Vacuum pump has been refurbished with new base, handle and exhaust cap and intake caps. Gave it an oil change and a good cleaning overall. Had one massive fail where the unit was accidentally switched on while tipped to the side and it spit about 1/2 pint of mineral oil all over my face, workbench, toolbox, walls and floor making a huge mess. Lesson learned: don’t ever work on tools that are still plugged in.

Setup a test rig to see if this thing can pull a vacuum. It works when tested on the workbench, pulls ~29.9″ mercury, which is a good sign that this thing will work in real life.

Eventually I plan to mount the pump to a hand truck or possibly a wooden carryall and plumb in a vacuum reservoir and vacuum switch so that it runs more efficiently when I’m doing composites work. Basically I’m building a DIY version of what you can buy commercially for a lot less money.

ACP Composites- Vacuum Bagging Systems

ACP Composites ready to use vacuum bagging systems come fully equipped and the 4 different sizes cater to all levels of vacuum baggers.