crazy vacuum pump... loaned from a friend.

General Composites Discussions Equipment Talk
#1

so a buddy of mine says no problem, i can borrow his vacuum pump, hose, fittings, etc :D. what i didn’t know is how damn big this thing was. all the ones i have been looking at maybe buying look TINY compared to this.

ya, its a little dirty but i plan to clean it up a little… not sure on the specs on this thing, but it has to pull some serious vacuum! he has done a few hulls with it, says it works great. below is a quick picture i shot this morning before work in the shed.

what is the advantage of having a huge tank like this, rather than just the motor?

#2

That’s just a storage tank like on an air compressor. I’m going to assume it has a vacuum pressure switch someplace on it, and that’s going to shut the motor off once you reach the preset vacuum level. These are great since your motor doesn’t run continuously, therefor extending the life of the unit. I’m sure there are other benefits of having a storage tank, but that’s why I build my system with storage tanks.

#3

Bigger tank, more buffering if you have a leak/many parts at once/variations in vacuum lines (someone opens up to vacuum a new part, the other bags will loose pressure. We have a house vac that is 10x larger than this, runs 24.7, and has a 55-60gal tank. Also, depending on everything, it could act as a filter before your pump, dumping dirt/fibers/condensate before your pump.
And like rotor said, if you PLAN on shutting the pump down, the larger tank will “hold” more of a vacuum before it has to turn back on.

#4

That pump looks like it will evacuate a large vacuum bag quickly. For small lay ups you may have to make a hole in the bag so it doesn’t suck down too fast. Then just tape the hole up when you have your laminate stack messaged down into all the corners.

Just an idea… or buy a vacuum regulator perhaps.

#5

can you just make a tank like this and put on a vacuum swtch to use on a small pump?

#6

or ball valve…don’t put a hole in the bag!!! you will regret it later one day. You can control the CFM with a simple valve.