Inexpensive Vacuum Pump for UOA?

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I don't want to spend $30 on a vacuum pump to draw a sample since this is the only time I will use it. I was hoping to get the oil analyzed before changing it as the report will influence which oil I run next. Are there any inexpensive alternatives? Thanks for any help.
 
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Go to shucks or other auto parts store and buy hand pump for 1 quart bottles. about $6. U will need to rig an adapter to get it down to the size of tubing that will go through dipstick hole. It will get tons of air into your sample which is a drawback. They look like a large version of the pump on top of hand soap bottles.
 
Originally Posted By: jim_a
I don't want to spend $30 on a vacuum pump to draw a sample since this is the only time I will use it. I was hoping to get the oil analyzed before changing it as the report will influence which oil I run next.


That wasmy intentions exactly. I decided to buy Blackstones pump but it doesnt work for sampling in an 09 Traverse engine. There is a sharp enough bend in the dipstick hole that I cant get the plastic piping deep enough.
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Originally Posted By: hate2work

Just take the sample while draining the oil.


But the point of the pump was to sample and then analyze prior to doing a complete drain...as there is a good chance the oil could go longer.
 
Originally Posted By: AlanRebod
A Fumoto valve also works for that purpose. If you get the one with a nipple, its even more easier.

For less than $30?
 
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I'd have to go with saaber1 on this. Try a pump from any consumer product. A left over from something like Roundup might work. Just gouge out the spray nozzle (play with it). See if it will work. You need to draw about 2' of suction head.

I don't know if this will give you the suction you need, but if you had a couple of small ball checks hanging around ..
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A piece of aquarium tubing down the dipstick will work.
Should be a few dollars.
Get it long enough to siphon, and long enough to manually lung the sauce up without respiratory failure.
 
I'm wondering if aquarium hose on the bottom of a pump from a large laundry detergent bottle would work? You can use a small thin hose to insert into the dipstick, then use a reducer to make it fit onto the pump. I use something along those lines to drain PS fluid it works great, much better than the baster does.
 
I've done a UOA sample using aquarium hosing and siphoned it - took about 30 minutes to fill up a small Blackstone bottle.

Another poster stated that a fluid transfer pump would get bubbles in the oil and that this would be a problem for the UOA - is this true?
 
I didn't say it would be a problem with the UOA. I said it is a drawback of the el cheapo auto parts store pumps (like the one I posted above) compared to something like the blackstone/napa pump.

Another drawback of this type of pump is that the pump itself is contaminated with each use, whereas the blackstone pump and napa pump the liquid never contaminates the pump (just stick a new piece of the cheap disposable hose on it and it's ready for a new sample with no contamination).
 
Thanks for the info Saaber. I have a problem with not reading post carefully and then making outlandish statements about them. :) I noticed that Blackstone uses refrig. tubing, which may be better than aquarium tubing - the later is soft and I wonder about putting it down a hot dipstick tube. I think refrig. tubing could handle the heat better. I'm doing a dipstick sample on my next UOA, and I'll probably just end up doing it like last time - drip, drip from a siphon - while extra dust settles into the bottle.
 
Refrigerator tubing can't handle higher temps either. It's OK for a quick sample pull, but if you try to use it for a few minutes (like when extracting all of the warm oil from the engine), it'll collapse and close up, thus severely reducing the oil flow, to the point where nothing goes through.

I had to order extra tubing from MityVac directly because of that. Not sure what they use, but their tubing is much stiffer and resistant to high temps.
 
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