Vacuum Pump....which brand...Im unhappy with mine

[doglips]

I've been using a robinair 6cfm pump for the last 2 months (yes I know now 6cfm is over sized for my work...but mom its what all the other kids have)...and monday its going back to j-mart (under warrenty)...I have not been overly impressed with it...it always sounded like it has rocks in the pump now sounds like large rocks...does an ok job of getting to 500 microns...not a record setter but acceptable. Only holds about 1/2 quart of oil...yes I change it religiously.

Im doing residential change outs..so no big stuff...all under 5 ton...mostly 4 and 3 ton units.

The J/B pump looks nice...but I dont know any thing about their new pumps...Uniweld is a company I have been impressed with interms of how their stuff is made and holds up....Yellow jacket is pricy and not all their stuff has impressed me (their valve wrences suck)....so not sure I want to slap down the extra $$ for the name.

Robinair offers an over the counter exchange...so I wont be without a pump...so this is most likely a next month purchas.....I wanted to get some imput from you all about what brandS of pumps you use..have used...and which ones seem to be the best and worst....I dont mind paying good money for good tools...but got to admit paying good money for junk torques my rod..

[trane]

I just bought a new JB to replace one that's 15 years old and still going. I liked the looks of some of the others but my old JB has lasted so long with no problems I couldn't justify changing brands.

[HVAC Pro]

I have 2 J/B's at 10-15 yrs. old. I'd buy another one tomorrow if these quit.

[dec]

Have 2- 3 cfm JB vacume pumps ..... one is a good 25 years old, other is probably 20 years old. I have them checked out all the time when one of my distributors has robinaire come in and do a vacume pump check for free for everyone. They always kid me on how old they are but they always say that they are still working great.

I dont think you need any bigger then the 3 cfm for residental in my opinion. If I need more I just use 2 of the 3 cfm pumps.

I have replaced the oil level windows in both of them being they started leaking after about 20 years. That cost about $12.00 as I remember, for each window. I thought that was a lot for what was there but what the heck, cant get them from anyone else and other then changing the oil a lot ..... whats $12 lol.


Has anyone tried the JB eliminater ?????????? looks like less cost and I have a hard time thinking it would be made that much cheaper .

[coldking]

Only holds about 1/2 quart of oil...yes I change it religiously.
--------------------------------------------------------------
I have a yellow jacket 6cfm pump it takes a full quart of oil.They do tend to be a little noisey my new one is quieter but not as quiet as the my robinair that has been abused (lack of oil changes by other techs). The robinair seems to work better than any of the yellow jackets. I wish the oil sight glass was a little larger its hard to tell the oil level

[youarerelevant]

I like the JB as well. Just had rebuilt after many years of use.

[uniservice]

I bought a robinair 6 for evacuating larger systems, not real impressed I also have three JB 3s. One is a 1978 model. other is an 84, and newest one is a 2001. All three work well and are all quieter than the Robinair. Change the oil a lot and those JBs will last forever. Have lost some couplings and I also had a sight glass leak,,,,,but they're great pumps.

[ascj]

I have used some others techs Robinairs, older J/B's, and CPS's. None have held a match to my 11 year 6cfm yellow jacket.

I haven't had a chance to try any of the newer J/B's.

[tostaos]

Refco has very good pumps for the money. Have never seen anything negative about their vacuum pumps.
http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=413142&highlight=refco
http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=146740&highlight=refco

[Paul Bee]

The last 3 commercial companies i have worked for all used JB . I personally own a JB and a small Robinair. Both have been very reliable. The only other brand I have used was made by Thermal. It was kind of heavy but it was quiet and I liked it. I would stick with one of the major brands, ask at the local parts house who has the best customer service. If you change the oil frequently it will last a long time.(whatever brand you choose). Hey coldking ,when you change it religiously does that mean you pray it's going to start when you turn it back on?

[Texas-Tech]

I have a 6cfm JB and after dropping it from a hatch 30 feet up it still works and it's
MADE IN USA

[Wheelbaron]

I have a 6cfm JB and after dropping it from a hatch 30 feet up it still works and it's
MADE IN USA

Bet that made a dent!....


....in the floor :D

[sokoservices]

So i've hear that not always is bigger better in vacuum pumps. is that true? if Im doing a lot of refer work will a 10cmf be bad?

[scooters45]

JB states that a vacuum pump will do the square of it's rating. A 5cfm will do 25 tons a 6 will do 36 tons and so on.

www.jbind.com

I had a CPS 6 CFM (stolen) it was dual voltage and 19 lbs and I loved it on Rooftops.

I have a company JB 6 CFM and it's good. I've had Yellow Jackets and their good to.

I used Refco and there nice too.

My personal pump is a Watsco. It's 20 + years old and just a cord and coupling is all its needed.

IMHO it depends on what your working on. The bigger the unit the bigger the pump up to a point then it's 2 smaller pumps for me.

[sokoservices]

JB states that a vacuum pump will do the square of it's rating. A 5cfm will do 25 tons a 6 will do 36 tons and so on.

www.jbind.com

I had a CPS 6 CFM (stolen) it was dual voltage and 19 lbs and I loved it on Rooftops.

I have a company JB 6 CFM and it's good. I've had Yellow Jackets and their good to.

I used Refco and there nice too.

My personal pump is a Watsco. It's 20 + years old and just a cord and coupling is all its needed.

IMHO it depends on what your working on. The bigger the unit the bigger the pump up to a point then it's 2 smaller pumps for me.


I do a lot of refrigertion work. so would the 10cfm be an over kill? Or does it not matter?

[sparky05]

I have heard that if you pull a vacuum too quickly you could freeze the moisture in the system instead of boiling it off and removing it, not sure where to confirm that information.

[scooters45]

I do a lot of refrigertion work. so would the 10cfm be an over kill? Or does it not matter?

It depends on the unit size. 12,000 btu per hp. is my rule of thumb.

10 x 10 = 100 tones x 12,000 btu =1,200,000 btu's.

That equals a 100 hp compressor. Plus in service work how often will we be evacing the entire system?

I have 2 6 CFM pumps. I would rather use 2 so I can change oil while 1 runs on large systems.

So if it was me and I was buying a new pump I would get 1 in the 5 or 6 cfm range.

Yes you can freeze moisture in a system if you evac it too fast. I've seen it happen at the schraders if you leave the cores in.

[Jayyy1985]

Scooters45 is right. 10 cfm might be alittle overkill. Unless your a startup guy doing big rack systems or you do alot of ref conversions. If you do i also agree with having 2 6cfm's. I personally have a yj 6cfm. its probably about 5 yrs old. No complaints with it, tho i would like to get me a dual voltage one. They're fancy.

[chilliwilly]

I've been using a robinair 6cfm pump for the last 2 months (yes I know now 6cfm is over sized for my work...but mom its what all the other kids have)...and monday its going back to j-mart (under warrenty)...I have not been overly impressed with it...it always sounded like it has rocks in the pump now sounds like large rocks...does an ok job of getting to 500 microns...not a record setter but acceptable. Only holds about 1/2 quart of oil...yes I change it regularly

I have the Robinaire 15601 6cfm, well actually its more like 5cfm coz we're on 50 hz, and it sounds like the same model. This might sound like a daft question but when you say it sounds like it has rocks in it, do you or have you ever opened the gas ballast bypass valve before you turn it on?

I sometimes forget to open it when I start it and its sounds rough as f*ck when it starts, but if I open the valve it sounds and works fine. I've had it pull down to 18 micron raising back towards 300 micron within 15 minutes, probably due to trapped moisture/ice.

Either way if its under warranty it won't hurt to take it back, as soon as they switch it on they'll know what the problem is.

[RussellHarju]

I think the Appion is by far the best vacuum pump on the market. It has features like no other.

http://www.appioninc.com/products/tez8features.html

[thrashme]

on the over sized vacuum pump, this made me a believer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECOMAbLI1V4
I have two yj 5 cfm and a humm vac 12 cfm. Yes I do a few racks.

[tostaos]

I think the Appion is by far the best vacuum pump on the market. It has features like no other.

http://www.appioninc.com/products/tez8features.html
not for residential or small refrigeration

[4x4freak]

I like the JB pumps. I've had two, one was new at my previous employer, and I have one I bought used a couple years ago. Both work(ed) good and are built solid.

[RussellHarju]

not for residential or small refrigeration

I asked the guys at Appion about small refrigeration and residentual. Here is their response.

"Russ, there is no reason that a Tez 8 can not be used on a residential or small system. We have many high end residential contractors using the Tez 8 with excellent results as well as small commercial refrigeration. What they may be concerned with is a system that is extremely wet possibly from a water cooled condenser cracking - happens all over the country even on large tonnage chillers. If you remove the moisture extremely fast it can turn into ice. It's called sublimation. When that occurs you will see frost on the tubing, and a hair dryer is a good way to heat it up so that it will evaporate and leave the system.
That fact is that most evacuation processes take so long because every one chokes the pumps to death with 1/4 inch hoses. If a contractor is concerned about going too fast he can hook up through the 1/4 fitting and he will slow it down to about .8 cfm. That's slow enough for the smallest systems out there."

[tostaos]

The Appion is the best for commercial but I stand by my statement that is is not the best for residential and small refrigeration.
Reasons:
1. too expensive
2. Oil change is too expensive for a small system
3. too fast for a small system

[Roxx]

This is my first post. I am buying a new pump and am between the JB and Robinair. I do mostly residencial retrofit and for what i read here the JB is winning. I used the Robinair for years but this time I am paying for it. Anyhting to say?

[RussellHarju]

The Appion is the best for commercial but I stand by my statement that is is not the best for residential and small refrigeration.
Reasons:
1. too expensive
2. Oil change is too expensive for a small system
3. too fast for a small system

Those are understandable. It just sounded like you were saying it wouldn't work on small systems and i just wanted to double check that it did and wanted to get the answer from the source.