Jordan, Mitchell
Today, we were able to install one of the new 150 l/s ion pumps on FC-CI, C1 cross. The Ion Pump/Tee/Angle valve assembly was pre-built in the staging building and then pumped down and leak checked. This assembly was stored under vacuum and then brought to the Filter Cavity Enclosure.
We closed FCV-3 (BSC3), FCV-5, FCV-6, and FCV-9 (HAM8) to isolate the C1 cross. Then closed the -Z axis GV on the C6 cross to isolate the ion pump port. We then vented the ion pump assembly with N2 and removed the angle valve/6" zero-length reducer on the cross, and installed the ion pump on the 6" CF port. A genie lift was used to lift/hold the ion pump while the connections were made.
Once installed, we used the leak detector/small turbo to pump down the assembly, and then helium leak tested the one CF connection that was made. There was no detectable signal above the helium background of 9.5E-11 Torr-l/s.
The ion pump was powered on locally, and quickly dropped to ~8E-8 Torr, using a new IPCMini controller. The -Z gate valve remains closed, and the rest of the FCT gate valves were reopened once the ion pump was leak checked and powered on. We will continue with the installation of the rest of the pumps in the LVEA in the following weeks.