New Turbomolecular Pump

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Connor Givans
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New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Connor Givans »

Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I posted here, but I've been in the process of moving and haven't really been able to make any progress. However, I recently snagged this: http://i.imgur.com/qdV2laY.jpg
A Pfeiffer TPU-110 turbomolecular pump. The blades spin freely, but I think it could use a new oil charge/a clean. Looking into the manual, it says it would like T12 oil? Not sure what that is, from some research I only found Colt gun oil.
http://i.imgur.com/XtHTgPV.jpg here's a view of the air-port and the water cooling inlet/outlet
http://i.imgur.com/O54R1lB.jpg The foreline and power connector
http://i.imgur.com/uEPGAFL.jpg And a view of the blades, looks like it was in a pretty rough environment!

The blades turn smoothly, and a 110l/s pump with a CF6 flange is going to be much, MUCH more reasonable than an 1800l/s pump with a non-standard 11" flange.
Jerry Biehler
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Jerry Biehler »

Contact Pfieffer to get the oil.

The smaller KF fitting is for purge, you can just cap it off and forget about it. Mount a fan on the side for cooling.

Now you just need the power supply.
Connor Givans
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Connor Givans »

I thought that due to the lack of cooling fins and presence of the hose barbs this was a water-cooled model and couldn't work with air?
Jerry Biehler
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Jerry Biehler »

Connor Givans wrote:I thought that due to the lack of cooling fins and presence of the hose barbs this was a water-cooled model and couldn't work with air?
No, they just strap a 5" fan to the side on these. Turbo pumps do not produce a whole lot of heat.
David Kunkle
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by David Kunkle »

I now have an Edwards EXT250. I just have a fan mounted a few inches away from it. Even after hours of operation where it should be fully up to temp, it never even feels warmer than room temp anywhere on the pump. The fan is cheap and low tech insurance of course, but I seriously wonder anymore if we even need a fan for our closed systems? Is it possible cooling for turbos is only needed on systems with a high gas load moving thru it?
If your experiment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better experiment.

Ernest Rutherford
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Jim Kovalchick
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Jim Kovalchick »

Some recommend admitting air into the purge when slowing the turbo to stop. Over-cooling during this can cause condensation where you don't want it. Consult your manual.
Jerry Biehler
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Jerry Biehler »

I run my smaller TMP50's without fans and they never really get warm as well as the Varian 350 on my SEM. The 2000l/s on my big system does have cooling loop on the bottom but it has really never gotten all that warm. None of these systems have a high gas load so there is very little load on the motor. The varian on my SEM has a digital display showing power consumption, at rated speed and at high vacuum it consumes 7 watts of power. Now, on machines that have a high gas load from stuff like load lock cycling you will probably have more of a need for cooling.

The pfieffer manual for his pump shows the drive does have a solenoid output to control a vent valve but I have rarely seen this used in the field, mostly used when you are dealing with corrosive gasses. It can also be use to stop the pump a bit faster.
Mark Sato
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Re: New Turbomolecular Pump

Post by Mark Sato »

Regarding T12 oil, for future reference see my post here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13860&p=90988#p90988
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