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Originally Posted by Fatstogey

Mine just didnt sound right with the oil only half way up the sightglass. It sounds much better now that i have filled it to the top of the sight glass. It was really loud and clanky before. Now it sounds much smoother.

I gotta get my micron gauge on it but i have been stuck doing roughs lately. My partner used it on sat. But he didnt even hook up the micron gauge. So i still dont know if its running properly. I just know its much quieter now and sounds more like my partners jb than it did before.

Sounds like yours is working fine based on the temp and micron reading on that 1 1/8 set. I have the little brother (the Robinair 15400) and I know the noise you are describing. Bought it used btw. It only pulled to about 500 microns at first. I Have taken apart the entire pump and put it back together a few times. I set the clearance with .003 inch paper in both pump chambers and it really worked nice after that. Now it pulls to 3-7 microns. Surprising since it's only rated at 20. Only pulls this low when connected directly to a gauge using a short metal line though.

After having the thing apart and learning how it works (from their patent which is the only info I could find anywhere on these) I am convinced the loud clanking sound is the reed valves. This sound only occurs when the pump is moving a lot of air such as at startup. Once the vacuum gets down to 1200 microns or so it gets much quieter because the reeds are not being slamed open against the stops any more as there is very little air movement as the vacuum gets deep. Once the reed valves stop clanking it goes into a surge, surge, surge, sort of mode, then once the vacuum gets under about 50 microns it just kind of purrs. It that hows yours works too?

Anyway, I'm quite happy with the performance.

Originally Posted by Fatstogey

My partner hasnt changed the oil in his jb in at least 6 months maybe more like a year and it will still pull down to 200 microns in about 20 min.

The pump by itself should pull down to less than 100 microns in less than 10 minutes ... I have a Robinair 15600 and it usually pulls 25 to 35 with fresh oil in it in 5 minutes or less. 200 is the maximum I ever let my pump get to without changing the oil, if it can't pull below 200, I change it right away.

A friend of mine has an antique Robinair that pulls the best vacuum of any field hand held pump I've ever seen ... its the only one that I've seen pull off the scale of normal HVAC micron gages.

I haven't really noticed whether my pump gets hot or not, I'll check and get back on that.

Anyone notice the new J/B Platinum's have the rope ring on the handle again? How about the vent on the handle having a plug? Know what that plug is for? Its not just to keep oil from spilling out in the back of your truck and making a mess. There's also a reason the whole J/B Platinum series weighs less than 38 pounds ... I'll give you a hint ... I did not think of the little strap to keep you from loosing the plug.

i guess i just never noticed it before but mine does get very hot.

I was pulling a vac on a 40 ton split yesterday and it got so hot i could only touch it for less than a second. I had just changed the oil, i never ever noticed that it got that hot before. weird.

Well it pulled a 60' 1 1/8" lineset to 300 microns in about 20 minutes. I wanted to see how far it would go but my partner was whining cause this was about an hour ago. So it was good enough but i didnt get to see how low it would go.
The pump was 119*F on the actual pump side. I still think thats a lil warm but it seems to be pulling good vacuum.

Sounds to me like you need a new pump.
Bad news: You can't rebuild them. You can't get parts.
You can buy some parts, but they are all external.

If you cannibalize, pump will still have problems.
Pumps have gone through many changes. Serial
number is important for rebuilding.

Rob has 4 repair centers across the US. If you call
them and talk to repair men, they will listen, but
they all have the same answer: You have to
send me the pump.

They sound like they know what they are talking about.
They have strict tolerances. They have specialized
equipment for rebuilding pumps.

I have not bought rebuilt pumps yet, but that's only
because it's inconvenient. (Too much on my plate.)
I will buy some when I get around to it. (No worries.)

Originally Posted by cjett

I have used Robinair pumps for years with out any kind of problems. I fill the pump to half way up the sight glass with the pump hooked up and running. If the oil is above the window, drain some to get the proper level.

Mine just didnt sound right with the oil only half way up the sightglass. It sounds much better now that i have filled it to the top of the sight glass. It was really loud and clanky before. Now it sounds much smoother.

I gotta get my micron gauge on it but i have been stuck doing roughs lately. My partner used it on sat. But he didnt even hook up the micron gauge. So i still dont know if its running properly. I just know its much quieter now and sounds more like my partners jb than it did before.

I have used Robinair pumps for years with out any kind of problems. I fill the pump to half way up the sight glass with the pump hooked up and running. If the oil is above the window, drain some to get the proper level.

Well i finally got the new pump oil i ordered. Filled it up and turned it on. I over filled it and it seems to be quieter, slightly overfilled. Not too much, which i did at first. Oil came shooting out of the handle. But after that i drained a lil. Before i filled it to the line on teh sight glass. And if it tipped or something it would drop below the line and the glass. This time i filled it over the sight glass and no matter how i tip it the sight glass stays full of oil.

Unfortunately. lol Tommorow im doing a rough in. So i wont even use it mon and tue. Maybe Wed.

I only ran it at the shop a lil. But it sounds, more like it should, with the oil just a lil overfilled. IDK next time i use it ill see if the added oil reduces the temp any. And how many microns im pulling.

i to have the same pump and i reckon i could fry eggs on mine when waiting for a suitable vacuum!!!would like to know your outcome!think i might have to change to oil and see if makes a difference,i think the fact that my mate had the pump running with no gauges attach and sucking in the world into the pump oil does it no good tho lol!!!!

Originally Posted by y7turbo

thats the 6cfm right?

mine runs warm not really hot, but the noise does go from loud to no so loud.

I need to get some oil. When i do i wanna take the temp on the pump. My partners JB does not get that hot at all. And is never as loud as mine.
Mine is only a month old. I was gonna get a jb platinum but i came across this brand new robinair for 250.00. So i got it to save some cash.

The JB motor gets just as hot as mine does. But the pump on mine gets pretty darn warm. Like i said im gonna check the temp once i get some oil. I would guesstimate in the 140* area.

But as you said sometimes the pump is pretty loud then sometimes not so loud. But no matter which, its never as quiet as the JB.

My personal one runs warm...

The one my shop gave me runs pretty hot.

My personal one has been babied

The one my shop assigned me has been beat.

Originally Posted by Fatstogey

Anyone have this pump?


But mine will be really hot all the time. And then sometimes its loud and sometimes its not. Im waiting to get some more oil to check how many microns it will be then. To see if its actually working correctly. But anyone with the same pump that does the same thing?

thats the 6cfm right?

mine runs warm not really hot, but the noise does go from loud to no so loud.

Robinair 15600

Anyone have this pump?

Cause i wanna know if theirs runs as hot as mine. My partner has a jb and it does not run any where near the temp of my robinair. The pump itself gets to hot to touch. The jb is hot but not that hot. Also its much louder than the jb. And on top of that oil seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate and its not leaking?? My partner hasnt changed the oil in his jb in at least 6 months maybe more like a year and it will still pull down to 200 microns in about 20 min.

But mine will be really hot all the time. And then sometimes its loud and sometimes its not. Im waiting to get some more oil to check how many microns it will be then. To see if its actually working correctly. But anyone with the same pump that does the same thing?