Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

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Ameen Aydan
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Re: Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

Post by Ameen Aydan »

Sorry it's been such a long time but I'm finally back to it!

So I decided that the pump I got was most likely just defective. Though I managed to reach 13 micron at one point, I don't think that's going to happen again....

I would want to repair it but I don't have the patience or time to do such a thing. I would need to get oil and a whole bunch of parts that I'm simply not prepared to spend my time on finding.

Below I have attached pictures of the fitting. I connect my gauge directly to the adapter. That way I get an accurate read out.

I choose to purchase a new pump to see if I get any luck. My new pump seems to have the same issue. On the inside, the seller says that its in perfect condition but the outside is just pretty dirty. In the picture you can see the readout of what I got on the new pump. The best I managed to get was about 90 microns though.

At this point I give up. I have two broken pumps that have put a sizable hole in my pocket so I'm just going to resell them and see what I can get.

Should I just JB weld the adapter to my new pump and see what the reading gives me? I don't imagine doing so will affect the pumps performance. And at this point the pump is done for so this little adjustment wont make a difference in my eyes.

Link to the pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Ameen Aydan
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Rich Feldman
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Re: Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

Post by Rich Feldman »

Go back and read what Richard Hull said.

Why are you saying 25 micron ultimate pressure means the first pump is no good?
Suppose you could get below 10 microns with a brand new pump, and some luck.
Would that make a difference in your fusor project?
All models are wrong; some models are useful. -- George Box
Ameen Aydan
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Re: Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

Post by Ameen Aydan »

Hello,

Just updating everyone who might read this thread. I finally just traded the two pumps for an Alcatel 2002. It works perfectly fine, reaches 5 microns on the gauge and has very minimal noise. I got those two pump together for $350 cad so I basically paid $350 for the Alcatel. On the high side for the pump I got but at least I have all my fusor components and I can begin construction.

Will update with photos soon

Thanks for the help all,
AA
Alex Kahn
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Re: Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

Post by Alex Kahn »

Hi all!
I came here because I also own an E2M5 vacuum pump and found this nice informative thread.
Same model that I have and in need for maintenance.

I found my pump some years ago for 50€ and never really used it since.
The purpose was to repair water damaged PCB or electronic devices and laminating resins under vacuum. Always good to have vacuum capability in your workshop I thought…

The problem is that my pump show heavy corrosion. The oil is very brown whenever I change the oil. A rusted crust is visible through the glass and when I look into the oil cap opening I get nightmares.

However the pump runs and after some hours of runtime it achieved 30 microns peak vacuum.
It started around 200 microns with new oil and slowly got better.
The project of the week is to install a split climate system to my garage. To put it into operation the proper way I need good vacuum of course.
As a gauge I use a digital TESTO 552 device. Cheap and not as scientific as the equipment from the lab but in my view sufficient for 10-3 Torr vacuum area.

Before I filled new oil into the pump unfortunately I did a mistake I think.
I filled the oil compartement with a cleaning solution that is somehow partly alcoholic or at least hydrophile. I thought it was mineral based cleaning solution but it was not.

I turned the pump on in the morning and after 3 rotations it seized and stopped turning.
Oh Oh not good.

What do you guys think I should do?
Detach Motor and try manually and maybe backwards?
Or time for disassembly now?


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Ameen Aydan
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Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:33 pm
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Re: Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

Post by Ameen Aydan »

I know this is a late reply, but at this point, you have nothing to lose with opening up the pump and completely disassembling it. IMO, a cleaning oil for these kinds of issues (including mine) is mostly just... hopeless.

Open the pump and disassemble everything, down to the pump vanes. Clean what you can within reason and put some fresh oil in there. I'm not sure if there are any single-use components you'd need to replace after opening everything. Honestly, though, it's nothing a little grease and a prayer can't fix. Please don't bother with an overhaul kit unless you're sure it's worth it.

You can find exploded diagrams for this pump almost anywhere.

Please update if you get the chance!
Oscar Anderson
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Re: Cleaning/Repairing Edwards E2M5

Post by Oscar Anderson »

I'd hold off tearing it down completely. Aligning vane pumps can be something of a headache. Just dismantling and cleaning it is, well, a project, and you probably won't find anything at all.

It would, in general, take quite a lot to make a pump seize in 3 revolutions. Even running without any oil at all.

In general, I don't like putting anything other than vacuum pump oil into a pump. It's really difficult to get everything out of a pump - there's always a little left in there, and if it has a very high vapor pressure, you can kiss your ultimate pressure goodbye.

The inside of your pump looks like just about every rotary vane pump I see at surplus, including both of my Welch pumps. Odds are good that most of the crud is in the oil tank and not inside the pump itself. It's not good, but it's typical. Most of these pumps have hard lives, and a lot of them get little to no maintenance. Over time, with use and oil changes, it will clean up.

Removing the motor is fairly low risk on most pumps, and this will allow you to do two things. First, you can ascertain whether this is a pump issue or a motor issue. Second, it gives you some access to try and turn the pump by hand. You may need to make something that will mate with the shaft coupling to do this, however.

If you really can't get it to turn, then start looking at tearing it down, but again, I have a very hard time that a pump actually seized in 3 revolutions.

Tearing these things down is borderline on being worth it. You can pick up pumps that aren't destroyed for a couple hundred bucks (sometimes a lot less). If you tear it down, you're probably going to need to buy a minor rebuild kit (mostly gaskets and possibly a shaft seal) at a minimum, and you're going to spend the better part of a day (possibly two) doing it.
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