Speedivac Vacuum Pump

Hi all, today I have just collected a Speedivac Vacuum Pump, now have never had a vac type pump before so HELP, suggestions as to what it could be used to do, does /can it pump water?, is it just like a compressor, pumps air into a reservoir/tank.

It has a vee belt pulley fitted approx 9 inches in diameter, it is on a bed plate as can be seen in photo
so suggestions please... Am thinking of using my Norman T300 as driving engine will this have enough grunt/power to do so.

Don

Vacuum pumps are for making a vacuum not pumping water, by the time youve change the valves, if it has any you might as well find a water pump, find a milking octopus and run that like Foden does with his stuff.

Maryalice

No use for pumping water Don, a set of vaccum clippers would be ideal though as they can be seen working by the public.

Pete.

Thank you gentlemen for info, I learned something else, so my rally twin Mick says he will have it.

Don

A Norman T300 will easily power this vacuum pump.

A milking set would be good as the pulsator makes a nice sound; however one of those might take a bit of finding nowadays.
What ever you use; you need a water trap somewhere on the inlet line.

I have been in touch with Edwards and they say that the pump is made somewhere between 1939 and 1952 based on when the company moved premises.
The plate on the side says to use Edwards No8A High Vacuum Oil, does anyone know the SAE for this or can I use SAE30 or multigrade oil.  
Thanks
Mick

A quick search of the internet shows that the CST of vacuum oil is 68 to 77, SAE 30 CST is 10, there is a large difference between those numbers.
cst is centi-stokes/ absolute viscosity. when liquids are placed in a vacuum the vacuum draws off components of that liquid which changes its state, that means that the oil has to be designed for this not to happen so I would assume the answer to your question is no you cant.

Maryalice

Edwards made high vacuum pumps for scientific, laboratory and industrial applications. I doubt very much if the pump you have is for milking applications.

Thanks Guys, I was thinking along the lines of vacuum clippers rather than a milking set up, (I have a Gascoigne pump as well) but there is a fair amouth of air coming out of the 'other' end. I was messing around with a ping pong ball and it will lift it a couple of MM but not enough to be seen by someone 2 metre away behind the safety fence. I also tried blowing air into a 2 gallon water container which works fine but it is too much for a 'boiling' pan without heavily restricting the flow.

I have been onto Edwards and they recommend their Ultra Grade 19 oil as the modern equivelent. I am also putting a post on Suppliers as they have been very helpful particularly Pavlina Bracken, right from identifying the model, sending a print of the original manual and answering various questions.