Quiet vacuum pump

General Composites Discussions Equipment Talk
#1

Hey all, been a while since I posted here! Hope everyone is doing well.

I’m moving into a new apartment soon that won’t have nearly as much privacy as my old one, so I’ll have to find a new way to run my vacuum pump.

Essentially, I’m looking for the quietest rotary vane pump available. I think we can all agree that our typical Robinair workhorse is a smoke and noise machine, but I know that I’ve been around other dual stage rotary vane pumps that are actually quite quiet, whether they are at full vacuum or are working their way down.

Does any one have any suggestions? I’m looking strictly in the low priced end of the rotary vane spectrum. I know that is going to limit my options, but I’m mainly asking what the quietest brand/model is within that category. Anyone have another brand that is suitably quiet to where you don’t think my neighbors would be annoyed with it running outside? Because the Robinair will definitely raise some eyebrows.

#2

The pump that Easy Composites sell is the quietest that I’ve come across… Not sure if that means it is quiet, or my pumps are absurdly loud!

#3

Thanks for the reply Hanaldo. I have noticed that they are able to talk over them quite easily in their videos. Unfortunately I think it’d be prohibitively expensive to ship one of their vacuum pumps across the pond to me in the US.

That being said, I’m sure they don’t actually manufacture their pumps themselves, and rather just rebrand someone else’s. Anyone have any idea who makes their pumps, or if I can buy an analog of it under a different brand name here in the states?

Thanks!

#4

I have bought a few oil free Thomas pumps off ebay for very little money.

A couple of things on the noise: the more powerful (higher horse power) pumps typically make more noise so buy the smallest one that will meet your needs.

Sometimes older pumps make more noise but it can be reduced by opening it up and tightening some screws or stopping some parts vibrating against the side of the casing.

I added a muffler to the exhaust port on my Thomas which reduced the noise somewhat.

I was able to achieve the best noise reduction by making a small (ventilated) sound proofed enclosure for my vacuum pump. It’s very easy. Sound proofing foam is cheap on eBay. As are vibration dampening rubber feet and the fans I use to stop the pump overheating in the enclosure. You can use this method to make the noise negligible for anything where it is an issue. It’s like a mini 1 ft sq recording studio.

#5

Thanks for the recommendation Zebra. I think I will end up making a small enclosure with sound deadening foam. My main concern with that is overheating though, as the closet I’ll be running this thing in can get very hot during the Texas summer. Oh well, I’ll deal with that when it becomes an issue in a few months.

#6

I’d recommend a Gast rotary vane vacuum pump. I have three. eBay usually has them. I made a box for one of them with a small fan to cool it. It is oil free.

#7

Just come out of your apartment with oxygen cannala rig on and your neighbor won’t say a thing if they think you’re using a pump in your apt for medical purposes :slight_smile:

#8

A lot of the Gast pumps I see on ebay pull about 25-26 Hg. I’m guessing this isn’t enough for composites work. The pump I have now pulls 29-30, but I’m considering replacing it with a quieter, oil less pump. What’s the minimum?

#9

For regular vac bagging, 25 is more than enough. For infusion and pre-preg, you need 29.95 minimum.

If you’ve got the budget for it, Easy Composites new range of DVP pumps are amazing. Super super quiet and great performance. The only downside is that they don’t really have much change of tone under load, which means it’s impossible to tell if you have a leak just by listening to the pump. Which was always the most effective method for me.

#10

I had a Gast pump for years doing composite parts and it did very well but was noisy compared to others I have.