Vacuum Pump

[Tom Harris]

Greetings plasma worshippers!

I have acquired a 50's vintage lab oil vacuum pump. It probably needs a clean and new oil. Can anyone give me any pointers on servicing it before I just take it apart?

[David Forbes]

Make and model?

--
David Forbes, Tucson AZ

[Tom Harris]

Thanks for taking an interest. It's a Speedivac Single Stage model ISC50B.

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[gregebert]

I saw a few tidbits online from a google search, but no service manual. Might be very hard to get spare parts, etc.

I was planning to experiment with a vacuum pump from Harbor Freight Tools later this year; people have claimed it can pull down to 25 microns (yeah, right.....) but it's definitely good enough to get a glow discharge. I plan to see if I can get anything interesting with helium and/or argon inside a glass beer-bottle.

Sounds a bit silly, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get a decent  seal on it, then bake-out the impurities in a modified toaster-oven. No need for dangerous bombarding. Helium is very easy to get, and seems to have enough spectral emission in the visible region.

Where am I going with this ? Just suppose it's possible to make a large nixie-like tube the size of a beer-bottle. Think CD47 (saw one on Ebay yesterday for $1300; apparently the seller gave up trying to find enough of these to build a clock. Gone now.).

[Tom Harris]

I couldn't find anything online on servicing a vacuum pump. I might have to perform my generic service routine. Take the thing apart, clean everything, replace anything worn, lubricate anything that moves, put back together. I do remember from my lab days that vacuum systems use silicone grease as a seal and lubricant and it got everywhere very quickly. What fun.

The goal is indeed to make large discharges in glass. As well as make a vacuum cannon (look it up), the most impressive thing to do when you can get a good vacuum. That and re-enact Joseph Wright's painting " experiment with a bird in the air pump" I suppose.

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[David Forbes]

Tom,

This page from Finland has a bit of information on the ES 50 pump, which may or
may not be similar to yours.

http://personal.inet.fi/koti/kristian.ukkonen/es50/es50_overhaul.html

My colleagues all are familiar with the Welch pumps, not Edwards. One fellow
says that parts may be available from an outfit in New Mexico.

--David Forbes

On 6/8/2015 2:02 PM, Tom Harris wrote:
> I couldn't find anything online on servicing a vacuum pump. I might have to
> perform my generic service routine. Take the thing apart, clean everything,
> replace anything worn, lubricate anything that moves, put back together. I
> do remember from my lab days that vacuum systems use silicone grease as a
> seal and lubricant and it got everywhere very quickly. What fun.
>
> The goal is indeed to make large discharges in glass. As well as make a
> vacuum cannon (look it up), the most impressive thing to do when you can
> get a good vacuum. That and re-enact Joseph Wright's painting " experiment
> with a bird in the air pump" I suppose.
> On 09/06/2015 5:45 AM, "gregebert" <greg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I saw a few tidbits online from a google search, but no service manual.
>> Might be very hard to get spare parts, etc.
>>
>> I was planning to experiment with a vacuum pump from Harbor Freight Tools
>> later this year; people have claimed it can pull down to 25 microns (yeah,
>> right.....) but it's definitely good enough to get a glow discharge. I plan
>> to see if I can get anything interesting with helium and/or argon inside a
>> glass beer-bottle.
>>
>> Sounds a bit silly, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get a decent
>> seal on it, then bake-out the impurities in a modified toaster-oven. No
>> need for dangerous bombarding. Helium is very easy to get, and seems to
>> have enough spectral emission in the visible region.
>>
>> Where am I going with this ? Just suppose it's possible to make a large

>> nixie-like tube the size of a beer-bottle. Think CD47 (saw *one* on Ebay

>> yesterday for $1300; apparently the seller gave up trying to find enough of
>> these to build a clock. Gone now.).
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>> "neonixie-l" group.
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>> email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
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>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/1c6a95d0-41af-4759-9d2c-fd0b03feb5ea%40googlegroups.com

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>> .

[gregebert]

You probably dont have a lot to lose by opening-up the pump. It's pretty old so if it gets irreparably damaged you can always get a new pump.

What level of vacuum are you targeting for your devices ?

[Tom Harris]

Superb. This is all the information I need. My pump is similar enough that I can tackle the job without worrying that I am going to break something. Some new oil is on order from Ebay, I can't wait to start! Thanks so much, this list is chockers with helpful folk.

Tom Harris <celep...@gmail.com>

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[Tom Harris]

>> You probably dont have a lot to lose by opening-up the pump. It's pretty old so if it gets irreparably damaged you can always get a new pump.

>>

>> What level of vacuum are you targeting for your devices ?

You are right, but I dislike breaking old stuff. This pump weighs about 35Kg, 10Kg of which is the casing and belt guards! The motor runs so sweetly you can hardly hear it. Besides who would name a product line "Speedivac" now?

I have no idea about level of vacuum, I just want to play around. This is only a single stage pump, so it will not go very deep.

Tom Harris <celep...@gmail.com>

On 9 June 2015 at 07:26, gregebert <greg...@hotmail.com> wrote:

You probably dont have a lot to lose by opening-up the pump. It's pretty old so if it gets irreparably damaged you can always get a new pump.

What level of vacuum are you targeting for your devices ?

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[David Forbes]

On 6/8/2015 2:02 PM, Tom Harris wrote:

> The goal is indeed to make large discharges in glass. As well as make a
> vacuum cannon (look it up), the most impressive thing to do when you can
> get a good vacuum. That and re-enact Joseph Wright's painting " experiment
> with a bird in the air pump" I suppose.

I recommend using one of these instead... it's in our spectroscopy lab.
Note the Coke can for scale.

--David Forbes

[Tom Harris]

Now that's just bragging!

Tom Harris <celep...@gmail.com>

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