Vacuum pump question

[Gary Herrmann]

I may have a line on a vacuum pump. Its a dual stage, rotary vane 7 cfm unit made by Trivac; model D8A. It looks like a pretty big pump. I don't know condition or anything yet. Just thought I'd ask you experts.

What would a decent price be for a used model like this and what gotchas should I look for? Thanks.

[Mike Henderson]

I may have a line on a vacuum pump. Its a dual stage, rotary vane 7 cfm unit made by Trivac; model D8A. It looks like a pretty big pump. I don't know condition or anything yet. Just thought I'd ask you experts.

What would a decent price be for a used model like this and what gotchas should I look for? Thanks.
That's a high capacity pump. Check the voltage - if it's 220V, it'll be a bit more difficult to deal with. Get info on the age and usage. If it'll pump down to 25 inches of mercury it's probably okay.

It's bigger than you need for a vacuum bag. One thing you can do with it is to put vacuum in your shop. That is, install the pump in a fixed location and run copper pipe to convenient locations in your shop. You can get vacuum quick connects so that you can hook up whatever you need - a vacuum bag or a vacuum chuck on your lathe.

$100 is cheap for that size pump. $300 would be fair if it's in good condition. I'm basing that on other pumps I've seen that are a bit lower capacity.

Mike