger tight. If you over tighten the lid can get stuck.


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Edited by thirdeyewild (07/20/24 04:32 PM)

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: thirdeyewild]
    #28883215 -

thirdeyewild said:
Bolt down the lid when cold. Leave the petcock open till steam builds up (or the weight off, but definately start with the lid bolted on). Yes you have to maintain pressure manually but once you hit the sweet spot you really don't need to do anything. The blowout plug will go at about 25 psi I think. 20 is going into the danger zone. I run mine at 15.
I don't know If you can get a higher rated blowout plug or not. I definitely would not be running mine at 30.
Mine came from the factory with the petcock.

A few posts up I put a link to how I run mine. I have the same model as you but older when they didn't come with a rocker.

One more tip, only tighten the bolts finger tight. If you over tighten the lid can get stuck.


Beautiful.  Definitely answered some questions to an AA noob.  Is there a replaceable gasket within the AA petcock should it warp, shrink or fail?

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: dcell]
    #28883669 -

I've never needed to service or replace mine. A year ago it was still pretty easy to find replacement peacocks for a reasonable price.
Now it's seems AA no longer carries them. In the unlikely event that it did malfunction you might have to convert to a vent stem and weight setup ($20 or so). But really I can't see that ever happening, it's a pretty sturdy thing and should last the lifetime of the pressure cooker.


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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: thirdeyewild]
    #28887150 -

thirdeyewild said:
I've never needed to service or replace mine. A year ago it was still pretty easy to find replacement peacocks for a reasonable price.
Now it's seems AA no longer carries them. In the unlikely event that it did malfunction you might have to convert to a vent stem and weight setup ($20 or so). But really I can't see that ever happening, it's a pretty sturdy thing and should last the lifetime of the pressure cooker.


Do you think the vacuum is damaging to the gauge since it wasn't necessarily meant to experience negative pressure?

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Re: How to Safely Upgrade your All American pc [Re: dcell]
    #28887160 -

No.


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