This is it, but not brand new. Know what it's used for? https://www.lesker.com/vacuum-pumps/rotaryvanepump-bocedwards-em-large/part/a36504940
Found one of these along the side of the tracks.. Some vacuum pump..
- Thread starter daves66nova
- Start date
Anything with a small sealed volume that you want to evacuate (put a vacuum on and remove the gas/air), like an AC system, etc. Used similar vacuum pumps at work to do helium leak tests on space hardware that had very stringent no leakage requirements.
The instruction manual says that it's designed for "reliable, long term operation in both industrial and laboratory environments".
This vacuum pump has a 4HP (3 phase?) motor and weighs 224 lbs. Not what you'd use to evacuate any regular AC system.
True, I didn't check all the specs, just looked at the photo. They all look very similar, regardless of size.
Who leaves something that big "along the tracks", unless it accidentally fell off a train. If so, there should be some evidence of damage when it crashed to the ground.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
MSRP $13,580?? Did you bring it home?
Vacuum pumps are used a lot in industrial applications. Think vacuum sealing or forming. We even have a couple tests in the grass seed industry that require vacuum.
This is a rough pump for a vacuum system like a vacuum furnace. It will get a decent volume of air to a value of 10-3 mtorr. This is waaaay higher than any pump you would use for any automotive application. Functioning used value is around 6k. Probably needs a vane and seal rebuild. Is there any oil in it? These pumps usually run on an expensive type of oil that will run you around 400$ for enough to fill.
Serious pump for industrial applications.
If you call Lesker they may buy it off you.
Serious pump for industrial applications.
If you call Lesker they may buy it off you.
Or, they might trace the serial number to find it's owner.
It might be illegal for you to confiscate it because I believe it is technically illegal to trespass on the railroad right-of-way, let alone remove something off of it (other than public crossings).
A friend of mine found some very cool (Thomas) Edison labeled battery acid bottles along the railroad. We used to play on the tracks all the time as kids. Very cool find!
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AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
This.
Do you have any way to check if it is radioactive, or to figure out if it has been used in conjunction with some nasty chemicals?
I'd go wash my hands really thoroughly, and handle that pump with gloves from now on. You have no idea where it has been, or what it has been used for in the past.
I'd go wash my hands really thoroughly, and handle that pump with gloves from now on. You have no idea where it has been, or what it has been used for in the past.
I work with hi-vac systems regularly(mass spectrometers).
We typically use a rotary vane pump of this type as what we call a roughing pump, or depending on who you ask/listen to maybe a foreline pump or a backing pump. In all cases it's used to give "rough" vacuum down to roughly 10^-2 or 10^-3 torr. The actual vacuum chamber is held at "high vacuum"(in systems I've worked with 10^-4 to 10^-8 torr) by a high vacuum pump, either an oil diffusion pump or a turbomolecular pump.
Both of these types of high vacuum pump can not exhaust directly to atmospheric pressure, so either an oil filled rotary vane pump or, if you're Agilent pushing smaller, quieter, and more expensive pumps you try to upsell everyone to an oil-free diaphragm pump(which has a few upsides and a lot of downsides).
Relatively speaking at least for the systems I've worked with, the pump cited here is huge. Edwards, which is the manufacturer I prefer for roughing pumps, numbers their pumps relative to pumping capacity/speed. The higher the number, generally the higher the capacity of the pump. Agilent has this annoying obsession now with smaller and quieter pumps, and when they were still supplying Edwards pumps the standard pump on the model 5973 mass spectrometer(which is what I have) was a 1.5 series pump. I actually have a .5 series pump on my mass spec now, and hoping to get the money to upgrade it to a 3 series pump(which is roughly equal to the 2 series they use to supply). The tiny pumps run double the speed of the bigger ones, which increases pumping capacity somewhat but they run REALLY hot and tend to give you a higher hydrocarbon background in your mass spec.
The biggest I've personally used is an Edwards 8 series pump, which was on an LC-MS(and has to deal with the vac chamber having a capillary that's open to the atmosphere and picking up water and all manner of other crud). By comparison, this 80 series pump is massive.
Also, just to give some reference, the little 1.5 series pumps I'm talking about weigh about 20lbs, and a proper 3 series pump is around 50lbs. The 8 series I think is a bit under 100lbs...
We typically use a rotary vane pump of this type as what we call a roughing pump, or depending on who you ask/listen to maybe a foreline pump or a backing pump. In all cases it's used to give "rough" vacuum down to roughly 10^-2 or 10^-3 torr. The actual vacuum chamber is held at "high vacuum"(in systems I've worked with 10^-4 to 10^-8 torr) by a high vacuum pump, either an oil diffusion pump or a turbomolecular pump.
Both of these types of high vacuum pump can not exhaust directly to atmospheric pressure, so either an oil filled rotary vane pump or, if you're Agilent pushing smaller, quieter, and more expensive pumps you try to upsell everyone to an oil-free diaphragm pump(which has a few upsides and a lot of downsides).
Relatively speaking at least for the systems I've worked with, the pump cited here is huge. Edwards, which is the manufacturer I prefer for roughing pumps, numbers their pumps relative to pumping capacity/speed. The higher the number, generally the higher the capacity of the pump. Agilent has this annoying obsession now with smaller and quieter pumps, and when they were still supplying Edwards pumps the standard pump on the model 5973 mass spectrometer(which is what I have) was a 1.5 series pump. I actually have a .5 series pump on my mass spec now, and hoping to get the money to upgrade it to a 3 series pump(which is roughly equal to the 2 series they use to supply). The tiny pumps run double the speed of the bigger ones, which increases pumping capacity somewhat but they run REALLY hot and tend to give you a higher hydrocarbon background in your mass spec.
The biggest I've personally used is an Edwards 8 series pump, which was on an LC-MS(and has to deal with the vac chamber having a capillary that's open to the atmosphere and picking up water and all manner of other crud). By comparison, this 80 series pump is massive.
Also, just to give some reference, the little 1.5 series pumps I'm talking about weigh about 20lbs, and a proper 3 series pump is around 50lbs. The 8 series I think is a bit under 100lbs...
