is my vacuum pump broke?

[Chris Haas]

ok, bought a gast 0522 on craigslist. when it first fires up, it makes good vacuum, after about 5 minutes of running, the vac drops to about 5 inches.

reading the gast mfg servicing stuff, it talks about doing a flush, or a rebuild kit, does it sound like i need that or what, just wondering if anyone has experienced this before. thanks. Chris.

[Jim Kountz]

Chris thats a bummer sorry to hear of your troubles. I dont know alot about the pumps but I do know it shouldnt lose vacuum unless there is a leak or the pump is defective. They are really easy to rebuild from what Ive read, I bought mine on ebay and it was supposedly rebuilt when I bought it, so far so good. Some of the others guys here can probably tell you more than me though.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Do a little troubleshooting. Remove some of your connections leading back to the pump...seal the line going to the pump and test it again under the same conditions. Does it lose vacumn after 5 minutes? If so, remove all the lines and seal it at the pump and run it under the same conditions...does it still lose pressure after 5 minutes?

In short, eliminate everything but the pump and see if the pump does the same thing.

[Chris Haas]

well, i've already removed everything but about 10 inches of tubing to my vacuum gage, i think it is safe to say its not my connections and tubing. i think i need to rebuild it, i cant find anyone that sells the rebuild kits though.

[David Peebles]

Hi Chris,

Go right to the source.

http://www.gastmfg.com/

Just tell them which pump you have, and they can fix you right up with a rebuild kit, or, maybe what things to check out on your pump.

Dave

[Charles Drake]

Chris, the repair kits are around $60-$80 (septicsolutions.net). Might make more sense to get a new one from Surplus Center--think the are around that same money.

[Chris Haas]

NO ITS NOT!!!

my vac pump is not broken, just dirty. i spoke with one of the gast guys and he walked me through the troubleshooting process. basically, the vanes are carbon, and over time they wear. that dust combined with moisture in the air makes them gummy, or sticky. so if you do the flushing process that cleans them out.

now heres the better news. the flushing agent is basically just carb cleaner or brake cleaner, something most will already have. just dont use anything with oil as the vanes will absorb it.

so now my pump pulls 27 inches all day long and runs much much quieter. a bonus all the way around.

lessons learned, every now and then, flush your pump. it will improve performance and the life of the pump.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Chris - that is great news! Glad to hear your pump is up and running! I will have to remember the cleaning suggestion! Thanks!

[Art Jordan]

1:Exactly where do you spray the carb cleaner....into the air intake?


2: Any chance of the stuff igniting?

art:confused:

[Eric Magruder]

Outstanding news Chris!

Thanks for the tip. But how did you flush the pump, did you suck the liquid cleaner from one can - through the pump - then into another can? Is this something you can do indoors?

Cheers

[Chris Haas]

take the filter off, so you can spray directly into the inlet, have a rag clsoe to the outlet, take that filter off also. no chance of ignition, at least i dont think so as this is what the gast guy told me to do. i would do it in a ventilated area though, it does atomize it on the outlet side. really not hard at all, but made a huge difference with my gast.

[Tom Klass]

When you do need the rebuild kit you can also get them at Graingers. Just remember when you install the vanes make sure you put the beveled end towards the right direction of rotation. Otherwise you'll be buying another set of vanes.
I use to just use alcahol to clean the unit opened the chamber removed the vanes and went to town cleaning it, works like brand new.
tom