Best air conditioning vacuum pumps according to redditors
We found 62 Reddit comments discussing the best air conditioning vacuum pumps. We ranked the 16 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 62 Reddit comments discussing the best air conditioning vacuum pumps. We ranked the 16 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Refrigeration research engineer here, with a masters in mechanical engineering.
Yes you can dry clothing in a vacuum chamber, but it would take forever.
Between freezing and room temp, the saturation pressure of water is a few kPa (a standard vacuum pump like this would work). It would take forever, the engineering term for several hours or longer, because water has a high enthalpy of evaporation--evaporating water carries away a lot of heat (you've experienced this whenever you sweat)--so the limiting factor will be the temperature of the water and clothing.
To make a long story short, there's a vapor pressure that matches a certain liquid temperature--warmer liquids have a lot of heat so liquid is easily evaporated and the pressure they can sustain will be higher. If you start evacuating gas from the chamber, some water evaporates to make up the reduction in pressure which carries away heat cooling the remaining liquid until the pressure in the chamber matches the vapor pressure corresponding to the temperature of the water.
From the saturation pressure link, the saturation pressure at 0 C is about 0.6 kPa, a cheap vacuum pump will probably be able to pump down to that. Assuming this is the case, your clothing will sit wet at 0 C while water very slowly evaporates. The temperature of the remaining water will be where the heat flowing into the clothing/water from the chamber walls balances the heat the evaporating water carries away. It might be 0 C, it might be -20 C or lower. Regardless this will be a very long time.
The enthalpy of vaporization for water is 2260 kJ/kg. If 100 watts of heat flows into the chamber, it'll take 6.3 hours to evaporate a liter of water. This is the fastest it could possibly take. Fabric is not a good conductor of heat so the parts of fabric that are not touching walls will take a very long time to dry. People who work with vacuum spaces hate getting water in them because it takes so long to get rid of.
I recently helped a family member of mine extract one of his first successful grows and thought I’d share the process and pics with my fellow cannabis extractors.
My cousin has been open blasting to make his extractions but last month I finally convinced him to invest in a closed loop system like mine. He went with a Terpp Extractor and I set it up for him outside : http://i.imgur.com/J8ii0ln.jpg
We used a mixture of propane and n-butane, I like using a mix with some propane because it extracts better than pure n-butane in my experience.
First step: Get all the nugs off the plants. Here’s one of the plants: http://i.imgur.com/oLwtWBP.jpg
Second step: FREEZE the nugs, fresh off the plant. We used dry ice in a cooler for about 30 hours. Pic of the nugs : http://i.imgur.com/OWOSaX4.jpg
Third step: Pack column nice and tight with frozen buds and run the solvent through the system. Collect the oil when it’s ready (I like to gently scrape onto pyrex dish or PTFE sheets, try not to agitate it too much).
Fourth step: Put it on the heat. My friend uses this vacuum set up. It gets the job done. I like my vac oven because it provides heat in all directions, but I used a set up similar to this for a very long time, it’s a great budget way to purge your extracts.
This is the heating pad we use underneath the chamber. It stays at a fairly consistent temperature, we kept the heat at 95 degrees, bumping it up to 100 near the end.
Fifth step: Once the oil is melty and in a nice patty, put it at full vac and keep it on the heat for however long it needs. This is tricky, some strains are done in 24-30 hours. Some strains require a full 48 hours. I’ve gone even longer when there is a lot of moisture from fresh frozen or live resin runs. The reason it takes so long is because we are using very low temp’s to preserve the flavor and color of the oil.
At around 10 hours in I will “flip” the patty of oil, like a pancake. I’ll put a ptfe sheet on the top of the oil, flip it upside down, and continue purging on low heat at full vac, Flipping the patty will get the solvent out faster and more effectively.
Keep doing it every 10 hours or so until your oil is done.
This Durban Poison was in the chamber for 50 hours.
annnnnnnd boom : http://i.imgur.com/RmE8XAw.jpg
62 grams of fresh frozen nugs turned into 14 grams of fresh frozen oil.
As you can see, it stayed very sappy. Not very stable, but this happens a lot when dealing with fresh frozen or live resin oil. Maybe due to moisture or other factors like strain.
The taste is incredible, I’m a big big fan of Durban Poison. Very distinct flavor, super fruity and sweet. The effects are an amazing clear headed, sativa high. Good for day time smoking.
If you have any questions feel free to ask! I’ve helped a bunch of people here find and set up closed loop systems and with purging advice, I don’t mind PM’s at all :)
Interesting idea! I went on a hunt and this is the coolest thing I've found:
It's done with a process called plastination:
> The water and fat are replaced by certain plastics, yielding specimens that can be touched, do not smell or decay, and even retain most properties of the original sample.
They're been doing this since 1970s so I figure there's probably a guide online. Next logical step was a search for "DIY plastination":
I do not have any evidence that the same procedure would work on mushroom flesh, other than the flickr link above.
EDIT:
Per the plastination patent by Gunther von Hagens:
>EXAMPLE 3
>A globular cactus having a diameter of approximately 15 cm was partly hollowed out from its root end by means of a curette, and it was then immersed sequentially for three hours each in 50% aqueous acetone, pure acetone, and dichloromethane. Thereafter it was immersed in a solution of a commercial epoxy resin prepolymer stable at low temperature, but curing at elevated temperature. The vat holding the prepolymer and the immersed cactus was stored in a vacuum at 10° C. for eight hours, whereby all volatile solvent was extracted. When drained of excess prepolymer and held in an oven at 40° C. for six hours, the cactus hardened, but otherwise retained its original appearance and color.
Just curious how much a DIY setup would cost so I made a shopping list:
My humble opinion -
Robinair 15500 pump with a ProVac chamber is your best budget value.
Homebrew Materials:
Vacuum Pump Oil
Vacuum Tubing
1/4" Barb x 1/4" NPT Male Hose Fitting
1/4" Male x 1/4" Female NPT Extension Hose
Vacuum Pump
Filters
Spatulas
Magnetic Stir Bar
Digital Hotplate with Magnetic Stirrer
Nitrile Gloves (Better than Latex)
Empty Capsules (Buy Separated unless you hate your life)
Capsule Machine (If you value your sanity, buy more than a 100... I hated my life doing this)
Mohr Pipets
Pipette 10ml
Mortar and Pestle (If you're doing orals, get this... Otherwise, you're playing Russian Roulette with your doses and liver)
Funnel (For pouring into small places)
Alconox (For clean your shit)
Temperature Gun (How hot is my shit?)
Graduated Cylinder (If you measure with beakers, you're a fucking idiot... And you should consider Volumetric Flasks)
Beaker Set
1 Liter Beaker (Because brewing en'masse is better)
Scale (I have a 2kg one, too)
Calibration Weight Set
Calibration Weight 100g (Because you need two for the scale linked)
Vacuum Regulator (Unless you want to filter 9001 times due to broken shit)
Oil (Any USP grade, filtered or unfitlered)
BB
BA
Butyl Stoppers
Flip Top Seals
Crimper
Vials (Unsealed)
Autoclave (Cheaper than an oven, why are you using an oven?!)
Weight Boats (Buy a million of these. They're cheap and useful)
Did I miss something? Probably. Yes.
Without tools, the best you can really do is look for oiliness on the pipe. When you find a joint that feels oily (look for dark colours on the pipe, usually covered in very fine dust. Once you rub the dusty area with your fingers you'll feel the oiliness), spray/pour a small amount of washing up liquid over it and look for bubbles. If there's any refrigerant left in the system, you'll usually see bubbles appear (or over a longer period, foam). Of course if the gas has all escaped already - and we're only talking a couple of hundred grams here - then you won't see any bubbles.
Most domestic gear has no access fitting at all so even locating the leak can be difficult if there's no visual indication. You need to get pressure in there so you can leak test - this means adding a bullet piercing valve (like this).
Then you need to put something in via your bullet piercing valve to raise the system pressure. It's best to use dry nitrogen to leak test to save wasting refrigerant, but since you most likely don't have that on hand you could buy yourself some refrigerant (most likely R134a) and pressurise with that. That's a big no-no here (both disposable cylinders and dumping gas to atmosphere by charging a system with a known leak) but I'm guessing your in the US, and those sorts of laws seem remarkably lax so go for gold. It's not like you'll be ruining MY ozone layer too, right? ;)
You also need to regulate the pressure going in to the system. This is where you need gauges. Connect the yellow line to your bottle, connect the blue line loosely to your bullet piercing valve, purge from cylinder to piercing valve by opening the cylinder tap + gauges tap, and releasing some pressure via the loose fitting, then tighten the fitting and close your gauges tap. Open the bullet piercing valve. Open the gauges tap slowly and give it ~50psi of system pressure.
Then you can go for gold with your soap, or you can lash out and grab yourself some "proper" leak detection fluid (like this), or better yet an electronic leak detector (like this one).
Once you've found your leak, you want to release your nitrogen (or reclaim your refrigerant using a reclaim plant and a spare cylinder), then repair it using an oxy/acetalyne set, or since it's only tiny pipework you can get away with a MAPP gas set.
If it's a copper->copper joint, you're laughing - polish the pipework up with emery cloth, heat the pipe until it's just this side of glowing red, and feed the joint with brown tip silver solder.
If it's a copper->steel joint, then it's a bit more of a pain. You need blue tip silver solder and flux. Clean your joint with the emery cloth, give it a nice coating of flux on every surface you need solder to stick to, then heat it up until it's a fair way short of glowing red. Feed the blue tip solder in and STOP. Unlike brown tip (15% silver) you can't just keep feeding blue tip (45% silver) as it ruins the weld.
Now, since you put on a bullet piercing valve and they leak like a sieve in the long term, we need to replace that with a schrader access valve. Since it's most likely going to be in a straight through piece of pipe, you can save time and grab yourself a pre made access valve in 1/4" pipe. Cut away the hole left by the bullet piercing valve, polish the copper and cut the pipework with a ~10mm gap using a tube cutter. Then slip your access fitting assembly in there, and follow the copper->copper joint procedure.
Of course, now that we've done all that you need to change the liquid line filter drier too. I'd recommend a 1/4" solder in core drier in place of the original copper spun drier because... well, copper spun driers are terrible. Follow the pipe cutting procedure from the piercing valve instructions and the soldering instructions from the copper->copper joint instructions and that's done too. Remember - always try and mount the drier so it's outlet is LOWER than its inlet. This turns the drier into a small liquid receiver and helps ensure a good liquid seal over the capillary tube. Speaking of capillary tubes, if it was inserted straight into the original copper spun drier CUT the capillary, don't try and unsweat it. The chances of blocking it up are about 82.5634% (approximately) when you unsweat capillarys. You're much better off chopping it with a set of capillary tube cutters and ensuring a good clean capillary. The ~30mm of wasted capillary will affect performance, but almost certainly not to any sort of measurable degree.
Then give the system a good evacuation using a vacuum pump and ensure it reaches a good vacuum (sub-500 micron) with a digital vacuum gauge.
Then using a set of electronic scales, charge your freshly evacuated system (remembering to purge!) to the charge recommended by the manufacturer.
Voila! You have just fixed your chest freezer.
..... Alternatively, pay someone to do it for you and/or recycle the components and buy yourself a new one.
When someone mentions the word "vac" in regards to bho it is referring to a vacuum or the process of vacuum purging. Basically you have a vacuum pump that is attached to a chamber which you place your under purged oil in, then by gently heating(100-120) and maintaining a vacuum of 29hg your oil will begin to purge. Here is a link to an example of the vac I use, and one to the chamber I use with it(or one that's very similar by the same buy).
Don't waste your time on a brake bleeding kit. Hand pumps take constant strenuous pumping to reach -29mm/hg and they aren't meant for that sort of constant use. I went through 3 hand pumps that each lasted a maximum of 3 weeks before I sucked it up and bought an electric pump. You can find them on amazon for around $100. Best purchase I've ever made.
Here's a 3.0 cfm single stage robinair that would be more than sufficient (I use a 1.5 cfm and it pulls the necessary vac in seconds). http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15310-VacuMaster-Single-Stage/dp/B005CO9GX6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1343111350&sr=8-7&keywords=vacuum+pump
If you can afford them, an older US-made RobinAir pump is considered by many to be the highest quality pump you can buy, but they're not cheap. For stabilizing, I use a modern RobinAir 15310 that I bought on Amazon for $70 on sale. It works fine, although it does blow a fine oil mist into the air occasionally (use it outside).
I also have two Glass Vac chambers from Best Value Vacs (purchased on Amazon) in 3 & 5 gallon sizes. Perfect for pouring in a gallon or two of resin and stabilizing anything up to about 10" in diameter. The aluminum pots are easy to empty and clean after stabilizing.
The only downside is that I can't stabilize long pieces, since it has to fit reasonably in the pot and be submerged, but 90% of what I do is small project blanks.
http://www.amazon.com/TSI-Supercool-Micron-Vacuum-13661/dp/B008PKUUPC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395941910&sr=8-1&keywords=vacuum+pump+15+micron
http://www.amazon.com/Stage-Electric-Vacuum-Pump-Conditioning/dp/B00FISBMII/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395941910&sr=8-3&keywords=vacuum+pump+15+micron
gauge https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNPAR50
vacuum https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXMRP4I
Besides that....I guess a drill, screw driver, the normal stuff.
got the CCVP6S 6 CFM Single Stage Vacuum Pump and a 3-gal chamber. I'm sitting at an elevation of 2200ft, so pull to 27.82 hg
Ya I've never understood the point of struggling using a caulking gun and a syringe filter. Use the money you saved buying raw and get a vacuum pump. 15 seconds with a bottle top filter.
this is the chamber ive used for years: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ProVac-vacuum-chamber-3-gallon-size-/272086243605?hash=item3f599a9915:g:wfIAAOSwiLdWBPL6
this is the vac ive used for years http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017R95DI?keywords=vacuum%20pump&qid=1451920342&ref_=sr_1_19&sr=8-19
this is the griddle ive used for years
http://www.amazon.com/Presto-07047-Touch-Electric-Griddle/dp/B0051XSIO6/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1451920465&sr=8-9&keywords=electric+griddle
That's a vacuum pump
http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15800-VacuMaster-Economy-Vacuum/dp/B001P7C7QM/ref=lp_15707041_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1427411598&sr=1-2
I actually recommend this pump, it's faster and makes the same if not stronger vacuum on my gauge (as unreliable as that is). And it's cheaper. And Grey Wolf has been using one for 4-5 years, apparently.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XMG3T2/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hey guys, so two quick questions.
First, I tried to use a hand pump as recommended and the fucking thing wouldn't hold pressure even with tape around all seals and pressure put on top of the bottle top filter. After nothing worked I resorted to a 1.8 cfm OEM vacuum pump. https://www.amazon.com/1-8-Single-Stage-Vacuum-Pump/dp/B01BW39BZS this model specifically.
The result was that the plastic bottle top filter (I used a glass media bottle) cracked. Is there a way to safely use this vacuum pump or any recommendations? The instructions say to run pump until absolute vacuum is achieved and then leave it so I pulsed it trying to not damage the filter but I must have let it run too long.
Second, when mixed my test prop was clear. Post filtration it was cloudy similar to this http://imgur.com/a/acdrG (stolen from another post) Recipe was 2% ba, 18% bb with MCT oil and test prop @100mg/ml. Any ideas on what happened? I'm assuming it was something to do with the filter since it changed after coming out. I used a 500ml .2 pore pvdf membrane.
Any ideas?
I suggest another lower end pump from robinair
at full vacuum thc and terps will boil off below room temperature
The one I've been using works great. This one is marketed towards the marijuana industry for making concentrates, but its no different than any other vacuum chamber. The only difference between mine that that one is that I bought that vac chamber alone, and a Robinair 5cfm Pump separately. That first link wasn't an option when I bought it.
Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/ZENY-Electric-Vacuum-Refrigerant-Conditioner/dp/B012CFTZII/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=refrigeration+pump&qid=1565151883&s=gateway&sr=8-6
When I transfer worts and don't want to lift the carboys, I use those rubber two-nipple caps on the receiving carboy, then a kind of thumper jar between the receiving carboy and the pump to prevent liquid intake.
Although if sucking up high-purity ethanol, it's not a bad idea to also include a cold trap to keep any ethanol from getting into the pump seals. I use a mason jar full of ice-cubes for this.
If you don't want to buy something, you can also scavenge the pump from an old (but running) refrigerator or water cooler. They'll pull a decent vacuum on one line and spit out pressure (and refrigeration oil lubricant) on the other. You want to construct a kind of apparatus to capture that oil and return it to the pump.
I did a lot of vacuum investing/casting of resins using only an old refrigerator compressor before I bought a (used, professional) version of the thing in the amazon link.
Cool, thanks. One other thing. How would I connect the tubing from my vacuum pump to the glass beaker? Mine currently has some screw on inlet ports. I'm using a Robinair Pump
My vacuum pump cost $25. I got it at a surplus store. It was seized and sold as scrap. I actually got another one I need to get working. I actually spent less on the vacuum pump than I did on all the fittings and mason jars.
Yeah. It's a fucking expensive toy. I've used it for quite literally everything since I bought it. Which is also why I plan on using the double jars right before the vacuum so that you can see exactly when you've pulled through exactly 1 mason jar. It's also It's also ungodly easy to repair. It's not one of the ones shown there but another style with cheap rebuild kids. It was designed to run in a high school chemistry lab for decades.
So yes. I know all of the risks of what the fuck I'm doing. It's not like I just hooked my 8 CFM yellow jacket pump up to some mason jars.
careful with designs like this, horror stories of jars popping should lead you to get the correct equipment. This and this
dudee.. thats such a bad idea... the mason jar could implode and yeahh bad things will come of that.
get a vacuum oven:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-9-Cu-Ft-Lab-Digital-Vacuum-Drying-Oven-250-C-12x12x11-/200438959256?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eab17cc98
pump for the oven:
http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15500-VacuMaster-Vacuum-Pump/dp/B000O1C47M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1375269744&sr=8-3&keywords=vacuum+pump
BEST butane extraction tool (cant wait to see someone tell me otherwise):
http://www.tamisiumextractors.com/index.php/custom-build/te8000-5-lbs
this is a proper setup besides the oven is made in china and is finicky sometimes
sorry to bug again but how about his pump http://www.amazon.com/VP125-Rotary-Vane-Deep-Vacuum/dp/B006P7LBFK/ref=sr_1_17?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1369353793&sr=1-17&keywords=vacuum+pump
https://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15310-VacuMaster-Single-Vacuum/dp/B005CO9GX6/
i vacuum degas my vino as well. tbh you want something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXMRP4I/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
i can pull -25in.Hg vacuum with it. i find i still have to shake the carboy to make sure i get all the disolved co2 out.
Also plan on pairing the pvac chamber with http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001P7C7QM/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1395938434&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40
Can I get anything better without upgrading to a vac oven?
Or is the pvac and this pump pretty high quality
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJESEI0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A27V8MMU54HKB2
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXMRP4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A24FJG9QJIEUE2
Would this be okay to use?
Thanks. I have Everclear in a spray bottle.
Here's my pump:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O1C47M
I've never run the pump for more than a few hours. Another problem I have is that I have no easy way to check the pressure when it gets really low (I'm on a budget), so I have a battery-driven arduino with a BMP183 sensor inside the chamber. Eventually the battery dies so I have a limited amount of testing time. I can fix that with some deep sleep.
Home brew pump and filter question: I'm going to be using the follow pump and filter combo. Do I need a valve to reduce pressure? I'll let the oil cool to Luke warm before filtering.
http://www.medical-and-lab-supplies.com/nalgene-nylon-membrane-complete-unit-150-ml-count-1.html
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005CO9FDW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Several options available.... this is the best resource on the internet for the discussion:
https://tokecity.com/forums/showthread.php4?t=43587
You can get one at Harbor Freight for under $100 but I was able to get a deal on this one through my employer so I paid about $100 for it...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O1C47M/ref=oh_o00_s01_i00_details
> vacuum pump I have is a 1.5 cfm robinair vacumaster
Is this it? http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15115-VacuMaster-Single-Stage/dp/B005CO9FDW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404918357&sr=8-2&keywords=vacuum+pump+1.5+cfm+robinair+vacumaste
Did you get the little valve thinggy too? Would that work to regulate pressure? I mean, pretend, for everyone's sake that I am a 5 year old....
I've been using this one: https://www.artmolds.com/vacuum-chamber.html with a vacuum pump I got off Amazon (they didn't have the bundle when I purchased, I got this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XQ2S4M/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) and it works fine. It just fits a 10 qt bucket if you take the handle off, so that's nice. That is about half the size you're talking about, though...
chamber
pump This works for me but honestly you'll want to get a two stage pump as mentioned in the below article.
Useful reading
Yes. Get a valve core remover and a 3/8" hose. I can pull a vacuum on a system to 250 microns in less than 15 minutes. Here was my original set up. It's a bit pricey to get started but you can get it piece by piece. You don't have to get it all at once.
Vacuum pump
Core remover
3/8" hose
Micron gauge
I recently upgraded my vacuum pump to a 7cfm and have two 1/2 " hoses with valve core removers. I can now pull a vacuum to 250 microns in less than 5 minutes on average. Saves a ton of time when heat waves hit and you are running around like crazy.
Its a bit pricier but for holding a deep vac on a 5 gallon ive never had a robinair fail me.
https://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15300-VacuMaster-Economy-Vacuum/dp/B000O1E5UQ
What is your elevation also? Neat perfect vacuum is hard to achieve much over sea level.
I use a 3 gallon pro vac and can second the need for it with runs as large as 3-4 ounces. that initial muffin just gets so damn big and you need enough space to let it do its thing. Also, don't waste your money on that robinar, you don't need a dual stage pump and for over $100 less you can get the pump skunkpharmreserach recommends, http://smile.amazon.com/CPS-VP6S-Stage-Single-Vacuum/dp/B000XMG3T2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1413701526&sr=8-4&keywords=cps
that pump is rated for 6.2CFM and i've even used it to run my vac oven and my old chamber at the same time when i've filled up all 4 racks and need to purge both the oven and the old chamber at the same time.
A couple things come to my mind.
You could look into a vacuum pump like the ones used to draw down AC systems.
Something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Robinair-15115-VacuMaster-Single-Stage/dp/B005CO9FDW/
It would probably take a while but I'm sure it would eventually pull water through.
I'm just not sure how they react to water being pulled through the pump, I would hate for the pump to blow when it got the water through.
Is there power down at the lake?
A small utility pump could fill that line up no problem.
You might want to look into a small invertor generator and pump the line full from the far end.
You could also get a small battery powered pump like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18-Volt-ONE-Hybrid-Transfer-Pump-P750/300258095
You would need to cut in a tee near the bottom and add a valve and garden hose female connector but that's very simple with poly pipe.
How much rain do you get? A full 55 gallon rain barrel would probably be able to fill the line up too.
This is what I was looking at.
I've seen a guy use a pressure cooker bottom he got from a thrift store for $3.50. He drilled a hole into the side and epoxied a copper tube to hook to the vacuum. He went to a plastics place and ordered a 3/4" thick acrylic circle that covers the top of the pressure cooker. I think that cost $30. He said he wiped dish soap on one side of the acrylic and let it dry. Then he placed the acrylic on a bead of silicone aquarium goop around the rim of the pressure cooker. The soap allowed him to peel the acrylic plate off the silicone after it hardened.
Anyway, he sprays into a pyrex bowl that fits nicely in the vacuum chamber. Once the obvious butane has boiled off, (he leaves it overnight), he covers the top with the acrylic and purges, using a single-vane vacuum pump. Total cost was about $115.
VAC Oven http://www.acrossinternational.com/570F-VO-16050-16x14x14-19-Cu-Ft-Desktop-Digital-Vacuum-Oven-VO16050.htm im getting the smaller 1300$ one. only .9 cubic ft that one is a beast. 1.9 my dream. and vac pump http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15500-VacuMaster-Vacuum-Pump/dp/B000O1C47M Done and Done. and of course some hose clamps and a bit of 3/8" tubing.
Update:
The system was empty. Added a little bit of UV oil and a can of refrigerant to diagnose the issue. AC turned on almost instantly, low side pressure around 30 psi by the end of the can; manifold gauges rock.
Plan is to run the AC for just a week or so to avoid long-term issues, just long enough to find the issue.
Hopefully we'll find the leak. If so, we'll buy the parts to replace.
In any event, we'll also get the accumulator and an o-ring set, pay for evac, replace the parts, pull vacuum, and charge it up properly.
Gotta get a vacuum too. Still confused whether the vacuum needs the r134a adapter - the adapter is illegal to ship to california for some reason; the vacuum in question (link) says it's made specifically for r134a but half the people say you need an adapter and half say you don't. (I got the manifold gauges I linked before - this one (link).
I use a Robinair 15800 VacuMaster 8-CFM Two-Stage Vacuum Pump.
Works like a champ. I first saw Rump Wax using it in a video post last year or something and grabbed the same one as him. Have nothing but good things to say about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15310-VacuMaster-Single-Vacuum/dp/B005CO9GX6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1451465073&sr=8-3&keywords=robinair+vacuum+pump
What is missing in terms of accessories in this deal? It's super affordable so seems worth it if I only need to buy hoses or whatever?