I have been looking for an inexpensive vacuum pump for about a month. Even on e-b@y I am looking at about $70. (Not cheap) Then I looked into building my own. (Fridge pump method) I called every appliance shop in town (Chicago) and no one was willing to sell me a used pump. Plenty wanted to sell me a new one for $150. Then I looked at my new 1.5 HP 5 Gal Cr@ftsm@n compressor and said "you need to learn how to pull vacuum" This was so easy to do people. I took off the air intake filter. Took some threaded pipe about 3 inches long, covered the threads with Teflon tape and screwed it into the cylinder head air intake. Then I took a wooden dowel about 1.5 inches in diameter, 3 inches long and drilled a hole into it length wise about the size of the little attachments you clip compressor tools too. Maybe 1/4 inch. Then I screwed in that "attachment" piece. Next I slid the dowel into the threaded pipe and wrapped the whole thing with duct tape to prevent leaks. I actually cleaned everything up first to prevent saw dust and wood chips from entering the compressor. After attaching the hose I turned the compressor on and sure enough I was pulling vacuum like a mad man. I went right to Se@rs and bought a vacuum gauge (for auto brakes) and measured 28.5 inches of mercury when I got back. I am so happy with this simple setup. CFM is great and it didn't cost me a dime. My compressor still function like a compressor and when I need to pull vacuum I just move the hose to the other attachment. One thing, remove the oil fill plug so you don’t suck oil into the cylinder. Maybe someone can figure out how to add a filter to this setup. Please comment on the setup and give me the "too good to be true news".
Jeremy
Jeremy
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