What do I look for when buying a used Gast pump???

[BlueberryHill]

I have a guy looking to sell me a used Gast 3040 V132. It would be my first vac pump and I don't know much about them. Would have a max of 200 taps on it. It's a little bit of a drive and I don't want to waste a trip if I dont have to. He said it spins by hand and you can feel it sucking when you put your hand over the intake. But he said it is old and it does make a little noise when it spins "tapping". Is that OK, or is that a sign that something is broken? I have no idea what to look for when buying a used pump. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[unc23win]

If you go to gast website you can find information and ask tech support maybe tech support will even send you some information. I think the 3000 series are dry pumps pretty sure you can get pdf file for it.

[wishlist]

3040 pumps can be dry or oil lubricated . Mine is oil and uses very little oil thru the season. The "tapping " sound is probably the vanes moving which is a good thing. Sounds like they are not stuck. My pump is an old one but works great and pulls 26" consistently. I would plan on at least taking the pump apart and give it a good cleaning or better yet just rebuild it. Easy to do and not expensive .

[BlueberryHill]

Awesome, thank you for the info. It's $75 bucks so I figure it is worth it. Now I just have to wait until next maple season before I can use it, haha.

[madmapler]

That pump is rated for 20 hgs. but I'm not at all surprised that wishlist is getting more out of it. It's rated for 40 cfms so I'm guessing it'll get good vac. for up to 1000 taps or so according to the way they're rated. They call for a 2hp. electric motor. The way the guy is describing it, it "sounds" pretty good.

[BlueberryHill]

I ended up getting it. The guy had the day off and he volunteered to deliver it so I figured I could not go wrong. It spins smoothly and you can hear the vanes clicking. When I stick my hand over the intake and spin it, it feels like it is pulling really good suction. The thing is solid and looks well cared for. I'll dig in to it and clean everything up soon. Then if it all still looks good then I will start hunting for a motor for it. Thanks again to you all for your input.