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Wayne,

I've seen an exhibit that had a solenoid/rod ringing a bell in a bell jar. The solenoid was activated by visitors with a push button. The bell jar was vacated by the vacuum pump and the sound of the bell slowly died away.

Dick Falkard

-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 8:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: What To Do With A Big Vaccum Pump? An Exhibit?


ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Wayne,

Edward's is a major manufacturer of vacuum pumps. They make/ made several different kinds. If you do an online search you can probably come up with not only all the spec.'s but also exploded views of all the little parts the thing is made up with - as well as the parts you will need to rebuild the thing if it has been sitting around for a while.

The motor size you quote indicates a huge vacuum pump. Currently they offer a E2M40 which has a capacity of 30 cfm - that's about 10 times greater than any pump I've ever used in an exhibit. This one only uses a 2 HP motor so I'm it's unlikely that this is the same one you've got.

The chief advantage to a large pump in our case is speed. It can evacuate a chamber relatively quickly. This way visitors don't have to wait a long time (30 sec to a minute) for a reasonable vacuum to be reached.

Usually vacuum pumps run continuously (though I don't know about the type you've got) - you turn a valve to connect the pump to the systems rather than turn the pump on and off. It's unlikely that you'd want to run a 25 hp motor all day (assuming you even have the service available to run it.)

As far a what to do with it. You're guess is as good as mine, but probably not as good as some others out there.

Joe R
TheExhibitGuys.com



Wayne Watson wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology 
> Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and 
> related institutions.
> **********************************************************************
> *******
>
>
> Someone gave the museum what we call a large vacuum pump. It has a 25 
> hp motor, is about 18" on a side, and says in large bold letters 40 
> with the words Two Stages below it. The mfger seems to be Edwards. It 
> looks like it would evacuate all the air from a large room. I may have 
> been used in the semiconductor industry. Any suggestions on how we 
> might use it for an exhibit?
>
> --
>      Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, 
> Nevada City, CA)
>                     -- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N,  121° 
> 1' 0" W
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>       "Birds take off at sunrise. On the opposite side of the world, 
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> -- Unknown
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