Sciencemadness Discussion Board

"Swirling-Type" Aspirator vacuum pump

SuperOxide - 22-5-2021 at 10:48

I just purchased an aspirator pump off of Amazon for a decent price. I chose to go with a Nickel plated one because from what I understand it can hold up better than stainless steel to some chemicals (eg: some HCl fumes coming out of the vacuum takeoff adapter, stuff like that).

The question I have is in regards to it being a "Swirling-Type" aspirator. Does this mean the driving fluid stream swirls out of the motive-fluid nozzle instead of just streaming out? If so, does this help pull a better vacuum?

I'm curious if anyone has experience with this and a non-swirling-type aspirator and has noticed a difference.

It hasn't arrived yet (or even shipped, so let me know if I should cancel it, lol), so I can't yet test it, but I hope I made a good purchase for the price I paid (somewhat financially limited at the moment).

Dr.Bob - 23-5-2021 at 17:40

There are a few types of them, I have seen the swirling type a few times, and they work fine, the simple ones also do OK, all requiire a good water flow at a decent PSi, and the colder the better.

In 40 years of chemistry, I have used many aspirators, and the only thing that matters is a good water source ()flow and pressure) and making sure that the little ball valve in the vacuum arm is not stuck. It should rattle when shaken. if it clogs, the vacuum will not work. (just unscrew the valve and clean it carefully.)

SuperOxide - 23-5-2021 at 17:52

Quote: Originally posted by Dr.Bob  
There are a few types of them, I have seen the swirling type a few times, and they work fine, the simple ones also do OK, all requiire a good water flow at a decent PSi, and the colder the better.

In 40 years of chemistry, I have used many aspirators, and the only thing that matters is a good water source ()flow and pressure) and making sure that the little ball valve in the vacuum arm is not stuck. It should rattle when shaken. if it clogs, the vacuum will not work. (just unscrew the valve and clean it carefully.)


Right. For now, I'll just hook it up to my sink, which should work OK. But I think I will buy a water pump like this, which is 5 LPM, 100+ PSI and self-priming (I think it's the same one NurdRage shows in his video). I'd like to be able to recirculate the water anyways so it's not so wasteful.

Do you think 5 LPM &100+ PSI is maybe too powerfull? They have a few other versions on there that are less powerful. Let me know what you think.

[Edited on 24-5-2021 by SuperOxide]