Alamo pump

[maple flats]

I bought an Alamo pump today. ($300.00, is that good, I thought so?) Trying to decide what I got. It has a 3.5 hp elec motor, pump looks big to me. On top it has what I think must be an oil reclaimer, coming off the exhaust from the pump, straight up, about 10" diameter x 12" tall with the exhause coming out top center. On the bottom it has a fitting with 2 oil tubes, one going to each side of the pump. And on the side of the canister there is an oil site tube for oil level. Going on the vac side a hose looking something similar to a radiator hose feeds into the vacuum canister (hose maybe about 2". The vac canister is about 11 1/2" diameter x 28" tall and has 2 3" fittings out. One has a plug and the other is 3" reduced to 2" PVC and then just cut off. This pump was used daily until October '09 and aside from some dust looks clean. Does anyone know what I have. What size engine and pulley do I need to get about 10 CFM at 24". If my tank is cabable of holding that much vacuum. It might be a vacuum tank, I'm trying to determin. If yes and tank needs lower I will reduce. If too much lower or not a vac tank I will get a releaser and use it to get 22-24". I've got a lot to learn about this, my first vac attempt.

[TF Maple]

Pictures would help alot. Maybe compare it to my pics in the SP-11 thread.

[maple flats]

I'll need to get better pics. I tried some on my phone but there was not enough light to see much The pump was in a dark hallway in the barn. I'll try to pick it up and haul it home this week and then I can get good pictures.

[Dennis H.]

I picked up a Surge Alamo pump at an auction recently and the funny thing about them is there is now model number on them!

Mine had a 1 1/2hp motor and was told it was most likely a Alamo 30 due to the motor size and the location of the inlet and oulet on the pump. Also the width of the pump helped them decide they said.

I was told that you can tell the model by the width of the pump and what side or top the inlet and outlet are. It sounds like yours is alot bigger than the one I got. Good Find.

BTW I opened mine up to take a look inside. Very easy to remove the non-pulley side to take a peek inside.

[TF Maple]

OK, here is a picture of my dairy pump and I will explain some of the parts. It has a 9 HP motor.
The screened part way to the right is the vacuum controller. The round parts in front with the radiator hose going into the tank are air filters. The highest parts that have the Alamo Vacuum Pump signs on are the oil resevoirs/reclaimers. They have a site gauge and temperature gauge and three drip channels. Each drip channel has a site gauge too so you can make sure the oil is dripping the required 2 to 8 drops per minute.
Let me know if you have any questions and if some of the parts match what you have.

[davey]

To the best of my knowledge, the surge-alamo 75 cfm came with a 3.5 horse motor. I can double check on the pulley size for you. I ran one with a 5hp, but am going to buump it up to an 8hp this year to give me a little more wiggle room. The vacuum tank on it should be fine as long as there are no leaks. You will want to get a vacuum regulator for the pump eventually too.

[maple flats]

What should I regulate it to? I plan to put a gas engine on it, what size should I get? I'll get something that I can put a remote fuel tank to run longer. I still have a 15 gal if it is good that I ran on my irrigation pump for all night frost control when I had strawberries. It ran an 11 HP engine all night through.

[Haynes Forest Products]

TF Maple didnt you say that on the right of the unit in the screen part is the vacuum controller. That would be the vacuum regulator. It all depends on how tight your system is and how many taps you have and lastly how warm the unit gets. You might not want any air introduced into the system until you run it in the bush.

[TF Maple]

TF Maple didnt you say that on the right of the unit in the screen part is the vacuum controller. That would be the vacuum regulator.

Yes, I used the wrong terminology.

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK so what is the screened thing on the side?

[TF Maple]

OK so what is the screened thing on the side?

I haven't looked at it in a long time. It is a Surge Equalizer 2 vacuum controller. It has a spring inside on a threaded bolt with a knurled nut on top to adjust vacuum level. Usually the vacuum level for milking is around 15 Hg and at the cow end looking for about 11 Hg.

[davey]

i set mine according to where I think the motor is running it at an acceptable vacuum level without straining the motor too bad. that will vary greatly depending on your tubing system, etc... Kind of a you'll get a feel for it kind of thing. I think the 15 gallon tank will be more than adequate.

[maple flats]

Will try to get the pump today if the seller is around, otherwise it will be during the week. Then I'll get some pics and try to figure what I bought.

[maple flats]

I picked up the pump today and will get pictures but I have some dimentions. The motor was 1730 rpm with 6" pulley and pump was 10" pulley ( if I figured right in my head that is about 1038 rpm on the pump as it was. The Alamo pump is 4" end to end inside the end plates and about 10" diameter on the outside of the cooling fins. What info can anyone give me on this pump? CFM at any specific RPM? desired RPM for 550 taps to get at least 20" (if vac tank is confirmed that may be max, if I get a releaser I may try 22-24".) What model might it be and if needed, parts availability? Any help appreciated.

[maple flats]

I should also say, the intake and exhaust come off the outer diameter one on each side and both face straight up, they look like 1.5" on both but I'll measure tomorrow.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Mapleflats Why would they go with a 6" pully on the motor? does it look like the factory setup?

[maple flats]

I really don't know why they went with 6". It is a heavy pulley. The farmer did just buy a bigger pump saying this was too small after he went with pipeline rather than the old surge milkers. Might be the company working his set up tried to get more CFM before selling him a new pump. He said this worked fine at 15" vac with the Surge milkers, but after the pipeline was added last fall his vac dropped to about 10-11". My thought when he said that was a pipeline leak.
The farmer is a gentleman farmer, and said he has an off the farm job. At the end of our talk the day I bought the pump I asked what his other job was. He is a physician. I smiled. He says he just does the farming for lifestyle for the kids. He also has a half pint he bought new and did 50 taps this year. His wife also has a dog breeding kennel and has horses and horse boarding. His dairy is certified organic. I don't see any reason for him to try to sell me a pump that is not everything he said it was.

[maple flats]

Can any of you pump people give me any idea what pump I have based on the info I gave in reply #14? I want to know what RPM I need to run to get about 10-12 CFM at 20 and 22". Also, will the oil reclaimer be good enough from the dairy set up or do I need to get more oil flowing to the pump? If I need more , what do I need to do? The original ioler/reclaimer has 2 small tubes, one to each end, maybe 1/8? tube, maybe even less. There looks like some sort of restrictor on the oil feed to the tubes too, do I need to open it up or re-plumb?

[Haynes Forest Products]

I would remove the restrictions on the oil lines and let the oil flow in at a higher rate. As far as the reclaimer it was ment for a drip system so you need to see how it handles the bigger volume. I would not try and speed it up to much for higher CFMs until you see what kind of HGs you pull with the oiler and higher vacuum levels. 1st is cooling 2nd is HGs and 3rd is CFMs but that is just my opinion:)

[maple flats]

Vac level and temp are easy, how can I measure the CFM's?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Hook it up to your system and if you get good HGs who cares.

[davey]

I still think that it is likely an Alamo 75 CFM pump.

[maple flats]

What vac level should I try to get from it? If it IS 75 CFM that is super but what vac level can I safely try to get from a rotary vane pump? Also, what pump RPM should I go for. I will be buying a Honda motor and want to get the right size the first time so the motor can be run a an easy RPM without laboring while wanting to get the smallest that will fit the need. I'm thinking I want to try to run a motor at about1/3 to 1/2 rpm. Also, I am looking at an SP22. Would that be better for higher vacuum rather than the Alamo?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Heat will determine how high a vacuum you can pull. Those pumps were desighned to run at lower HGs so they didnt get that hot. Now that you want to go higher you need to get the heat away from the unit. Low and slow is fine for RPMs BUT its the lack of in coming air that will increase heat so as your system gets tighter (less air leaks) the less cooling air that passes thru the pump. Less air higher heat, tighter system less air, less air more heat,tighter system more HGs, higher HGs more sap, higher HGs less CFMs, less CFMs more heat:rolleyes: KEEP IT COOL:cool: