Home Sign Up!

Browse Community Submit

All Art Craft Food Games Green Home Kids Life Music Offbeat Outdoors Pets Photo Ride Science Tech

make a manual vacuum pump for under $20 by converting a bicycle pump
by drcrash on June 20, 2007 Table of Contents make a manual vacuum pump for under $20 by converting a bicycle pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Make a manual vacuum pump for under $20 by converting a bicycle pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Get the right pump, and a few other cheap things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Reverse the piston disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Remove the hose fitting & hose from the pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Remove the hose from the hose fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: Remove the check valve parts from the hose connection fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 6: (Optional) Drill the hose fitting out a little . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 7: Screw the fitting back on the pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 8: Attach the hose and the new check valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8 8 9

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Author:drcrash author's website

I'm a research scientist who likes to design and build things, especially cheap, elegant tools for building things you wouldn't have thought you could make yourself.

Intro: Make a manual vacuum pump for under $20 by converting a bicycle pump
A vacuum pump is just an air pump that you use for sucking rather than blowing. You can convert an old-fashioned "floor pump" ("bike pump") into a vacuum pump that can take over 75 percent of the air out of something. That's several times as strong as a vacuum cleaner's pull, and three quarters as strong as the best possible vacuum pump. The net atmospheric force on whatever you evacuate will be over 11 pounds per square inch (or over 1500 pounds per square foot), which is enough for many tasks requiring vacuum. (For those of you who are not metrically impaired like most of us in the U.S., that's over 7700 kilograms per square meter.) Some examples: (1) Vacuum pumps made this way are in use around the world, in non-industrialized areas, for vacuum packing food. (Especially to save seeds for the next year's planting, by killing bugs and preventing germination. See http://www.plenty.org/soy/vacuumpump.html ) (2) A manual vacuum pump can used to make a "vacuum press" to clamp laminates together with a ton or more of force while the glue sets. (A smaller manual pump, designed for evacuating wine bottles, is often used for laminating skateboard decks, using a commercial vacuum bagging kit from Roarockit called the "Thin Air Press". Our bigger pump pulls about as hard, but requires considerably less pumping.) It can also be used for vacuum bagging composites like fiberglass, to squeeze out excess resin and make stronger, lighter parts. (3) You can use it with a vacuum former, to form thicker plastic sheets than you could with just a vacuum cleaner. (Doug Walsh shows how to apply this to vacuum forming in his book "Do It Yourself Vacuum Forming for the Hobbyist," available from http://www.build-stuff.com ) (4) You can implode various things with it, or attach it to a vacuum chamber and expand or explode things in the chamber; that's often fun and/or instructive. (Try Peeps.)

The vacuum generated is not strong enough for some tasks, like evacuating refrigerant systems or degassing difficult-to-degas liquids. For those tasks you need a pump with more leverage, that takes almost all of the air out. A plain bike pump is just a piston pump rather like a syringe, with a rubbery disk sliding in a cylinder. Drawing back the disk sucks air into the cylinder, and pushing it in pushes air out. To make this syringe-like thing work as a pump, sucking from one place and blowing to another, two "check valves" (one-way valves) are used. One lets it suck in from an air intake, but not blow out the intake. The other lets it blow out the exhaust, but not suck in from the exhaust. Unlike most piston pumps, a bike pump uses the rubbery disk both as a piston and as one of the check valves. When you pull back on the pump, the disk flexes inward and allows air around it, into the cylinder ahead of the piston. When you push inward, the disk is stopped from flexing the other way by a metal disk (like a big washer); its edge seals against the inside of the cylinder, so that when you push it down, it compresses the air in the cylinder and forces it out the exhaust. (There's a normal check valve at the exhaust, to keep it from sucking the air right back in on the upstroke, and more air flows in behind the piston through a hole in the cylinder top.) To convert the pump, we'll need to do two things: (1) Reverse the piston disk and the metal disk that backs it up, so that it seals on the upstroke (to create vacuum) and flexes on the downstroke (to let air around it and out of the cylinder). (2) "Reverse" the exhaust check valve, so that it lets air in but not back out, and we can use the old exhaust connection as the new air intake. Actually, it's usually easier just to remove the check valve, and replace it with one that does the right thing, so that's what we'll do. To make it easy to do both of these things, we'll want a simple, cheap, old-fashioned bike pump with no frills (like a pressure gauge) to complicate things. (If you want a small electric vacuum pump, have a look at my other instructable on converting a 12V "tire inflator" air compressor: http://www.instructables.com/id/E791HNXF23Z39P6/ )

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Step 1: Get the right pump, and a few other cheap things
The crucial first step is to get the right pump---a simple old-fashioned one of what used to be the standard design. I got a Slime brand 2060-A at Auto Zone (an auto parts chain store) for $10, and it's perfect. You want a simple cheap pump with: (1) a shaft that's a metal rod about a 1/4" or so in diameter, not a 1/2" plastic tube (2) a cylinder top that unscrews, or can be released by unscrewing a few small screws (3) a rubber disk and metal plate that are held onto to the end of the rod (opposite the handle) with a nut, so that you can just take them off and reverse them (4) a metal fitting where the hose attaches, with a six-sided base, which unscrews like a nut. This is both a hose barb for attaching the hose, and a check valve we'll need to gut (5) reasonably long throw and reasonably large diameter (for a bike pump); a skinny pump will be slower, and (6) no pressure gauge. Pumps with pressure gauges often use a different kind of check valve, and have air space around where the gauge attaches that may affect how much vacuum you can pull once the conversion is done. (You can fix those things, and I have, but it's easier just to get a no-frills pump.) If you have an Auto Zone nearby, go look for a Slime 2060-A "Floor Pump"; it's cheap and you'll be all set. Otherwise, look at the pictures in this instructable, and try to find a very similar pump. (I have no connection to Auto Zone or Slime, and no reason to think that other brands aren't just as good, but if you use exactly the same pump, you should have zero difficulty following the directions.) Looking for a "floor pump" at an auto parts store is a better bet than looking for a "bike pump" at a bike shop. You'll also need: (1) Three or four feet of 1/4" I.D. braided PVC hose. (Lowe's sells it by the foot in the plumbing department, for about 30 cents a foot, so you'll want a dollar or so's worth.) That's a kind clear flexible tubing with braided reinforcement; small diameters stand up very well to vacuum, unlike some other small hoses. (2) A check valve with hose barb ends to fit 1/4" I.D. tubing. McMaster-Carr sells these online. Mine cost about $4.00. (Part number 6079T53 from http://www.mcmaster.com ) (Some people use an aquarium check valve, which costs about $2 at a pet shop. I tried that and mine leaked, as well as restricting flow a little more than I like, but some people are happy with them. If you go that route, you'll need to use smaller-diameter hose to connect it; let me know how it works out for you.) (3) A small hose clamp. I got mine for 25 cents at a local tool place, but you'll likely have to buy a 2- or 4-pack at most hardware or auto parts stores, and pay a dollar or two. You'll also need few tools:

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

(1) An adjustable wrench, or a non-adjustable one that fits the hose fitting on your pump. (2) Something that can cut thin metal, such as tin snips, a nipper, a hacksaw, or a rotary tool. (You might be able to get by with a file and a pair of pliers, or even just some needle-nosed pliers.) (3) (maybe) a power drill with a 1/8" drill bit suited for drilling a little bit of metal, or for the 2060-A, a screw and a screwdriver. Rags or paper towels are good, because you'll be dealing with greasy things.

Step 2: Reverse the piston disk

To reverse the piston disk, unscrew the cylinder top, and pull the handle out all the way, so that the the piston disk comes clear of the cylinder---be careful, it's greasy. You don't want to lose the grease and get it all over other things, so prop the shaft up with something to keep the piston disk off your work area. Have paper towels or something handy. Notice that the piston disk is actually a shallow cup shape, with a lip around it. That lip flares out and seals against the cylinder on the downstroke. Now (1) Unscrew the nut on the end. (2) Pinch the rubber and metal disks together, and pull them off the end of the shaft. (3) Turn them around. (4) Put them back on the shaft. (5) Replace the nut and tighten it up, hand tight. Now you need to get that stuff back in the cylinder, and you don't want to scratch the piston disk on the sharp inside edge of the cylinder, so: (6) Pinch the rubber disk from the sides, into an oval shape, (7) Angle the shaft and the disk about 30 degrees relative to the open end of the cylinder, and insert one end of the oval, and (8) Gently work the rest of the disk into the cylinder, pushing it inward anyplace it seems to catch on the edge, and straighten the shaft. Now you can wipe the nasty grease off your fingers. (9) Push the handle in some, straight, and (10) Screw the cylinder top back on. You're half done.

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Step 3: Remove the hose fitting & hose from the pump
Now use a wrench to unscrew the hose fitting from the base of the pump.

Step 4: Remove the hose from the hose fitting

The exhaust check valve is in the hose attachment fitting; you need to gut it so that air can flow freely into the pump through it. But first you need to get the hose off, to get at the fitting to modify it. There is a piece of thin metal crimped around the end of the hose, to clamp it onto the fitting. You need to get that off, so you can remove the hose. Cut the thin metal with tin snips, nippers, a rotary tool, or whatever you have available that can cut thin metal. (You might even be able to tear it apart with a small screwdriver and needlenosed pliers, with some effort. Pry and bend and tear it apart bit by bit.) Once you've got the crimp off, work the hose off the fitting. You'll find a "hose barb" there---a hollow cylindrical bit that sticks up into the hose, with a flared part to help it grip the hose from the inside.

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Step 5: Remove the check valve parts from the hose connection fitting
Now examine the hose fitting carefully. There's an oval cavity inside it, and a little metal ball that can move back and forth in that cavity. When it gets sucked toward the pump on the upstroke, it makes a seal, but when it gets blown toward the hose on the downstroke, it doesn't. This lets air out, but not in; it's what's called a "ball check valve," and it's built right into the hose barb fitting. (You probably can see the ball, just barely, when you tip the hose barb down... it rolls almost to the end of the hose barb, and stops short when it hits a couple of extra bits of metal, which partly block the end of the hole.) To get the ball out, you need to make the hole as big as the ball all the way to the end of the barb. The straightforward way to do that is just to drill it with a 1/8" drill bit; just drill down into the hole to take away any extra bits of metal that retain the ball, and you can roll the ball right out. For my Slime 2060-A, it was easier than that. I noticed that there were a couple of slivers of metal on opposite sides of the end of the hose barb, which had just been bent inward to make the retaining parts. All I had to do was bend them outward again. I did that by inserting a screw into the end of the barb, and turning it with a screwdriver while holding the fitting with a wrench. The threads of the screw gripped the two bent-in pieces of metal and pulled them outward enough to make room for the ball to come out. (For other pumps of a generally similar old-school design, you may have to drill the hose barb to make the hole big enough to release the ball.) Once you have the ball out, check to see if you have a hole clear through the fitting. There may also be a piece of rubber in there that needs to be removed. In my case, I tapped the fitting on the table a few times, and a little piece of rubber just fell out. If you have a different brand of pump, you may need to drill yours to tear up the rubber, and blow the bits out. Drilling straight through fitting is not difficult, and may be a good idea anyway, if you want to go to the trouble. (See the next step.) Whatever kind of check valve is in there, drilling right through it is bound to help remove it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Step 6: (Optional) Drill the hose fitting out a little

I decided to make the hole through the hose fitting a little bigger, to reduce any resistance to air flow. This doesn't make much difference most of the time, because the resistance there is usually small relative to how hard you have to pump anyway, for any substantial vacuum level. It does make rapidly pumping larger volumes of air at lower vacuum levels slightly easier. (Like near the beginning of evacuating a vacuum bag or the vacuum tank for my vacuum former.) At any rate, I just drilled through the existing hole with a 1/8" drill bit. As usual with drilling metal, you should to do that in little spurts, at fairly low RPM's, and frequently pull the drill out to get shavings out of the way and let the bit cool. This took about a minute of drilling in several goes spread out over a few minutes, drilling from either end while holding the fitting firmly with a wrench. (I used titanium-coated but very cheap drill bit from Harbor Freight.) If you drill too fast, or for too long, you'll just heat things up and dull the bit faster. Once you've drilled it, blow the metal shavings out. You don't want them getting in the pump.

Step 7: Screw the fitting back on the pump

Screw the hose fitting back onto the pump, and tighten it hand-tight with a wrench.

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Step 8: Attach the hose and the new check valve

Now cut a short piece of hose, about an inch or so long, and fit it over the hose barb. The piece of hose should be long enough to accommodate the barb, and the barbed end of a check valve, but not much longer. (Maybe a quarter of an inch extra.) Any extra space between the pump and the check valve will reduce the vacuum level you can pull, so don't use a long piece of hose here. If you're using 1/4" braided PVC like me, the hose will probably fit well enough to make a seal, but not tightly, and it's a good idea to put a hose clamp around it. That will ensure that it doesn't lose its seal, and that it doesn't slip off. (Under vacuum, it probably won't lose its seal because vacuum will suck it inward onto the barb; if it slips off, though, you're hosed.) Now attach the new check valve to the barb: (1) Make sure the arrow on the check valve is pointing TOWARDS the pump, so that it will allow air flow INTO the pump, but not back out through the intake. (2) Insert the appropriate end of the barb into the litttle piece of hose. It should be snug; work it in most of the way. Once that's done, you can attach the long remainder of the hose to the other barb, in the same way; the other end is what you attach to whatever you're sucking from. Now you have a vacuum pump. Try it out.

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

Related Instructables

Vacuum Bagging Basics by shortshift

"The Alvin" Vacuum Sealer by Eric Forman

Vacuum Pump convert a tire from Aquarium inflator-type air compressor into Air Pump by Random_Canadian a vacuum pump by drcrash

Make a good, cheap, upgradeable sheet plastic vacuum former by drcrash

Easy to obtain 1-way valves (Photos) by brightest_cyan

Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 57 comments

Eddie_T says:

Feb 16, 2011. 9:24 PM REPLY I confess I am somewhat of a nut, my wife has been hospitalized on occasion and I collect the oxygen and IV tubing when it is changed. Just for kicks I made a small vacuum pump using the tubing, two of the locks that permit injections into the IV line and a syringe. It might be used to take the air out of a wine bottle or one of those 2.5 inch cylinder thingies. Jan 26, 2009. 10:04 AM REPLY Does anyone have a suggestion on makeing a manual pump that could, after several priming pumps, begin to generate a constant airflow of say 10-15 L/minute? Would you use a flywheel or double valves?

CHRISPB says:

Goedjn says:

Nov 9, 2010. 1:28 PM REPLY Build a double-action bellows, or two sets of foot-bellows, feed the output into a big sack, and put an appropriately sized rock on the sack. This is essentially how a pump organ works.

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

oli-explosion says:

Nov 5, 2010. 4:41 PM REPLY Hi, i recently discovered a how-to on building a kitesurf board. It requires vacuming to (i guess) squash the fibreglass cloth onto the core, ans seal it all nicely. I was a little put off by this as i have no means to do it, (conventional vacuums are too expensive to buy just to make a board) but now im wondering if it is possible. Would the vacuming capabilities of this pump do the job and pull all the layers in enough to hold it together strongly?? any help on this would be awesome and much appreciated

The SYNer says:

would this pump work for a particle accelerator

Oct 6, 2009. 5:58 PM REPLY

spaceman12 says:

Sep 3, 2010. 12:52 PM REPLY no a particle accelerator needs a near perfect vacuum something no simple hand pump can get near. to make a a vacuum for a particle accelerator you need a cooling system near absolute zero to literally freeze the air solid on the cooling pipe making it a better vacuum than space.

Wafflicious says:
My cup imploded(I think that's a word..)

Jan 4, 2009. 7:50 AM REPLY

valleycrosser says:

Aug 23, 2010. 9:14 AM REPLY Yes, it is a word and means according to the built in dictionary on my Mac, "verb, to collapse or cause to collapse violently inward"

MadMonso says:

Aug 23, 2010. 4:26 AM REPLY Hey, although McMaster doesn't seem like you can do direct links you can, just do "#"{PartNumer} no "" or {} so Check valve: http://www.mcmaster.com/#6079t53 That one specifically just does a highlight on a page so I'd still include the part number in your description. Nice job. Aug 19, 2008. 2:35 AM REPLY

gatan says:
hellooo all question -0,6bar=....."mercury help me, how to convert :) thank..

Derin says:
-17 in Hg

Apr 26, 2010. 9:25 AM REPLY

arisecute says:

Nov 24, 2009. 7:22 AM REPLY Please go to - http://joshmadison.com/software/convert-for-windows/ - you would get a free conversion software for download. Madison is a great man doing a great job.

romedeiros1970 says:

Jan 6, 2009. 1:14 PM REPLY Use Google. Type: "-0.6 bar in mercury" and press "enter". That works for most conversions, such as "3 feet in meters", "5 pounds in kilos", etc.

wenui says:
Hi, How do you use like valve? Thanks

Apr 21, 2010. 4:59 PM REPLY

vernonen says:

Feb 9, 2010. 12:44 AM REPLY G'day all, I am about to build a vcuum bubble to use as a VTOL transport and OH hoist. I needed an economical vavuum pump which would pull out 80% of the air. Has anyone tried this? I will keep posted.

ElectricUmbrella says:
Will this work well for making neon lamps and other such devices?

Apr 17, 2009. 5:17 PM REPLY

Derin says:
lol,"if the pvc hose gets off you are hosed ",oh the irony

Jul 22, 2008. 8:09 AM REPLY

tradergordo says:

Jun 10, 2008. 5:38 AM REPLY I was about to build one of these, thanks for the instructible, but I just discovered that Harbor Freight now sells a vacuum pump for just $10.99 that pulls 28.3" mercury! I can't build one for that cheap, and it creates a very strong vacuum all with standard fittings so you can easily attach whatever you want to it. Can also be used to service any time of air conditioner. Anyway, just thought others reading this thread might be interested. It does require an air compressor so its only for people who already have an air compressor. HF vacuum pump

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

They have two other models which are very similar but have different fittings.

tradergordo says:

Jun 10, 2008. 5:42 AM REPLY Come to think of it - I wonder if someone without an air compressor could just hook a normal (NOT reverse flow) bicycle pump to the air inlet of this HF vac pump and create the vacuum manually, this should be a very easy mod. But I guess it would basically just be the equivalent of using the thing as a giant check valve :) I guess if you live close to a harbor freight store it might be worth trying.

gaiatechnician says:

Feb 2, 2008. 11:17 PM REPLY I did the same thing several times many years ago. I cannot remember where the check valve was. Anyway, I removed it and either reversed it or I put in an ordinary bicycle valve in the line. There was a type at the time with a tiny rubber piston in it and it was awesome for the task. Perhaps it is still around in bike shops. You will find that it takes quite a lot of effort to make vacuum. Warning! An implosion is also dangerous. Stuff can hit you from the far side of an implosion. Anyway, if you are lucky enough to have water falling 10 or 15 ft or more (absolutely no point in going more than 35 ft) on your land, you can make a setup with water flowing into a vertical pipe. Lets say 3/4 inch pipe. Lets say 15 liters per minute flowing into a cistern at the top (You have a cistern like in a toilet system) except that the valve is upside down and lets water OUT instead of into the cistern. Right after the valve is a Y-joint to let air in from wherever you want suction. The max amount of suction depends on the length of your vertical pipe. The great thing about this is it provides variable suction! Say you are sucking all the air out of a 5 gallon plastic can. Well, this little sucker will suck really fast at the start and probably crush the can way before a fancy lab sucker (capable of much greater vacuum) could. My explaination probably sucks a bit too. (I did a lot of stuff with suction before I hit on the pulser pump concept).

mutantferret says:
Thanks for the hard work. I've learned alot.

Nov 27, 2007. 10:55 PM REPLY

shortshift says:

Sep 24, 2007. 10:57 AM REPLY Thank you for posting this recipe! I was able to draft a vacuum pump quite simply and with the bagging equipment found at Aerospace Composites , I put together a pretty good system for some fiberglass layups that I'm working on for my motorcycle project. Here's a fuel tank prototype that I've been working on. I used a check valve from what appears to be a fish tank setup (ACP was the supplier). 1/4" neoprene tubing.

drcrash says:

Sep 24, 2007. 5:37 PM REPLY Very nice. Keep us posted. Maybe you should do an Instructible on low-end vacuum bagging. I think a lot of people would be interested.

shortshift says:

Sep 24, 2007. 6:01 PM REPLY ya mean that hasn't been done yet? wowzers. I'll see about putting something together. Of course I'd cite your vacuum solution as a means to the end :)

Little Dreamer says:

Mine made a scraping noise,is that a prolem? Also I don't reccomend an aquarium check valve.

Aug 24, 2007. 6:33 PM REPLY

drcrash says:

Aug 24, 2007. 9:44 PM REPLY About the aquarium check valve... did you try it and get disappointing results? (Just looking for another clear data point... that didn't work for me, but I was wondering if I just got unlucky and had a bad valve.)

Little Dreamer says:

It was a ittle leaky with some backflow. I'm ordering a better one and will post on whether or not it was just my setup.

Aug 25, 2007. 1:37 PM REPLY

Little Dreamer says:

Yes, a quality check valve improves the setup many times over. $6 on ebay.

Sep 7, 2007. 12:18 PM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

drcrash says:

Aug 24, 2007. 9:37 PM REPLY Could you give me a little more detail... ? Did you use the same pump? Did it make the scraping noise right away, or after a while? Have you unscrewed the top and pulled out the plunger to see if there's anything obvious wrong?

Little Dreamer says:

Same pump, and it made noise right from the start. A little WD40 helped, but I probably need a higher viscosity.

Aug 25, 2007. 1:39 PM REPLY

gaiatechnician says:

Feb 3, 2008. 12:25 AM REPLY We work in masonry and we now use pam (veggie oil) on our wet saws sliding tables to make them slide better. Pam is way better than wd40 and stays on way longer too. Might be good for the bike pump too!

Little Dreamer says:

Actually I pulled the pump out and no scraping. I'll watch it.

Aug 26, 2007. 2:37 PM REPLY

drcrash says:

Aug 24, 2007. 9:39 PM REPLY Just to clarify... mine makes about the same noise as a vacuum pump as it did as a regular pressure pump. No metal-to-metal scraping noises. You can hear the shaft rub against edges of the hole in the plastic cylinder top, but I wouldn't describe it as a "scraping" noise, exactly. If you've got something that sounds like metal-to-metal scraping, something is probably wrong, but I can't tell what without more information.

drcrash says:

Aug 28, 2007. 8:27 AM REPLY Hmmm... I just noticed that mine DOES make a metal-to-metal scraping noise sometimes, but I'm pretty sure that it's just the shaft rubbing against the spring under the cylinder top (that keeps it from hitting the cylinder top hard). That's to be expected, and not a problem. Jul 7, 2007. 1:51 PM REPLY

drcrash says:
I blogged this, and the blog post has a video of using the bike pump on a mason jar with peeps in it: http://vacuumformerplans.blogspot.com/2007/07/instructablehack-of-day-under-20-manual.html (It didn't work to put the video in this comment, even a plain link to it.)

Gene Hacker says:

Jul 3, 2007. 1:53 AM REPLY How much of a vacuum have you been able to get? Have you be able to boil water at room temperature? If so you might be able to turn coffee(or what ever else) back into powdered form. Great instructable, by the way.

drcrash says:

Jul 3, 2007. 8:34 AM REPLY The pump can take about 80 percent of the air out of something, reducing the pressure to 20 percent of atmospheric pressure. That gives you an absolute pressure of about 2.9 PSI. (So you get a "negative" (relative) pressure of about 11.75 PSI.) That's not enough to boil water at room temperature. For that, you'd have to take about 90 percent of the remaining air out, and reduce the pressure to about one third of one PSI.

Gene Hacker says:

Jul 4, 2007. 8:58 PM REPLY 80 percent is still pretty good. With persistent pumping do you think you could get more of a vacuum? I am thinking about building a vacuum evaporator, so that I can get rid of the water in a solution faster than using heat alone. How well does your other electric vacuum pump work? This is for a future Instructable I am writing.

_soapy_ says:

Jul 6, 2007. 5:48 PM REPLY It doesn't work like that. You can only draw as much vacuum as the pump will allow. The larger the pump chamber the faster the initial pressure drop, but the higher the lowest pressure achieveable is. Also, you will get some air leakage back in from the one-way valves, and you need enough air to the pushed through the valve to remove it on each stroke.

drcrash says:

Jul 6, 2007. 8:10 PM REPLY I don't think the chamber size necessarily imposes a limit on the vacuum you can pull. If the pump seals excellently, and there's no extra air space ahead of the piston in the down position, and the check valves function perfectly, you should be able to pull essentially a perfect vacuum. The force required would only be about 20 percent higher than it actually is when it tops out at 24 in. Hg. Creating a little bit of nearly perfect vacuum isn't hard; the problem is doing it over and over in a pumping fashion, fast enough to do something useful with it. I've heard that you can boil water in a good syringe, by having a little water and NO air bubbles in it, stopping the end up with your finger (take the needle off first), and just pulling back on the plunger. (I'm not sure if that's right, though; it might mostly be outgassing of air dissolved in the water.) I'm not sure what limits this pump. It may be the cracking pressure of the valves, i.e., how much pressure there has to be "the right way" to get them to open. (Once the pressure differential is lower than the cracking pressure of the valves, you don't pump any more air---the exhaust valve won't open to let the tiny amount of air that's still in the cylinder out.) It might also be that there's too much air space ahead of the piston, between it and the check valve, when it's in the fully down position. Jul 6, 2007. 7:05 PM REPLY I know that. I am wonder what the lowest pressure achievable on this pump is. Is it possible to reduce air leakage? I was hoping on making something like this .

Gene Hacker says:

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

drcrash says:

Jul 6, 2007. 8:32 PM REPLY As is, it gets about 24 inches of mercury, but maybe you could improve it somewhat. One thing to try is to use a diaphragm check valve on the exhaust. (You can get them from McMaster Carr.) They have very low cracking pressure and might let the pump push a little more air out at the end of the downstroke. (The spring-loaded ball check valve I'm using requires more of a pressure differential to stay open, so they may be shutting prematurely.) If the problem is the intake check valve---and I wouldn't be surprised if it is---then you probably don't want to start with a bike pump, or you want to just replace the piston disk with a plain rubber disk that doesn't act like a check valve. (The piston disk may be letting a significant amount of air into the cylinder before it seals on the upstroke. If you use a plain rubber disk, it can stay sealed all the time. I think that's what the pump in the article you linked to does.) In that case you'd want to add an alternative intake at the base of the pump. The easy way to do that would be to put a tee where the existing barb screws in, with a check valve on each end. Check out the "evacuation/dispensing pump" that Harbor Freight sells. It's just a big Lexan syringe with rubber disk plunger. (I've made a couple of fast manual vacuum pumps with those, by adding a tee and two check valves.) You probably want to find something like that, but smaller, so that it doesn't require as much force to pull for high vacuum. (Either that or you'll want to add a lever of some sort to make it easier to pump.) Given something like that, you want to make sure that the air space between the plunger and the end of the cylinder is as small as possible---very nearly zero---and that there's no more air space between the plunger and the check valves than absolutely necessary. (Including inside the tee, or between the barbs; you may want to glue everything together instead of using bits of hose as I did.) To get the highest possible vacuum, you may have to start from scratch, making sure that the shape of the piston disk and the end of the cylinder match perfectly, drilling two separate holes for the check valves, and mounting just the right check valves directly in the holes.

drcrash says:

Jul 2, 2007. 10:39 PM REPLY Apparently this instructable is the "hack of the day" over on www.hackaday.com; cool. A question came up over there about reversing the exhaust check valve rather than replacing it with the one from McMaster-Carr. You COULD do that, and I'm pretty sure it would work fine. (With the Slime 2060-A, anyway.) You could clean the oils off the exhaust hose fitting and the place it attaches, and epoxy it in backwards, with the hose barb pointing into the threaded hole. (You might need a spacer such as a large nut to keep the hose barb from sticking all the way to the bottom of the threaded hole; I'm not sure.) Then you'd need to epoxy a new hose barb on top of that. (Hot glue would probably work, if you duct tape the hose to the cylinder near the joint, to avoid stressing the joint if the hose gets pulled on.) That would let you make a vacuum pump for around 13 dollars with stuff from the auto parts store and a home improvement store, and not have to wait for mail order.

static says:

Jul 2, 2007. 2:44 PM REPLY If I where to spend any extra money to obtain a manual vacuum pump, I'd probably get this <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92474">http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92474</a><br/>as it would fit most of anything I'd need a vacuum pump for as I'll never work on auto AC again. To evacuate a large volume a larger pump would be better, but I got that big vacuum pump sitting in the driveway for large jobs. There is a chance a tire pump someone would buy would have a plastic cup rather than a composition or leather cup. The plastic works well for compressing air because the act of compressing forces the cup against the tube wall. I'm not sure how well the plastic cup will work in pulling a high vacuum. In bleeding brakes if you can drink your malt or milkshake with a straw you don't need a vacuum pump, just build yourself a bleeder jar. As far as the instructable goes, I wouldn't know hoe you could have done it any better. <br/>

drcrash says:

Jul 2, 2007. 6:37 PM REPLY If I'm not mistaken, those little one-hand pistol-style hand pumps are really slow, because the cylinder's are really small. (So that you can pump them with a short lever, in one hand.) The bike pump is more appropriate for evacuating somewhat larger stuff, like a vacuum bagging reservoir or maybe a small vacuum forming tank. The cup shape of the bike pump's piston disk works fine for vacuum, after you turn it around. All that's required is that the pressure be higher on the concave side of the cup. The ambient air pressure will flare the cup out against the cylinder wall to make a seal on the upstroke, in much the same way that it flares out due to higher pressure on the other side before the conversion. I'm not sure what you mean about the big vacuum pump in the driveway---are you talking about using the vacuum system of your car? I understand that that works too, but I'm not sure the instructions I've seen for doing it are safe with current cars. (They may be; I just don't know.)

Pooty says:
Cool and simple. Thanks!

Jul 2, 2007. 3:43 PM REPLY

Ragged Edge says:

Jun 23, 2007. 9:47 AM REPLY If you are interested in making your own skateboard there are a number of places you can look at to find more information. Silverfishlongboarding.com has a great boardbuilding forum where lots of deck builders hang out. They are more than willing to offer their thoughts on any questions you may have. The other place that has lots of info and mentioned in the above pump mod is my Thin Air Press or Roarockit website. I came up with this idea of using a manual pump and a piece of foam as a mold for bending wood veneers into skateboards in a vacuum bag seven years ago while teaching a course in Maui. Since then, the idea has taken off, now with lots of schools, community centers and individuals building decks using the process worldwide. What is great about the idea and what we promote on our site is that anyone can build a quality skateboard using this simple, accessible technology. Whether you assemble the parts yourself or you buy a complete kit, it is all good. Making a skateboard from scratch is fun. Check out our blog on our site to see some of the one of a kind decks people have made using thin air. Ted from Roarockit Roarockit Silverfishlongboarding Toothless NCDSA

drcrash says:

Jun 26, 2007. 10:03 AM REPLY Hi Ted; good to hear from you. The Thin Air Press is a nice kit. I noticed that you're selling to the woodworking market now, for small veneering and marquetry projects and such... I was wondering if you might come up with a "big brother" to the TAP, for somewhat larger projects. If you could get a bike pump manufacturer to do an occasional run of bike pumps with the piston disk installed the right ("wrong") way in the first place, and a plain barb with no check valve, you could just box them up with a proper check valve and some hose as a "vacuum pump kit" that could be assembled by anybody in about a minute with no trouble, no mess, and no tools. With a gallon jug or something as a reservoir, that could handle some fair-sized projects. (I'm thinking medium-sized furniture.) The reservoir may not be strictly necessary, but it can't hurt if it doesn't take you too long to evacuate it. (The bike pump can pull

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/

a gallon jug down to 20+ inches of mercury in less than a minute.)

Zak says:

Jun 22, 2007. 10:52 AM REPLY For a pump that makes a decent vaccum, try a fridge compressor. It needs electricity, but the vaccum produced is quite good (about 1% of atmospheric if I remember well). All it takes is cutting the tubes: leave everything in the little black tank intact. Oh and use some kind of filter on the exhaust line. These things spew oil fumes, which are very bad for one's health.

drcrash says:

Jun 22, 2007. 2:12 PM REPLY Many people have used refrigerator compressors for vacuum bagging, but it's a little more involved than you make it sound, and unfortunately I've never done the conversion myself and can't write a detailed instructable on that. (It would be great if someone did.) I think some people have used air conditioner compressors, too. There are apparently at least two common designs of refrigerator compressor. The one that used to be most common worked well; some of the newer pumps will burn out quickly when used as vacuum pumps. (I don't know why.) Refrigerator compressors are oillubricated, and you need to rig up some kind of drip feed. My understanding is that the drip feed can be as simple as having an oil trap ("oil mist separator" or "oil/water separator") drain into a plastic cup, and pouring it back into the pump now and then by hand. There are also several "extra" wires coming off the pump, and you need to figure out how to wire the motor to AC and short across the thermostat connection. If your pump hasn't already been drained of freon, that needs to be done right, probably by a pro. You don't want that stuff getting into the atmosphere. And of course, you have to figure out where to get a salvaged fridge compressor. (My local dump won't let me in, and apparently they have a contract with somebody who salvages them, but I'm not sure where they end up. I keep meaning to look into that.) Some people apparently get them for cheap or even free for the asking from appliance repair places, but I haven't looked into that. (You often see old refrigerators being given away on Craig's List or Freecycle, but then you have to deal with emptying the freon and disposing of the rest of the fridge.) If you google up "refrigerator compressor" and "vacuum pump" you'll find a lot of articles about the conversion. (One titled "CHEAP LITTLE SUCKER" is what tipped me off about the pumps that burn out quickly.) It would be great to see one thorough article about this, and some performance figures.

view all 57 comments

http://www.instructables.com/id/make-a-manual-vacuum-pump-for-under-%2420-by-convert/