Pumping Air with a Drill-Powered Pump

croderick751 A drill could be used to power a small compresser or a small vacuum pump. The power and duty cycle of the drill would greatly limit the amount of either that you could produce. Is there something specific that you had in mind, if so please give the additional info. J.Conway

Are you talking about one of those little homeowner liquid pumps you put on your hand drill? If it is the device I think it is, they are gear style pumps that are designed for liquids.

If this is true, then the clearances between the gears and the clearances between the housing and gears are probably to large to effectively pump a gas (air) as opposed to a liquid. There would be excessive internal leakage. If it is a different type of pump such as one that has internal elastomer seals or one way valves with diaphragms (or pistons) things are different.

As you can see this is strictly based on what the pump is designed to move and the pump you are talking about may be quite different from what I envision. Your best bet is to use a pump that was designed for your use.

G'day,

I tried one of those drill powered liquid pumps once and it needed to be primed before it would pump water. A syphon was just as effective. The pump wouldn't even suck the water up to a 2 inch head. So I can't see them creating a vacuum.

The pump melted on me before it worked properly. Go with a vacuum cleaner or modified compressor.

Regards

RRV

Generally those type pumps are designed to move oil.

Well I built a vacuum chamber using a commercial vacuum cleaner as the pump. It wasn't perfect but it worked.

Croderick751,

Most of the pumps you ask about are flexible rubber (or neoprene) impellers in a plastic housing. They rely on the pumped liquid to both lubricate and cool the components.

Yes, they are a positive displacement pump and will pull some vacuum, but not much, as the impeller deforms easily and gives up. To do this, it is likely that it'll run hot enough to melt the pump body and/or impeller (these things are exactly the same as a small outboard motor waterpump-- have you seen what happens to one of those when it has run dry?) You'd need to have some facillity to introduce lubricant into the vac line and catch it again at the output. Sliding vane type pumps will pull more vac, but because they are nearly always metal vanes, they are more reliant on lube.

As mentioned by others, the gear pump is not quite so fussy but you need to have a lab type, grease lubed. These are hard to come by.

Probably better to scrounge up a proper vac pump.

Good luck,

Stu.

GA

Hey guys,

Has everyone forgotten about the effective vacuum pulled when drinking a soda from a 2 litre bottle?

Pump the liquid from a container, the liquid is the seal, might even be a simple trick to add the vacuum to another space with a tube? Let's get creative here and out of the box a little.

CJM

May result in cavitation with use of the described type pump.

Though one may use a shanked down drill bit with a pilot fitted into an appropriately sized tube. And oversized pilot acting as a seal, with a port in the tube at that end and a cap on the other end with another port.

Hmm...What box?

Hi CJ,

I'm not understanding what you mean. Are you talking about aspiration/eduction?

Something like this? Water flows from the top to the discharge at the bottom and suction is generated at the side tube.

Mike

Good though

Excuse me, but what does an eductor have to do with a drill? As everyone full well knows there are no moving parts in it that can be rotated with a drill or any other motor...

I was not replying to the OP, but to this:

"might even be a simple trick to add the vacuum to another space with a tube? Let's get creative here and out of the box a little."

This is my first attempt to add a drawing, here goes.

This is what I was suggesting; a water pump can be used to evacuate water from a vessel, creating a vacuum, which in turn can be tapped to pull a vacuum, pretty much in the reverse of a tank full of air pressure.

A pump designed for fluid would be cooled by the fluid. The only limit would be the size of the tank, but if valves were placed strategically, the vacuum process could be repeated, perhaps even using the same fluid over and over. If the vessel were quite tall, gravity would assist the pump in amplifying the bar value drawn. To refill, the vessel could be lain sideways or lowered etc.

This thought was my initial reaction to reading many negative takes on using a water pump, My mind jumps to some way it can be done, even though it will require adaption by the OP when he gets back to us with some detail (if he ever does). CJM

Hi CJ,

Yeah, that's a great drawing! You know what they say - "A picture is worth...".

That would work so far but at some point, the pump would either stop pumping or start cavitating depending on it's power and the head it's working against. You probably already thought of this. You could probably recycle the liquid back into the holding tank at such a rate as to keep a constant partial vacuum at the point that the pump could handle without cavitating.

What kills me the most about threads like this is that the OP doesn't come back to verify the questions WE ask to zero in on what the real question is.

"even though it will require adaption by the OP when he gets back to us with some detail (if he ever does)."

If he hasn't come back by now, I doubt if he ever will.

Anyway, GA!

Mike

Almost anything is possible, the problem is making the idea practical or cost effictive...

Tiny air compressors and pumps can be purchased anywhere these days so why go this route?

It depends on the level of vacuum you need.

and if you can find the vacuum pump part, here is the perfect drill