# Assembling A Milking Machine...Vacuum Pump Quesiton



## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

Bought my complete surge bucket assembly the other day....and that leaves the vacuum pump. I'm not mechanically inclined. The only pump I've ever used for anything is a $50 air pump that plugs into my cars AC adapter for filling up my car tires. Through other threads I'm pretty sure I know the size pump I need, but I don't know what connections a standard vacuum pump even has...and I don't want to buy the wrong pump. I'm pretty sure I need a gauge and a regulator, which if I build a balance tank would go on it. But in the case I do not build a balance tank for the time being, do most vacuum pumps come standard with a fitting to hook up a gauge and a regulator, or how does that work? Never used a vacuum pump really, so I don't know how the CFM is managed. Is there a dial to set the pressure you want or what? Most pumps I've been looking at on ebay don't come with a gauge, and I don't know if they come with a regulator or what. Can someone enlighten me on how and where the gauge and regulator go and work so that I know if I'm buying the right pump? Again, I think I know the size to get...I think...but I don't know how and where all the fittings and such are for gauges and the regulator. Thanks.


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Try going to my website www.freewebs.com/cottoneyeddoes

Go to the section about building your own vacuum pump. Maybe some of your questions might be answered there. I'm don't know much about the pumps themselves either, but maybe someone else will know. I lucked out and got a nice big one on ebay that is quiet.


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Mat,

Most pumps do not come with guages and regulators and stuff. It's just a matter of going to the hardware store and buying the pipe fittings necessary to plumb the inlet side of the pump.


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## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

Christy, I actually have your website bookmarked already. Thank you for that! It's been very helpful. Especially where you show a picture of your balance tank. That will lead me in the right direction when the time comes. I might have missed it, but I didn't see a section about building a vacuum pump. I did see on the page titled "parts to the milking unit", number 8, talks for a sentence or two about vacuum pumps, but not in any specificity. I must not be looking at the right section. But I have definitely found your site very beneficial in the past. 

Nicole, when you say I need to buy the ""pipe fittings necessary to plumb the inlet side of the pump", does that mean that most pumps come with the CAPABILITY of having a gauge and regulator on them, but that I just need to find the right fittings in order to put them on the pump? That would seem to me to be the case. I hope that's the case, because I'm not sure I want to build a balance tank right away. Probably a stupid question, but again, I've never really used a vacuum pump for anything, and I don't want to buy a pump that doesn't have a spot to put a gauge on it. I'm trying to find a heavier duty pump, but my fallback is to get a cheap $100 3CFM pump for milking one goat at a time, and I don't know how they work and if they have a spot place to attach a gauge and whatnot because I am totally unfamiliar with how the pressure on these pumps is regulated. Thanks.


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## Ozark Lady (Mar 21, 2010)

I found an interesting blog page and thought that I would share it.
This person doesn't build a vacuum pump, but it did help me understand where to find one.
smallholderhollow.com/projects/diy-milking-machine-2/


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## Goat Town (Nov 20, 2010)

Yes Matt, unless a pump has been built for a specific application it will most likely have a threaded hole for the inlet and another for the exhaust. The user can then configure the inlet and exhaust to fit the pump's application. 

Just as an example this is the configuration of the inlet side of the pump I milk on. It runs from the pump to the milk machine. The first thing is a moisture trap. I put it here to keep any moisture or dirt from entering my pump. Connected to the moisture trap via a Tee is the regulator. Connected to the regulator via another Tee is the vacuum guage. Connected to the vacuum guage via a pipe nipple is a stall cock. I put a stall cock there to shut off the vacuum on shutdown so the pump would not run backwards on shutdown. Connected to the stall cock is a rubber hose that runs to the balance tank. The balance tank is connected to the milk machine via another rubber hose.

Most of the above configuration was done in 3/4 inch galvanized pipe fittings. 3/4 inch is the size of the inlet hole on the pump. I must use reducers at places like the moisture trap (it's 1/2 inch), the vacuum guage (it's 1/4 inch) and the stall cock (it's 1/2 inch). I have a very linear configuration because it fits my application. It keeps the controls within easy reach and the vacuum guage is easy to read. Plenty of people do things differently depending on their situations. There is simply not just one way to do it.


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## Pronking Publius (Mar 29, 2012)

Thanks Nicole. I'm the kind of person who likes to have my ducks in a row and know what the last step of a process is before I start the first step. In this case, I think I'm just going to have to get a vacuum pump and use whatever fittings I have to for that particular pump to get the job done, even if I don't know for sure what everything is up front. Your post puts me on the right path I think. Thanks a ton.

Oh, and thanks for the link MaryAnn....I actually found and posted that link in another room in a previous thread but sort of forgot about it...so thanks. It shows some good closeups of pumps.


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