Homemade pump - uk - new idea for vacuum pump?
OK, so just to clarify, the UK part of the thread name doesn’t mean it’s only for UK people, just that I’m in the UK and I know some types of equipment aren’t always as easily available (or certainly cheaply) if you’re looking to build a fully working pump.
So, last weekend I set about making one and it went surprisingly well! Here’s my setup with UK costs:
- cylinder - probably the weakest part of my setup. The shops didn’t really have what I wanted (something transparent and cylindrical in shape) so I settled for second best, one of those BPA-free plastic drinks bottles. The mouthpieces on those things tend to be large, probably around 2" in diameter. The problem? It’s blue, and i can only see through it in certain lights. To make a hole for the tube, I simply got a lighter and melted away some of the base of the bottle. This was purchased from a Field and Trek store, but again, they’re widely available
Mine looks a bit like this but is blue, and wasn’t as expensive. You’ll need to rip the lid off!
http://www.amaz … /dp/B001NCDE8E/
Cost - £5
- pipe / hose - I went for some good old shower tubing / hose made from that rubbery material (rubber?!) rather than the metal ones. It’s about the right size for the rest of the kit. Make sure you consider the size of the hose when melting the hole in the plastic bottle. Really, you only need a very short amount of hose for the kit but you’ll probably end up with a metres worth. I saw some shower hose packs with a Y shaped split, like headphones, i guess you could use this to your advantage, the bottom of the Y goes to your cylinder and the other ends go to the pump and the gauge, if needed. You can get this from any hardware store, mine was from Robert Dyas (a B&Q style place)
Cost £7
- vacuum pump - this bit I’m particularly happy with and thought I’d struggle with most. I’m sure someone has considered this before and yes you can self suck (he he he) but if you don’t want to then I recommend this - a vacuum pump for preserving wine! The beauty of this is, not only is it also cheap, you get two valves that normally fit wine bottles, whose necks are very similar in size to shower hoses. On mine, the valve sits over one end of the hose, and you simply pump away - within 30 seconds you have a decent vacuum. These things must be readily available in all countries, the only downside is there’s no gauge.
Cost £8
http://www.amaz … /dp/B0000AQVO2/
- creating the seal around the cylinder and tube - I got some bondloc (adhesive sealant) and went for the plastic version of the product. It does exactly what you think it does, quickly. Within 15 minutes it had created a tight seal to ensure you have a tight vacuum when pumping. I bought this from Maplins, but many places will sell this and similar products
Cost £6
TOTAL COST - £26 maybe $40 or so, but could be done cheaper.
Anyway, it works a treat!! I’ve only used it once or twice, I plan to supplement manual stretching and jelqing with this. I’ve been out of the PE game for about five months, after making a bit of progress, so hopefully it’ll spur me onto getting back into a routine.
Hopefully someone gets some benefit from this, I know it can be frustrating wanting to build equipment but being stuck for ideas or parts - assuming you don’t want to buy a pre-made pump. If anyone wants any more info on this or a picture etc just let me know.
