Guys,

What do you think?  Just browsing Oztek's web site and it seems interesting.  Any experience or comparisons?

Thanks,

Leonard

Leonard,

Rebar shakers work just fine to knock excessive concrete off of your rebar that sometimes builds up but it is not a replacement for a vibrator. The physics behind the vibrator allows you to transport air through the concrete to the top were it is expelled; a rebar shaker does not do the same thing. When you insert your vibrator you will insert it quickly and withdraw it slowly. There are ratios to speed of with drawl in comparison to the slump of concrete. The problem with pencil vibrators are that your zone of influence over the concrete you are vibrating is very small so you have to insert it every 4 to 6 inches to comply with best practices vibration technique. Of coarse that is dependant on your slump. We use and teach our contractors to use a 1 1/2" to 2" vibrator that has the proper horsepower to length ratio. You also want it to spin around 10K or more. A vibrator of this size will consolidate the concrete and transport the air out in a much larger zone of influence than your pencil will. One word of caution, not all ICF systems will handle this much vibration so be careful in your choice. Cheaper is only cheaper and more expensive does not always correlate to a better product.

ICF Contractor

I have all Ostec viberaters witch we like very well. How ever we have had poor performance with the re-bar shaker in Icf.

I have been using the 1.5" head on a 14' whip with a 1.9 0z motor . It seems a little much when we have full electrical voltage, in a 6" wall. I believe it will work well in a 8" or more wall.

In a 6" I am going back to the 1.8 oz and a 1.5" head.

We only use the pencils for punch vibrating through the foam in problem areas.

We only order 4.5" slump concrete

 

great for tied rebar, not so good in where its not tied. Actually, piece of SH#%*$)%T in ICF.