Trying to build a pump, but I'm no engineer

8Goal—McMaster-Carr according to an engineer firend of mine (Polypropilene hose connectors). Steve

Is this guy a champ or what? westla tracked the fittings down awhile ago.

westla90069 - Pump hose end diameter

McMaster more than likely has the same product if you look hard enough.

For those that have been following along and helping I’ve got a weekend update. The good news is that I now have a working homemade pump! Here’s the story…

I made an error in my original post b/c the first pump I purchased was NOT the Mity-Vac from Autozone, but the pump from Harbor Freight Tools. After reading what BiggerJohnson wrote in this thread about his pump coming with adapters and therefore not having to buy anything else to assemble his, I realized that we had different pumps.

So…the short story is that I purchased the Mity-Vac and sure enough, is does come with everything you need to connect the pump with the gravel cylinders 1/2” tube. I also got some Plast-Dip to make the base more comfortable.

Here’s where I am still confused though. There has got to be a way to connect the pump from HFT to a gravel cylinder thru some type of connection. The difference between the pumps is that the tube that comes with the HFT pump is 1/8” in diameter and the tube that comes with the MV pump is 1/4” in diameter. Finally, the tube that comes with the gravel cylinder is 1/2” in diameter. The discrepancy between the 1/8” tube and the 1/2” tube is so large that I could not find a way to join them.

However, it is my understanding that the HFT pump is in fact the same pump you get from LA pumps so if it works for them then surely there is a way. Right??? Does anyone have an answer for this?

EJ: #1. Get McMaster-Carr’s phone number from their web-site and talk with a rep. there in Georgia. #2.Tell them that you need the connectors on page 164 of their catalog. The gravel cleaner tube is 3/8” I think and the Harbor freight hose is 1/8”. Both are inside diameters. Tell the rep that you need the barbed end connector to JOIN these two hoses. I’d suggest that you order the connector with the shut-off valve. u’ll be able to disconnect the cylinder from the pump. You’d only need a fairly short piece of hose on the gravel cleaner tube. You should use a SS hose clamp on the gravel cleaner connection also; probably won’t need one on the Polypropylene Quick-Disconnect Tube Couplings though. I’d put one but I tend to over-engineer everything. Be careful—the gravel cleaner plastic is real plyable and don’t lend to overtighting the clamps. This should help. Steve

Glad to hear you got it figured out. Good luck and happy pumping!