DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

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Gustavo Cervantes
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DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by Gustavo Cervantes »

I know some people have made some form of driver for these small pumps, I managed to make my own and it works great up to 1300hz (pump only running at 1230hz or so)
Really, I wanted something cheap, reliable and easy to tinker with, so I ended up using an Arduino nano and some gates, an integrated 3phase H-bridge and a simple screen.
It's not perfect, but I'm really proud of this little bugger.
Here is a video of the thing working
Im still working on the programming, and including some nice features i would like on it, ANY input is welcome :D
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Matt_Gibson
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Re: DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by Matt_Gibson »

Seeing as I’m thinking about settling on the turbovac 50,
I am very interested in this! :-)

The alternative is to spend big $$$ on an old controller.
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Jim Kovalchick
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Re: DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by Jim Kovalchick »

Nice work.

I think you probably already know this but you will eventually trash that turbo running it in air like that.
John Futter
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Re: DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by John Futter »

having built many controllers
you are accelerating too fast
you accelerate based on turbo load (power) not time
de-acceleration is the same as acceleration in time /load
Judging by the noise from your turbo the bearings are US
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Richard Hull
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Re: DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by Richard Hull »

Turbos without controller and cabling being offered for sale should be looked at with a juandiced eye. This is the same for any used pump, be it mechanical, diffusion, or turbo. So many of these offerings are just dead. Without some complete guarantee of full functionality, your money is probably ill spent. Turbo's are particularly a "pig in a poke".

A mechanical pump can be tested relatively easily and quickly for a refund if shot. Diff pumps only need and ohmeter to make sure the heater is good and an optical inspection to make sure it is clean and has all of the stack there and that it is intact.

A turbo without cables and a controller cannot be tested at all until you either purchase a controller and cables or assemble and hand construct a controller and make up a cable. Try and get a refund 6 months to a year down the road when you finally spin it up and discover the bearings are shot. A working turbo pump is a complete, complex system and not just a pump body.

In the vast majority of turbo pump offerings, the owner found it surplus for $2.00 in a junk pile, looks the price of his model up and sees that these things, when new, sell for thousands! He then puts it out for sale at $200. Most likely, the person knows nothing about vacuum systems, etc., much less the history of the pump.

Buyer beware!

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Gustavo Cervantes
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Re: DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by Gustavo Cervantes »

Hey Richard, dont worry too much about the pump, im just having fun here hehe, found this one on a junk pile as you said, cost me about 15 USD if I remember correctly.
I have been making some aluminizing tests with it and it works down to 4.7e-5 mbar, not sure if I can trust the vacuum gauge as i cannot compare it to another one.
This one came with the pump, is a PTR-225.

Yes the bearings were toasted and I changed them for another set, not sure how long they will last, but for now they are holding.
Im not really sure i would be willing to sell these controllers, since they would be controlling some nice pumps out there, and i would feel pretty bad if one of my creations destroys a pump :(

The acceleration rate is now determined by current draw of the motor, i have a sligtly better algorithm now that can ramp up even faster, not that I want faster accelerations, just want to avoid a region around 400-600 hz where the current draw is high and the H-bridge gets a bit hotter than i would like.
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russssellcrow
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Re: DIY Driver for a Leybold Turbovac-50

Post by russssellcrow »

Great work Gustavo!

Any chance you can post the schematic and code?
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