We recently tried draining the papercrete before putting it into the slip forms. We emptied the mixer out onto a piece of plywood and let the water drain off for a few minutes. It doesn't take long. We didn't have any way to recapture the water so just let it run on the ground. Our motivation for doing this was to see if we could make the buckets of slurry lighter because we were having to haul it up ladders to the higher part of the walls. I'm not sure it was a big success. The buckets still seemed incredibly heavy to me.
Are you trying to save the water? Or are you trying to make the mix lighter? In either case, I'm not sure the extra effort is worth it. Another thing about cement is that it is stronger if it is let cure longer. I think it's about 28 days that is optimal.
Sincerely, Judith
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To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
From: ronerichter@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:46:00 -0800
Subject: Re: [papercreters] how long...
Generally most of us don't let the slurry mix drain at all but rather put it in forms or on a wall right away. It would depend on what you are doing with it. If you are spraying it on a wall you would want most of the moisture in it to allow it to be blown. If you are using it to make bricks you could allow the water to drain off while you do something else. Where would you store it? How would you get it there? All these would add time and handling so most of us just pour it into the forms or to its final place just so we can relieve the mixer for the next batch.
There is a movement afoot to compress the blocks, but the only brick press currently available I am aware of is $25,000. This is excessive and some in this group feel a cheaper method can be designed and built. Some of us are playing with presses and ways of doing it cheaper.
I guess the answer to your question is until the cement starts getting hard, for sure a couple of days before that happens even in a nice hot dry climate and even longer in cooler more humid areas.
If you have a mold, build a tamper that you can stand on, and push the water out the bottom of your mold. You may want to drill holes all around the sides and ends of the form to allow more drainage. Maybe put a layer of hardware cloth on the bottom (1/4" mesh) to allow the drainage to happen faster.
Good luck!
Ron
(Alexis said)
I am wondering how long you can let papercrete drain before placing it in it's final form or mold without it starting to set.
Alexis
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