Vacuum pump condensor?

[tvrgeek]

As I learn things, I find the vacuum pump fills my shop with a cloud of oil. As I understand it, that is normal. Has anyone built a condenser to put on the exhaust to capture these vapors? Beer can with some scrubber pads in it maybe?

 

[bob vaughan]

There are oil-less vacuum pumps. Gast makes a few as do others.
When I first wanted to get a vacuum pump, I bought some second hand ones. The best one had an oil reservoir and did exactly what yours is doing. After a while the shop got really awful with that oil mist in the air. The only option I found when discussing this with others was to exhaust the outflow to the outdoors somehow. Not interesting. I've now got oil-less rotary vane types and prefer them.

 

[Phil S]

I have never experienced this, thankfully. I use Robinair, Gast and Edwards. None have created an oil cloud

 

[bob vaughan]

If the offending pump is a rotary vane Gast, it might be that the people at Gast can recommend a replacement vane set that work without the oil mist. Replacing the vanes is almost insultingly simple. I think the airless types use a carbon type vane where the oil type use a phenolic type. A "vane" is simply a rectangular piece of stock that rides loosely in a slot.

 

[tvrgeek]

Cheap pump designed for HVAC use. Synthetic 2-vane pump. No good comparing it to a Gast carbon vane pump. Not spending huge money for a one-off project. Guess I'll build a separator.

 

[Newboy]

I do not know what pump you have, but most two stage pumps have a ballast valve. It may be open on your pump, if it has one.


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[danmart77]

If you learn to work with a veneer hammer you won't need any of that equipment. But you will need to get some hide glue

 

[tvrgeek]

Dan, Unfortunately, in the very hostile environment of a car, hide glue will not hold up. Big swings in both temp and humidity. Sub zero ( I hope not any more moving to NC) to 135 or more inside. Dry to 100%. I would like to give it a go for a bit of furniture as it seems to have worked fine inside for several hundred years.

George, $60 Amazon cheap 3 cu ft pump. Single stage, composite vane oil filled. Intended to run a few minuets to evacuate HVAC. I did not want to invest thousands in a setup I may only use for this one project. Cheap pump. Shower pan liner for a bag. Duct tape to seal.

 

[Newboy]

Hi. The vapors will be less with proper vacuum oil ( maybe 10 or 20 dollars per quart at Grainger or NAPA). Some pumps use a "mist eliminator" on the exhaust. Even a paper element disposable filter will work temporarily, until the paper saturates. A more expensive type is like you described, a chamber filled with bronze or copper wool. More expensive types use a "cryotrap", which cools the exhaust to condense the oil and return it to the pump.


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[tvrgeek]

Oil is what was packaged new with the pump.
Got some pot scrubbers and filled a coke bottle. Slight improvement but not enough. Only real solution looks to be to run a hose to the outside.

 

[junquecol]

Want to borrow a diaphram pump? My HVAC pump puts out very little oil vapor. Another option is to go over to AirVac Engineering and purchase a venturi for use with air compressor. You can "bubble" exhaust thru a container of mineral spirits

 

[Oka]

In my work we use vacuum pumps every day. Almost All vacuum pumps under a 100 bucks will not stand up. Most of the ones we use are 5-8 psig which will get the units close to a true vacuum quickl;y. One of the issues with the cheaper pump is it takes way too long to draw down. In your case the vacuum in smaller not as much of an issue. But still, my dad always told me get the correct tool and correct quality and it will be a one time purchase in your life, unless you damage or it gets stolen.

Also, we do not keep anything that spews oil fumes, best to get an oil less

 

[Newboy]

No more vacuum than you need for the application, some bright boy should be able to make a manual pump.


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[nn4jw]

I use a micro shop vac to pull air from the plastic freezer bags I store 3D printer filament in. It pulls a pretty decent vacuum and the freezer bag seal is enough to maintain it. So, my question is why wouldn't a full size shop vac pull enough vacuum in one of those bags used in veneering? I've never used one of those bags. Do they have a valve to seal them once the vacuum has been pulled? Why do they need to run the vacuum pump for hours? Do the bags leak or something? Once a vacuum is pulled it's the ambient air pressure that does the clamping effect isn't it? Just trying to understand the process.

 

[tvrgeek]

You would be amazed how small a pin-prick will leak off the vacuum. My temp setup used vinyl sheet sealed with gutter sealant and duct tape, fitting has a schrader valve in it. It will still lose clamping in about 5 minuets.

A shop vac will not pull anywhere enough vac. Yea, there are bags with a manual pump. Cost more than my pump. Going to just run a hose outside.

 

[nn4jw]

You would be amazed how small a pin-prick will leak off the vacuum. My temp setup used vinyl sheet sealed with gutter sealant and duct tape, fitting has a schrader valve in it. It will still lose clamping in about 5 minuets.

A shop vac will not pull anywhere enough vac. Yea, there are bags with a manual pump. Cost more than my pump. Going to just run a hose outside.

OK, so basically you have a leaky home made bag and a vacuum pump that sprays oil that you have to run constantly to keep up with the leak(s) and hope you don't breathe enough oil to get pneumonia or worse?

Sometimes home made just isn't worth the effort.