Surge Alamo 100

[darkmachine]

So 5 hours into this season, my vacuum pump turned into a smoke machine. When i found it, the oil line had melted on the the pump housing. Long story short, the bearings had finally given up and caused the vanes to rub on the pump end plates causing the end plates to get super hot.(also showed a burned spot on the end plates where the vanes were rubbing) lets just say I had a fair bit of time in scraping all the carbon. It looked like the bearings and seals had never been replaced. The pump got new vanes, seals, bearings, oil lines. If anyone has any experience with this pump it would be good to know about the longevity of bearings etc. I assume that running it pulling 22-24 inHG puts more wear on the pump that if it were working in a dairy. I have new oil drippers and filter modification and it has worked fine for me the 2 seasons I have used it. I'll try to keep it going until i can save enough for something a little more modern.

Jacob

[darkmachine]

I had to go back and read the thread from when i first started using this pump. I forgot that it was mentioned to add a fan, or oil cooler. A box fan is going with me to the barn next time i turn the pump on. as for now, it was 7 degrees last night and is still below freezing, time to shop for an oil cooler. Also why is vacuum pump oil so expensive! lol

[maple flats]

I used a 100 for 7 seasons, changed bearings in season 2, vanes never needed changing. I did need to free up the vanes when I first got the pump but they remained good for the 7 seasons and were still good when I sold the pump. My pump had an oil reclaimer which seemed to cool the oil well enough.

[darkmachine]

It's been running all day today without any issues, I put a box fan pointed at it, most i've seen have an aftermarket oil reclaimer/cooler, they still sell this pump re-manufactured so it must be reliable. The pump was free to me so i don't really have anything to complain about. after the new seals and bearings it's losing much less oil. It should hold up until i can save up enough to purchase something else. If my releaser wasn't leaking so much i'd be pulling 25", now i'm at 23, but i can see where the leaks are so when i clean it later this week I can do a little fixing.

[darkmachine]

I guess the best thing is to continue this thread since it regards the same vacuum pump. I have had lots of trouble keeping the pump lubricated. My big failure last season was my oil filter vibrating loose and rubbing the housing which caused a hole in the filter, and over night the bearings to cooked. I think i have that worked out, that and my melting plastic oil lines. I know i'm overworking this poor pump making it pull 25" of vacuum, its' gonna get hot, it's going to use oil. Is there any way to prevent so much oil loss??? or at lest a cheaper alternative to the oil i get from my diary supplier. It was 70 bucks for 2.5 gallons last year and i used close to 20 gallons. I think if i could cool the exhaust maybe i could get some oil back? I just have the factory reclaimer on it, and i know it all gets too hot to touch when it's been running for many hours. I do plan to replace it, but that is at least 2 seasons away. so two things....DIY oil cooler? and cheaper alternative to the pump oil if i can't keep it in the machine. Thanks in advance! It pulls like a champ when everything is dialed in.

[Bricklayer]

Does your pump have an oil reclaimer ?
I used a 100 for a couple years and I put flexible copper lines from the reclaimer to the oil drippers. Helped cool the oil
Also you could turn your drippers down a bit if need be. I can’t remember what I had mine set at. There are 3 of them.
I bought the adjustable ones. The stock ones are not adjustable.
I also found that running the copper lines out of the reclaimer and up to about 3/4 of the way up to the top of the reclaimer a big swooping 90 would prevent the pump from filling with oil when the pump turned off.

[murferd]

I used copper lines from reclaimer to the bearings as well, but made them with coils(loops). I think there about 5 or 6 loops, thought it allowed more time for the fan to cool. It still smoked bad, but never failed. Everyone is pushing these pumps to almost twice what they were designed for, so something has give.

[Bricklayer]

Yes. They do run hot and will smoke no matter how much oil you give them.
You can set the intake flood dripper a little higher to provide more oil to cool the vanes and pump head as well.
Every little bit make a difference.

[darkmachine]

Thanks!

I think i will go to copper lines, and the coils sound like a good passive cooling option. the reclaimer sits on top of the pump, maybe i need to move it? as far as the oil goes, i was reading on some other Ag message boards about farmers using automatic transmission fluid in them, anyone ever heard of that? I have a pretty good cloud of mist that the pump makes when it gets warm...and a nice oil slick down wind. I'm am moving my pump this year closer to the releaser instead of way up in the barn so hopefully i can keep tabs on it better. I have three adjustable drippers the two on the bearings I have pretty dialed in but i'll have to play with the one on the intake. I know using them for maple pushes them way beyond what they were designed to do, but they are built like a tank, new vanes and bearings are still cheaper than a rotary claw pump or something similar, just need to make this one last 2 more seasons.

[Bricklayer]

Oil list out the top is normal. Maybe not a huge slick. But some does get by the reclaimer.
I actually had copper drain pipe that had brass threaded fitting soldered on it that was the same size as the outlet of the reclaimer. I put a 90 off the reclaimer and then went out the vacuum shack and then 90 degree down into a clean 5 Gleason pail with a lid on it with a bunch of holes drilled in it. This made the pump a little noiser around the pail but I almost reclaimed 100% of the oil and didn’t notice any negative effects on the pump.
Also when you do your copper coils make sure they swoop up higher then the oil level in the reclaimer. Then the reclaimer won’t fill the pump when it’s off.
Any copper that’s added anywhere will help cool the oil and with a fan blowing on it even better.
Transmission fluid will work in a jam. Like if you run out of vac oil and have to run the pump for a couple hours while you go get some. But it does not do well when a little mousture or sap is added. It will foam up and possibley cause you problems. I found that out the hard way.

[darkmachine]

To follow up on some of the recommendations that I received for my vacuum pump. The copper oil lines seemed to make a world of difference, they were solid, didn't leak, and seemed to keep the whole system cooler. I did turn up the flood dripper(the one i added on the intake) and that seemed to cut down on some of the smoke, as well as improved my vacuum. I did switch to Hi-tran hydraulic oil instead of the surge oil about 2 weeks into the season. 5 gallons for 65 bucks vs 70 and a 2 hour round trip for 2.5 gallons. I made sure to keep moisture out of the oil and had no foaming issues, maybe even less smoke? The oil i bought(2 different brands, one was amber, the other was blue just like the expensive oil) seemed to last in the system just as well if not longer. All the vanes and seals seemed to be no worse for ware. I also used a 110v box fan blowing over the pump and copper oil lines. I ran between 22 and 24" at the releaser around the clock for many days. I don't see any reason i can't get a few more seasons out of this setup, even though my brother really wants to spend a few thousand on a new pump.