$15 electric vacuum pump for anyone!

That ending made my day roflmao

I picked up one of the tetra whisper 40 pumps and followed the instructions and then plumbed some hoses and a vacuum gauge on the intake side and was getting suction up to 10-12 inches which is a bit more than I like so I wanted to figure out a hands-free solution to regulate a lower pressure.

I did some googling and ended up on Dwyer Instruments’s website looking at the AVS-150 (adjustable vacuum switch). Series APS/AVS Adjustable Pressure Switch | Dwyer Instruments

I found one on eBay for like 60 bucks and figure what the hell. Once I received the sensor I just opened up the pump again and unsoldered one of the power wires from its post and then connected it in series to the switch and resoldered everything together.

The switch is analog and takes some learning to figure out how it works but once I got the hang of it everything is working great. I would say the sensitivity is within 1-2 inches Hg meaning if I set it to 5Hg and it drops to about 3.5 it will kick back on and suck back up to 5.

I also picked up one of these 3-prong switches to make everything a bit more easy to operate since the tetra pump is on if it is plugged in. https://www.ama … /dp/B0113VTPSW/

Any ideas about how to add a gauge to this pump?

I use a much cheaper and simpler method of controlling the vacuum. At the pet store, I got a package of aquarium air control valves. They come in a package of 5 or 6 for about $7.00. I also got a “T” fitting for the air line for about another dollar or so. The valve seems to work better when attached to a “T” line. Somebody explained why, but I don’t remember. They are not made with any sort of precision, so you may need to try a few out of the package before you get one that actually work without leaking air. The diagram shows the setup and how to test them.

I did the the same thing and got the Dwyer AVS-150 pressure and suction switch from Ebay. I had to find the wiring diagram on Dwyer’s site since the pressure switch had three wires, a common wire and one for a normally open switch and one for normally closed and you need to wire the right one into the circuit to control the pump. From there I have two tees to create three points of suction. One goes to a guage, the second goes to the dwyer switch and the last one connects to a water trap so I can water pump. After the water trap, it splits to two outputs with valves so I can pump with a buddy or alone, or do nipples if I want. Adding the automatic suction switch has been a game changer. I just put this thing under my desk and pump for long sessions at low pressure. Thanks for the idea!

I picked up a new Tetra 30-60 on eBay for $18.

The screws that hold it together are Japanese “purasu”; not Phillips. But if you press down firmly with a small Phillips screwdriver you can get them out.

The white diaphragm carriers are a tight fit in their towers. Be careful levering them out. Mine were in tight enough I thought I might break something before they came loose.

The carriers are bolted to the spring arms. Mine were tight, but I was able to turn them 180 degrees without having to loosen the nuts.

Be careful of the O-rings when you reassemble them. They sit high in the grooves, and tend to get pushed out as you push the carriers back in. Hold them down with a fingernail or flat blade if necessary. Mine had some bits of rubber that were apparently shaved off on assembly, but the rings still held a seal.

The pump seems well-designed and solidly made. Even the plastic housing was heavier than I expected. However, the 30-60 does not have an on/off switch. You have to plug it in each time you want to use it, or purchase a remote switch; that’s an in-out plug, a long wire, and a rocker switch, generally. They used to be sold in my area; I have some lamps hooked to some. But I wound up having to buy replacements off eBay because nobody knew what I was talking about last time I tried to buy any. Or you could use a short power strip.

Mine pulled just under 5” Hg according to the gauge on my hand pump.

I picked up a Tetra 30-60 locally for about $13. It came with a T and control valves. I also purchased some drip irrigation hose 1/4”OD to connect it to the pump and need to get some extra 1/4” ID hose to connect to my pump / cylinder. As a test, I connected the hoses together to see how much pressure I could generate. I know it’s not accurate, but I was unable to get more than 150 mbar. I know this is the max because the pump makes a different sort of noise when it the hose is blocked than when there is free airflow, and boy is it LOUD!

So before I return this pump, I have to ask.. What is the actual point of using this over a manual pump? Is it just to maintain the pressure? That you can do pretty well anyway.. So I’m thinking maybe I missed something and decided to post here first. I do have my eye on the DP-4000 for dynamically changing the pressure and from what I’ve read, that sets the pressure and then stops so whatever noise you hear is minimal. I was really kinda hoping this would have been a nice option to have before shelling out $500+.

Please someone explain where I’m going wrong.
Thanks!

I couldn’t figure out how to get an accurate reading on the pressure from the pump. So I took my LeLuv hand pump with gauge and removed the adapter so I could thread the Tetra hose into it and remove all the leak issues.

What I’m seeing is the pressure gauge goes straight up to about -4Hg and then slowly climbs up closer to -5Hg but doesn’t quite get there. Then if I cut the power, the gauge stays at that setting until I release it. So that tells me the Tetra hose is closed when its off so should not cause any loss of pressure. This brings me back to my earlier observation which is the point of this seems to be to just maintain the pressure at whatever this pump is capable of. I tried using the valve to control the pressure, but no matter what settings I put it on, my gauge always shows the same reading so I am not sure how good the valve is actually. I will have to assume that this pump will always give me about -4Hg pressure so I definitely don’t want to do extremely long sessions (1-4hrs) using this.

I got a timer today and set that to cycle 5 seconds on, 5 seconds off.. Plugged the Tetra into it and connected to my cylinder.
Sure enough, the pump comes on, the pressure builds up for 5 seconds, then the pump goes off, and the pressure stays where it is in the cylinder.

Not the experience I was hoping for. So I need a way to release the pressure when the pump goes off now..
Otherwise I really don’t see any benefit to using this air pump over a regular manual pump.

I have the LeLuv smart pump and that is actually perfect for this application. But I really wanted to see if I could make a workable alternative DIY solution.
I’m open to ideas!

I added a tee fitting and an aquarium valve to provide a controlled air leak. I also have a vacuum gauge plumbed in. I set the pump for 4” when pumping my shaft, 3” when doing my scrotum, which doesn’t like 4”.

With the valve, vacuum bleeds off rapidly after the pump shuts off.

I’m so glad I went back up the thread and read this. The valve does work better if it is attache via a “T” line - WOW!
So I’m getting the pressure go down now, but the quicker the release, the less max pressure I can get. At this rate, I will have to get another T and add the second pump channel to give me a bigger boost.
It’s certainly entertaining. If I had some bumps in the tube, it would actually make for an awesome edging session. So I guess I won’t be returning the pump after all.

I do need to come up with a good alternative for the tube though. The hard cylinder I have now can easily dislodge whilst sleeping and doesn’t keep a tight seal at such low pressures.
Anyone have any ideas for an alternative to the vitallusPLUS’ ridiculous $140+shipping(+customs?) option?

Thanks!

Some picture are missing in the original post ,where can I find them ?

I’ve used my converted Tetra 30-60 for about two years. The max it would pull was 4.5" Hg on my gauge. Last week it started slowly declining, down to 2" yesterday, and not enough to register on the gauge this morning.

I pulled it apart. Some lubricant had migrated up to one of the valves. The other was dry. I cleaned everything, put it back together, and it would pull about 3" with the gauge connected to either port, but the flow was so low that any leakage at all, like adding the train of hoses and tee fittings, would drop it to zero.

The rubber diaphragms look fine. There are two small check valves in the valve plate, that I couldn’t figure out how to take apart without "destructive disassembly." I have another pump buried in "stuff". I’ll dig that one out and use it until I figure out how to take the valve cages apart.

I figure somewhere over a thousand hours on it now.