Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

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Taylor_Romain
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Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Taylor_Romain »

Hello,

I acquired a Edwards E1M18 Single Stage Rotary Vacuum Pump off eBay for approximately 400$. The package arrived at my doorstep with beat up from the journey. Oil that shipped with the pump somehow leaked all over the package as well as the vacuum pump.

Upon inspection of the pump I noticed a cracked base metal plate, oil in the inlet, and a chipped oil outlet nozzle.

I drained as much oil as I could using a plastic pipette and powered up the pump with 110v (11A). The E1M18 made the following sound.


It seems like the motor cannot start because the inlet is flooded with oil.

I also suspect that the package was dropped during shipment as the steel base plate is cracked... (that is a lot of force)

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be very helpful as I can still return the pump if needed. I would like to fix this pump as it's a beauty however I do expect the issues to be damaging to the integrity of the pumps normal operation.
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Taylor_Romain
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Taylor_Romain »

JoeBallantyne
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by JoeBallantyne »

I hope you don't try doing what you did in the video very much.

The pump is not turning over at all. Only thing you are going to do is burn out the motor. You had it turned on WAY too long. You will know immediately if it is turning over or not. If it is not turning over, TURN THE MOTOR OFF QUICKLY.

Make sure the motor is supposed to run on 115V. Many of those 18 lpm pumps run on 220V. You HAVE to make sure you power the pump with the correct line voltage. The plate on the side of the motor will tell you what it requires for operation.

Unplug the pump, fill it with good quality mechanical vacuum pump oil properly, and turn it over by hand until it no longer gets stuck.

If the pump was dropped during shipment hard enough to crack the base plate, it may very well have been ruined by the same impact.

Was the pump supposedly functional according to the listing?. If so, then your best bet may just be to return it while you can.

You have to get the pump turning over by hand without getting stuck before you try to power it on with the motor.

Take off the white plastic plates on both sides where it says 18 (typically you can do that by removing a few screws with an allen wrench), and you should have access to a metal fan you can use to turn the pump over by hand.

Make SURE you keep the pump unplugged the whole time you have those plastic plates removed from the side. (You do not want that fan chewing up your hand if the pump powers up when you are turning it over. It can easily take off a finger or two.)

Those pumps typically have an arrow on the side somewhere that indicates the normal direction of rotation.

If the pump gets stuck moving in the forward direction, rotate it backwards just a little bit until you can continue turning it in the normal direction of rotation.

You might have to turn it by hand for a long time to get it to loosen up.

It may also just be ruined.

Base plates should NOT be cracked.

Joe.
Matt_Gibson
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Matt_Gibson »

You need to notify the seller and only try repairs with their permission. If it were me, I’d return it. There are too many options out there, especially for $400, to be wasting time on this one.

-Matt
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Richard Hull
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Richard Hull »

Sounds like you bought from a person who did not know to dump all the oil prior to shipment. Not a vacuum person for sure.

So many of the folks selling stuff like this never owned the item they are selling!! They either acquired it for free from someone, found it at a flea market for $10, go on line and see what it cost new and try and sell it, or they are acting to sell the item for someone else acting as an e-bay regular seller of goods from friends who do not want the hassle of advertising it and shipping it.

I know of two such resellers of goods from others who make a modest living taking 20% of the realized price plus shipping and handling costs by seller stuff brought to them by others.

Would youwant to buy a mechanical or turbo pump from Bobby? Bobby is a reseller whose friend, Melvin, bought the turbo pump, (no cables or controller) at a flea market for $4.00 and found out they sell new for $1800.... Melvin brings it to his pal Bobby to resell it for $500 on e-bay. Bobby gets $100 + $32 shipping and gives Melvin $368. Do you think either one of them even has a grasp of what it does or how to see if it works? Do you think Bobby and Melvin are not going to spend their money until you are happy with your purchase?

One time sellers of high ticket items do not care if they are banned from e-bay due to failure to respond to a sale gone bad.

Good luck out there in E-bay land.

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
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Taylor_Romain
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Taylor_Romain »

Thank you Joe, Matt and Richard for the replies. The seller kindly refunded my money and allowed me to keep the pump. (very very fortunate).
I will continue to try and get it working by following your advice Joe.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Richard Hull »

Great outcome in getting a full refund. Good luck in bringing it back to life.

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
Matt_Gibson
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Matt_Gibson »

It probably wasn’t worth the return shipping cost.
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Taylor_Romain
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Taylor_Romain »

In order to further explore how rotary vane pumps work, I decided to take the pump apart, hoping to also find the cause of the fan blade not turning over.

Multiple gaskets were cracked in various locations upon inspection. The coupling ring that sits between the fan blade and motor shaft came out in pieces, having several cracks within the ring. After this was removed, the fan still did not turn over easily.  

Nothing else stood out as damaged. I did not have the know-how to take apart the rotary vane chamber to inspect each piece. 

Even if this pump wasn't dropped, it would have started to have issues after continuous use. 

Here are some images of the dismantlement.
3.jpg
4.jpg
Cracked coupling ring
2.jpg
It wasn't too difficult to take apart the E1M18, leading me to believe that if I can purchase a repair kit, one day I can get it restored. For now, it will sit in storage as a reference pump.
Jerry Biehler
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Re: Edwards E1M18 Catastrophe

Post by Jerry Biehler »

Yeah, he let you keep it because if you had to send it back he would have to pay to have it shipped back!

You can get rebuild kits for the pump and get it going again. The Lovejoy coupling spider is common to fail over time, the rubber gets old and hard and breaks.
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