Down filling machine

[Christo456]

I tried that bypass.venruri blower first as I've had luck moving water that way in the past, but as soon as there was resistance on the outflow and I blew the air into the bag of down. I hate to admit it, but there was cursing as more than a pound of down blew up in the garage.

[heyduff]

Yep, not my creation but it works great. I used a coleman air mattress pump when I did it and it was awesome.

The whole idea is cool...using a Coleman air mattress pump, that's excellent--hadn't thought of that. I will have to try this out.

[HoosierT]

The whole idea is cool...using a Coleman air mattress pump, that's excellent--hadn't thought of that. I will have to try this out.

Yep, it worked really well for me. The key is to keep your free hand in the bag of down and basically pull small chunks of down, loosen them between your fingers and feed the tube little by little. It will get clogged here and there and all you do is shut the pump off, pull the bottom tube out of the bag of down and blow into with your mouth. This will push the clog up and out into the quilt. I just sat on the edge of my bathtub, insert the "output" tube into one of the baffles then grip it tight in your hand so it's closed off around the PVC. that same hand ultimately supports the contraption while your other hand is relieving the down into the input bottom tube. Lastly, I used the following couple to attach the air pump to the blower side of the eductor:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fernco-1-...-100/202245805

I also had the bag of down resting in a small cardboard box on the kitchen scale to keep the bag upright. I knew I wanted 1.2oz of down per baffle so I just filled each baffle until the total scale weight dropped by ~1.2oz and it panned out to be very accurate.

[Cabmanhang]

eductor just became my favorite new word. What a great contraption. Will definitely use in future down projects.

[rais'n hammock]

...I also had the bag of down resting in a small cardboard box on the kitchen scale to keep the bag upright. I knew I wanted 1.2oz of down per baffle so I just filled each baffle until the total scale weight dropped by ~1.2oz and it panned out to be very accurate.

I used the educator and this same method to fill the last 4 quilts I have made. At the end of filling I have maybe 10 puffs of down on the ground.
The only issue I have had is on small baffles or materials that are not as breathable as others. This has more to do with the fact that I am using a higher HP shop vac and not a small air pump.

[Christo456]

Computer fan doesn't have enough torque. Looks cool but not powerful enough.20170613_195415.jpg

[FJRpilot]

I use this,
If you weigh the pooter before and after, you can accurately transfer down.

Very clever.... I'm going to try this.... thanks Gadget!

[G-Rat]

I've had good success with a down eductor in the past. However, it didn't work for me today on a Costco Down Throw with faux-baffles. Apparently the extra material layers in the faux-baffles create sufficient restriction from one chamber to the next that there isn't enough air movement create the venturi.

I reverted to putting a piece of netting over the end of a vacuum extension wand and moving 1/10 oz. at a time (slow, but it worked). Made me realize the effectiveness of the eductor.

[henson]

I just picked up the materials to put one of these together. I'm going to try it on an under quilt I'm making at the moment.

--Update--

So I tried out the Educator and it worked like a champ. This is an awesome way to fill down, and will be my preferred method in the future. The only issue I ran into was loss of suction; do to the "down" intake pipe getting clogged up. I just had to bag it a little or blow a breath of air down the intake, forcing the down to push through.

[G-Rat]

I tried the "eductor" method of moving down again, without success.

My new bridge hammock bottom quilt has netting baffles. So based on past experience I thought the eductor would work well. The air pump had no problem completely inflating the quilt shell like a blimp, but no down was moving. Big bummer! I had no choice but to switch to the vacuum tube method, but once again the down plugged off the filter and the suction stopped after only loading about 1/10 of an ounce or less into the tube at a time. I quickly shifted to stuffing down into the tube by hand, which allowed moving nearly 1/2 of an ounce at a time, but was more messy. It was also tedious and reminded me of how efficient the eductor is when it works.

Inquiring minds might ask: What was the difference from my successful past use of the eductor? Calendared fabric. While the tight weave of the fabric will help keep me warmer while using the quilt, it didn't allow enough air to move through the fabric to get the venturi going. This quilt may turn out to be too warm, so if I make another quilt in the future I'll consider one of the following:

1. Make the quilt with uncalendared fabric. This should allow more air to flow during filling, but I assume would also reduce performance of the quilt.
2. Temporarily sew a netting "pressure relief strip" into the opposite end of the quilt, then cut it off and stitch that end closed after filling. I have no doubt that a small amount of down would stick in the netting relief strip and be lost when it's removed.
3. Try Gadget's "pooter" method in reverse. Measure the down for one chamber into the container, seal the lid and use the higher pressure of a vacuum cleaner exhaust to move the down instead of the air mattress pump of the eductor.

I'm leaning towards #2.