VIOT Professional HVAC Tools and Parts

Model:	VPES5
Brief:	VPES5: 1-Stage Vacuum Pump Continuous Duty 5.5 CFM
Buy it now:	$149.95 (Please NOTE: Shipping cost is to Continental USA only!)

Q:What refrigerant or oil are your pumps compstable with?

A: Vacuum pumps are compatable with all systems with any of the refrigerant or oil in the system. There is no compatibility issue what so ever, and you do not need to worry about cross contamination of one kind of oil to another system either, because the vacuum goes in one direction and there should be no cross contamination. The only issue you may consider is the port size, but this is solved by the use of the right manifold gauge set or other attachment tools, not an issue of vacuum pump.

Q:Where Do I Add the vacuum oil?

A: Remove the exhaust/muffler on top of the vacuum pump, exposed is a hole. Add the vacuum oil from this hole. Watch for the oil level from the sight viewing glass at the end of the pump. Remember to put the exhaust/muffler back after adding the oil.

Q:Do I Need To Change The Oil on the Pump? How often do I need to change the oil?

A: Yes. how often? It depends. Changing the oil on a regular bases(say Every half year), may extend the life of your pump. I change the oil when the oil is getting a little dark, or after I worked on a burned out system, or when the compressor oil get sucked into my pump. If you use the pump a lot, make sure you change the oil a little more often, too.

Q:What general care of vacuum pumps do I need to be aware of?

A: A few things here:
1, Change oil when needed,
2, watch oil level, do not over fill and do not under fill.
3, do not over heat the pump: if you are using the pump at ultra-low vacuum(near the max vacuum), you need to open the ballast valve a little so that a little air will get into the pump, the oil will travel with the air to inside of the pump mechanisms to lubricate the parts. DO not run the pump at the max vacuum for over 30 minutes.
4, do not let too much moisture or solvents, or debris get to the oil, design a trap on the intake air line, if needed.

Q:What applications your pumps can be used for?

A: Thousands of our pumps of different models are sold in the last few years. Besides AC system evacuation jobs, our pumps have been used in these applications according to what buyers have told us:

Lab equipment hook-ups:like freeze dryer; evaporator; vacuum filtration; vacuum-line network hook-up.
Shop equipment hoop-ups: lamination/gluing applications; resin infiltration/"pregnant" applications; boat repair jobs(click here and see how); CNC vacuum table hoopup, etc.
Jewry Making: Epoxy parts together under vacuum(no micro-air bubble in the glue);
Dairy Farm Pulsat0r Hookup; Dairy farm use for milking(most single stage and large CFM rated pumps)
Printing applications;
Medical and dental equipment hook-ups;

Any thing else? You have to tell us, so we can extend this list. we have pumps from 1.5 CFM to 12 CFM. If you are in need of a good pump, we have it for you. if you can not decide on a pump, email me and ask

Q: How do I decide on a vacuum pump? What model is good for my job?

A: It depends on your job. If you are using the pump for an industrial operation, you need a continuous duty or heavy duty pump. if your operation is HVAC evacuations and/or each run is less than an hour, use the intermittent duty or continuous duty pumps. Some HVAC men like the heavy duty pumps for their jobs. VPDx and VPEx are continuous duty pumps, VPBx are intermittent duty pumps. Pumps are rates on the free air replacement as CFM(cubic feet per minute). Bigger the CFM, larger the pump. How big your pump needs to be? This will depends on how quick the vacuum level has to be reached or the nature of the job. Bigger the void space in the vacuumed system(or the refrigeration system), bigger the pump need to be. Also, how fast you want to reach to the needed vacuum is also a factor to be considered. Bigger the pump, faster it will reach to the wanted vacuum. You will never regret if you choose the pump one size bigger than you need. Of the same CFM rating, 2 stage pumps out perform the single stage pumps and reduce the time needed to reach to the vacuum level by half. We have pumps from 1.58 CFM to 12 CFM, a wide range for you to choose from.

For a complete list of all the pumps, click on the link to download the user manual, all the technical data is included: Comparison of Vacuum Pumps.

Q: What does the micron rating mean? How does it relate to inch Hg vacuum or absolute pressure?

A: Atmospheric pressure is about 29.92 inch Hg. Any pressure below 29.9 in Hg is considered to be under vacuum. So, absolute vacuum is 0 in Hg, or 29.92 in Hg vacuum! At very low pressure under vacuum, micron is used. One micron is defined as 1 micrometer Hg in absolute pressure. One inch Hg has about 25,400 microns in pressure. 25 micron will be about 29.92 in Hg vacuum! Deep vacuum pumps are rated by their vacuum levels they can achieve in micons. So, the lower the micon rating, better is the pump, deeper the vacuum it can reach.

Q: Are the repair parts available?

A: Yes, all replacement parts are available. If your pump is out of warranty repair, and you need a part to be replaced because of dagame or waring, email me at: Johnm@viot.us, we will get you the replacement part. Make sure you tell John the Model of your pump and what part need to be replaced. There is a picture here if you need to know which part you need.

Q: I am using vacuum pump indoor, I noticed the oil vapor fillerd the room after using the pump, do you have a more powerful oil eliminator or muffler?

A: Every vacuum pump has the same "smoking" problem. Some manufacturers use very large and expensive oil-eliminator to help with this tituation. We have a new solution, that is an exhaust muffler with tubing connection, if you are planning to use the pump in a closed space/indoor, you can use this exhaust with plastic/poly tube to conduct the exhaust air to an exhaust hood or out door. make sure the tubing will NOT be blocked or give any back pressure to the pump.

just replace your existing muffler with this one and connect the tubing to it with a clamp. DO NOT reduce the the tubing size, make sure the condensed oil is running in one direction, and that does not block the exhaust air way. This mufler is availavle at: http://viot.us/HVAC/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=212

Q:Gas Ballast Valve, What is it for?

A: All 2-stage pumps of model VPDx and VPEx made by VIOT are shipped and contain a gas ballast valve. This is viewed as a brass adjustable knob (thumb operated) on top middle of the pump.

Often in evacuation work, the user will get water, or solvent vapor or other condensible contaminants as part of the gas stream and trapped in the vacuum chamber/oil. These contaminants come over because they have turned into gas from a liquid under vacuum. They then travel to the pump and turn back to a liquid and mixed with in the pump oil.

All liquid chemicals have a physical character known as vapor pressure. This vapor pressure is a function of physical chemistry law. The basic formulae is PV=nRT. I could get into an explanation more detailed here, but suffice to say that as a result of this formula, water will boil at room temperature when a vacuum pressure of roughly 29.5" mercury vacuum is achieved. When water boils it is turning from a liquid into a gas. All chemicals have this feature, just at varying temperatures and pressures based on their molecular construction.

It is possible to throughput some of these contaminants from your system and through the pump and that are where the gas ballast valve comes into play. If you do not require high vacuum less than say 300 micron for instance, then you can open up the gas ballast valve during the evacuation procedure and get some of these bad molecules out of the pump through the exhaust port of the pump. Remember also if they are coming out the exhaust they potentially are entering your workplace. This may pose a hazard either health based or fire based. If you are looking for better vacuum pressures, the valve is adjustable. This feature is not the total answer; it helps, but should not be considered the solution in problem applications with lots of contaminates.

If and once the pump is contaminated you can again use the gas ballast valve to assist in purging some of these contaminants from the vacuum pump oil in which it now resides. Close the pump inlet port off to full vacuum and allow pump to run/actuate with gas ballast valve in open position. This again will help purge the pump. Take a long lunch or let the pump actuate overnight with the valve open. Care again should be considered to the exhaust stream. If the pump is "smoking" or exiting oil mist in good quantity, you may come in the next morning to a room full of oil mist. Piping to a hood or using a coalescing filter like a capture filters can help eliminate this problem area.

If you have big problems in this area, or if you are always finding contaminants in your oil, you probably need a different solution and should call us.

It is common during operation of the pump with the gas ballast open for there to be seen oil mist or "smoke" coming from the exhaust of the pump. This is common for continuous duty pumps at these pressures. Use of Mist Eliminator or Capture filter may help in eliminating the "smoke" some how.

If you have no problem with contaminants you should use pump with the gas ballast valve closed. We consider this normal operation.