Instead of getting another proper air pump, I’d like to dual-use a vaccumn cleaner. This is to save space in the most expensive place for real estate in the world, because I don’t really want to pull much pressure and also because I lost my last pump and I’m loathed to buy another one.
It’s a long shot, but I thought I’d ask you guys because it should be possible to find something that doesn’t overheat? Maybe a small industrial one or try to make my own?!
TIA!
I don’t know about FOREVER, but Fein vacuums will stand a lot of use and they are much more quiet than your typical shop vac. Mine stayed on overnight once and it wasn’t even warm when I finally turned it off. That one lasted over 30 years before I had to replace it.
I’m thinking you’re talking about dual use as a shop vacuum/dust collector and as a vacuum pump for vacuum bagging, etc?
I’ll agree, the Feins are excellent, quiet, long lived, but expensive. Great shop vacs. Good for small dust collection use…
But even the smallest vacuum draws a lot of air through it. Which might result in way more vacuum than you want. Or, if you are just pulling a little air through it, not pulling enough through to properly cool the motor. If I remember right, back in the day Terry Hendricks told me something to the effect of ‘yeah, no, not your best move’ when I asked him about doing that. Knowing Terry, he had tried it.
Instead, you might want to try a vacuum pump with a pressure switch, possibly a tank too between the pump and switch and the thing you’re sucking on. That would result in the pump only working when the vacuum in the tank got down below a certain level.
hope that’s of use
doc…
I think what you want is a “vacuum pump” not a vacuum cleaner. If you wanted a vacuum cleaner the answer would be easy; “Fein”. Best and quietest for the money. Attach a “Dust Buster” type cyclone and you’re good for years. Others are the Bosch and Festool(more expensive than Fein). When you consider how fast Shop Vacs, Crafstman and those orange Home Depot vacs burn up; One Fein compared to two or three others is a bargain. A recommendation for a “vacuum pump” is more involved. The type of vacuum pump you need depends on what you intend to do with it. I’m no expert so I will defer to others. But I have heard and there are threads in the archives that discuss low pull and cheapest being an aquarium/fish tank pump. Not completely sure what you have to do to it to make it work. Reverse the diaphragm I think. . Lowel
The air coming out of my 5 gallon Shop Vac while running the mill for 2-3 hours through a Dust Deputy cyclone, with minimal sawdust load, is warm, like 105-125F (40-45C). I suspect that warm air is what just cooled the motor. If one chokes off the air to draw a vacuum, the cooling flow will also be reduced and will damage it sooner. Having a vac system like the Joe Woodworker type with a reservoir and pressure switch would probably be more efficient and less noisy in the long run but more money and real estate. I use a fractional HP Gast pump that can be ‘deadheaded’ or ran at full vacuum for hours without damaging it. It is about the size of a shoebox or electric planer, noise is less than the Shop Vac.
iRobot Roomba Or the Dyson animal ball 2…ymmv…
For “vac-bagging,” lab/diaphragm vacuum pumps are designed for continuous operation – e.g. Gast 104/704.
New, they are pricey. But I picked up a nice used 104 on eBay for $100.
I have heard that Gast is the “Industry Standard”.
For vaccum bagging sandwich skin you need at least 2x more pressure than what do a vaccum cleaner and far less flow is needed. eventually you can vac bag lam, but not the right equipment, lot of energy used for nothing but heat.