Vacuum pump to air compressor

[icanfixall]

Vacuum is a funny animal. When vacuum is pulled on something we have a void of pressure or absence of pressure. Many times the pressure is holding something nuetral. Now pull a vacuum on a beer can and see what happens. Is it the vacuum crushing it or the atmosphere pressure crushing it.... Well its the atmosphere crushing it. All the atmosphere outside something that under vacuum is trying to get back inside to nuetralize the pressures. That outside atmosphere is nearly unlimited in scope compared to the tiny bit of vacuum in the chamber. The sudden rush of air into a vacuum has a dianamic effect. Things can and will explode violantly from the shock.. Its kinda like the effects of water hammer in a pipeing system like found at a steam plant.. I have seen that happen from a distance. I sure was glad to be far enough away from that. The schedual 80 12 inch line danced so hard that all the fiber insulation simpley disolved into the air. When we attemptd a repair to that line it was incredible how much force we need to move the line back into place. Several 5 tons chainfalls were used. Just getting those in place we needed smallr 2 ton chainfalls to move them up to the slings... It makes a man feel so weak and small..

 

[FordGuy100]

Can we get off the units subject . Let's just do the standard measure which is inHg

I do believe 29.96 inHg is the ideal vacuum. Even though space is a vacuum, it isn't a perfect vacuum. A perfect vacuum has absolutely no molecules in it's volumetric area, space has a lot of crap floating in it (and although compared to the size of space, it's virtually nothing, it does mean space isn't a perfect vacuum).

 

[madpogue]

The OP is looking for an air compressor, one with enough capacity to fill his suspension air bags. He mentioned 50 psi, but we also would need to know the flow rate required. So the question is, does anybody make a compressor pump that would produce the pressure / flow he needs, that would bolt up in place of the vac pump? I'm guessing there's a pump out there that would fit the bill, but no doubt some bracket fabrication would be required.

 

[bike-maker]

I would use it to fill an air tank, which in turn would be used to fill the air bags.
On board air would be nice, but I just don't see where I would mount a compressor (a belt driven one). After I get intercooler pipes thrown in there, I don't see much room available; something that fit in the space of the stock vacuum pump would be really convenient.

 

[Silver Burner]

If your AC is toast and you don't need it, I'd put a compressor there. Talk to the guys at Les Schwabs. They all have compressors mounted under the hoods of their service trucks.

 

[bike-maker]

Yeah, I've eyed the ones the tire guys use and their pretty big.

It's basically coming down to whether or not I want to have AC. Have all of the parts, just need installed and charged up.

 

[Dave 001]

The problem would be converting the suction side to a presure side. That means you have to reverse the valve in the head. I don't know how you could unroll the can seal and not damage the diaphram. These vacuum pumps suck running clockwise or counter clockwise... They are an interesting suction pump being that they suck being driven any direction.

The vacuum pumps are not a vane pump (which must run in the correct direction).

The pulley spins an eccentric which pushes against a pushrod. The pushrod pushes against the diaphram. A spring pushes the diaphragm back. The spring is what determines how much vacuum the pump can pull (much like a fuel pump where the spring determines fuel pressure....not the lever). The eccentric will push on the pushrod no matter which dirction it is turned thus the vacuum pumps work in either direction.

 

[swervyjoe]

If you're looking for a smaller compressor, look at land yachts at the local junkyard. A lot of them were air ride so they have electric compressors.

 

[icanfixall]

The wrecking yard suggestion is the one I would go with... Plenty of rides made by foed even that had an air ride system.. Linchlons were one of them..

 

[Black dawg]

I would find a high quality small 12v compressor. The volume of the bags is pretty small.

If you are looking for something bigger, I just built a york that is driven 1:1 by a winch motor. It is pretty dang fast (will run my 1/2 impact) and is compact enough that I have it mounted to the frame under the cab.....just an idea anyway.

 

[Matrix37495]

If you are looking for something bigger, I just built a york that is driven 1:1 by a winch motor. It is pretty dang fast (will run my 1/2 impact) and is compact enough that I have it mounted to the frame under the cab.....just an idea anyway.

Do you think a starter motor would work for something like this? I still have my old starter laying around and an extra york....

 

[jaluhn83]

On the subject of vacuum pumps, mid 80's Volvo 760 turbos used a nice little electric vacuum pump - take a look in the local junkyard. They're real nice, pump, motor and control all on one little frame. Not enough volume for the brake boost, but one should work fine for the HVAC stuff.

No way you can convert our vacuum pump over short of essentially building a new pump. Have to change all the check valves and all around and it's not serviceable to begin with. Then it'd only be good for ~15 psi.

I'd say your best bet is a small 12 volt compressor, either hard mounted or portable. Use it when you need it then put it back away. Plus you've then got air for filling tires, etc.

 

[perronotto]

thank you

air compressor
vacuum pump

 

[opusd2]

Here's something I just come up with.

I am seeing a gal who just took a long trip and before hand offered to look at her mini van to make sure it was all good. So, I discovered that it had an auto leveler system on it with air over hydraulic shocks in the rear. The shocks are bad, so she will need new ones but that isn't the point. The point IS, that after looking into her van I saw that the lines went up into a level switch connected to a controller which activates on board air. And it turns out that behind a panel in the back of the van is an outlet for hooking up a factory supplied air hose to fill tires or whatever. And it connects to the on air system and is activated with a manual switch under the same cover. It was pretty damn neat!

I have been considering converting a compressor I have had just for this purpose, but after discovering this little OEM gem on the Olds Silhouette, I think I may go to the local pick N pull and grab a compressor since I need to grab a couple of other little parts and controls anyway for her van. That is something to consider instead of going the other route, but from what I have seen those converted compressors have been around a long time and are pretty dependable. You just need a set of engine mounts and a free pulley on the crank and water pump to make this work. At least on the crank.

 

[opusd2]

And how about for a storage tank something I have seen around. A piece of larger well pipe capped off and mounted under by the frame with a connector for the hose plumbed out to the bumper or wherever. Heck, why not look into a bigger truck's air tank if you think you will need gobs of air...