vac elevation question

i bought a vacitpro and i live about 700 ft above sea level and my vac only hits about 25.5, is this enough? it doesn't sizzle. I dont have a leak it holds a vac with the pump off

You gauge may be shot. I live at 900ft and can pull 28.6.

Moss logs said:

i bought a vacitpro and i live about 700 ft above sea level and my vac only hits about 25.5, is this enough? it doesn't sizzle. I dont have a leak it holds a vac with the pump off

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I just looked at this on Amazon and I think maybe the pump is not strong enough.

Maybe the top plate is not thick enough. I have seen them use 1 inch thick material at Skunk Pharm, and still get deflection. I think he went to 1.5 inch thick polycarbonate, or whatever that material is they use at Banks for bullet resistant "glass."

I know those plastic hoses cannot work, down to 28.

And I know those cheap gauges cannot work that low either.

Don't you get flattening in those hoses? And any plastic hose will begin to out gas at that pressure and keep you from going lower.

Unfortunately this was exactly my experience, also. My hose flattened and my gauge leaked. That pressure you get OP is only 75% of total vac. Not quite there, I'm afraid. 93-94% is there.
We need to pull at least 28.

I've heard their gauges are somewhat less than awesome, not sure about the whole rig.

Even expensive bourdon gauges won't hold a zero for ever and change zero quite a bit until broken in. We use a compound pressure gauge with a calibration screw in the face under the screw on bezel.

Attached is a pressure at altitude chart.

Yeah there is all kinds of ways to do it. But, skunkpharm has really educated me on what they tried and what does work.

Here is picture that comes up in the google search. Notice the heavy duty aspect of hoses and lid, gauge, etc.

O-ring connections are a must, I think, and heavy hose.

The gate valves, unless special for vacuum with o-ring or some kind of seal, won't work. I've tried. I can hear the air intake at the handle turn.

And for pulling deep vacuum quickly, a 3/8 ID is the minimum. Short wide copper is still the best connection, I guess.




This guy just used a very large PVC connector, but that is not cheap. He must have had it already. He has 3/8" copper and no gauge. That is the little air driven pump. I have one of those. But, a compressor is so loud.

Fadedawg said:

Even expensive bourdon gauges won't hold a zero for ever and change zero quite a bit until broken in. We use a compound pressure gauge with a calibration screw in the face under the screw on bezel.

Attached is a pressure at altitude chart.

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I learned something. Thanks. I didn't know what that was. It refers to the general type of mechanical gauge, commonly in use, the bourdon tube type.

Doer said:

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Damn son!!!! look at that pump? the term over kill comes to mind....


isnt that an air compressor?

Twitch. said:

Damn son!!!! look at that pump? the term over kill comes to mind....


isnt that an air compressor?

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It is an air compressor. The pump is that little thing with the copper tube connected to the pot.

Just pull your vac as high as you can and then compensate with heat.

Doer said:

It is an air compressor. The pump is that little thing with the copper tube connected to the pot.

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lol the way the picture is take it looks connected

Twitch. said:

lol the way the picture is take it looks connected

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Well, it is. The Compressor is running the vacuum pump with air. It is just that type of vacuum pump.

To the OP.

I did some checking around and wire re-enforced, PVC hose is a good holder of rough vacuum.

And trying to get my mind on these terms, rough vacuum max is plenty for us. That stops at 1 micron, or 1 micro-meter of Hg. It is 1 x10⁻³ Torr. 1.9 x 10⁻⁵ Psi. Then High Vacuum, and then Ultra High Vacuum or UHV takes more than a rotary vane pump, it seems.

Above rough vacuum is the "suction" range.

Remember we only need to get down to about 1 Psi, to recover Ethanol at more or less room temp.

Moss logs said:

i bought a vacitpro and i live about 700 ft above sea level and my vac only hits about 25.5, is this enough? it doesn't sizzle. I dont have a leak it holds a vac with the pump off

Click to expand...

There are deep usage details I've found, poking around, that say, you need to warm the pump oil for 15-20 minutes for the pump to be able to pull a deeper vacuum.

Close the input caps and let the sucker vacuum itself and warm up. Also, afterwards, same thing, run it to purge the hot oil of any water captured. You have to let that steam off for 20 minutes.