Reports until 01:39, Saturday 18 July 2026
LHO VE (VE)
gerardo.moreno@LIGO.ORG - posted 01:39, Saturday 18 July 2026 (91115)
Attempt at Helium Leak Checking

(Travis, Gerardo)

I chose the wrong viewport to start leak checking. 

Travis and I decided to use the XBM turbo station to leak check the new joints affected by the vent.  At the turbo station we substituted the helium leak detector in place of the nominal local scroll pump at the the exhaust of the XBM turbo, and then the Vertex and YBM turbo stations were valved-out of the main vacuum envelope.  Once the setup was established the leak detector reported a background of 1.0x10-10 Torr*l/sec.  I started spraying the first viewport, but I picked the new CHETA viewport.  Anyways, in short, I manage to saturate the leak detector, why? Because the CHETA vp is an O-ring viewport, and helium can permeate thru O-rings with ease, and I was spraying for regular CF joints, like if I was using a garden hose, in time the leak detector signal went up to 2.4x10-09 Torr*l/s, we stopped leak checking and valved in the other two turbos, and valved out the leak detector from the XBM turbo station via an O-ring valve, and restored its scroll pumping.  We'll try again Monday.