Bead 'Fill Percentage' Question

[Hammerhead]

Dave (or any other LLG)...

Since the Bead FAQ has grown out of proportion and taken on a life of its own, I'm asking this separately so it doesn't get lost.

How tightly can one 'pack' or fill a tube with beads? Must they have room to roll around, or is it OK if there's no movement among the beads in the tube or holder at all?

I'm asking, because I have a number of tubes (the kind you sell with the red ends) that are packed very tightly, and don't 'rattle' when I shake 'em. Is that a problem, or am I alright?

So, is 100% fill (zero bead shift) OK? Should I back off to make it 95%... what amount of space is necessary if any, and what is the rationale behind requiring space if so?

Thanks!

[NCatron]

As far as bead operation is concerned, I highly doubt it matters.

The "packing fraction" for closest (randomly) packed spheres is only ~64% of space taken up by spheres. So even if you jam them in as tight as you can get them, they still leave lots of open air around them for humidity control.

(Even if you got a well ordered packing, you'd still max out at well below 80% of space occupied.)

[JezterVA]

sounds logical to me....

[RGD]

I cleaned out my Drymistat tubes that were not working anymore and used them. I did not fill them all the way up - not because of worries about them being packed - but because when I add water - I want a little room at the top of the tube for the water and then it can trickle down. If the tube is full then I'm looking at using a spoon to dribble in it.

Ron

[kvm]

Since the beads expand when they have more moisture I charged them up before filling the tube then leave just a little room so they can absorb more if they need to. I don't know if you need to it's just the way I do it.

[Viper139]

Originally Posted by Hammerhead

Dave (or any other LLG)...

Since the Bead FAQ has grown out of proportion and taken on a life of its own, I'm asking this separately so it doesn't get lost.

How tightly can one 'pack' or fill a tube with beads? Must they have room to roll around, or is it OK if there's no movement among the beads in the tube or holder at all?

I'm asking, because I have a number of tubes (the kind you sell with the red ends) that are packed very tightly, and don't 'rattle' when I shake 'em. Is that a problem, or am I alright?

So, is 100% fill (zero bead shift) OK? Should I back off to make it 95%... what amount of space is necessary if any, and what is the rationale behind requiring space if so?

Thanks!

You can basically pack them as tight as you like. The beads are solid in nature, unlike the gel type (drymistat tubes), so they do not expand when hydrated.

[kvm]

Interesting... I knew that they don't expand like the drymistat gel. But I noticed when I filled a few tubes one time with all the beads clear, that when I went to recharge them they had "settled" quite a bit and I added more beads to the tubes. I figured the beads must expand somewhat. Perhaps it was caused by excess water the beads couldn't absorb.