Sciencemadness Discussion Board

second-hand vacuum pump, oil change question

dicyanin - 24-1-2026 at 11:59

A while ago I was lucky to find a vacuum pump on a flea market for 10 bucks.
It's a beauty for that price, and a quick test takes it down to 15 torr, but I did't dare to run it too long because the oil is really murky and needs change.

vacpump1.png - 1.3MB
vacpump3.png - 1MB
vacpump2.png - 1.1MB

I never have done this before, as up until now I've always use a refrigerator compressor as vacuum source.
Any tips on what oil to use and things to take in consideration?