How to Make a Vacuum Pump

This video will show how to make a vacuum pump, a device that can be used to suck the air out of sealed environments. This is the same pump I use to operate my vacuum cannon seen here: • How to Make a Vacuum C...
A clear vacuum chamber such as the one seen in the video can be obtained by purchasing a bell jar and vacuum plate, easily available online. I highly advise that only vessels made for handling vacuum pressure such as bell jars be used with this or any vacuum pump. If a vessel were to fail while under vacuum the implosion can be powerful enough to cause injury.
See this video for an improved piston design that can be used in this pump: • How To Make A Nerf Sty...
Vacuum Pump Parts:
16" of 2" PVC Pipe
20" of 1 1/4" PVC Pipe
2" End Cap
1/4"x1/8" Brass Hose Fitting
3' of 1/4" Vacuum Line
1 1/4" End Cap (x2)
1 1/4" Diameter O Ring
2" Coupling
2" x 1 1/2" Reducer
3" x 2" Adapter
3" x 4" Closet Flange
4" of 3" PVC Pipe
10" of 3/4" Dowel
Self Tapping Screws
Bearing Grease
1/8" Sheet Rubber And/Or 1/16" Sheet Rubber

[@tbsomerville5798]

A wonderful build that is terrifically explained… you earned my subscription.

[@G4mer_D4d]

ive seen several of these videos tonight, researching for a project and , this by far is the best done video ive seen. thanks a million.

[@eddievilla1584]

I just got done making this PVC vacuum pump. This seems to be a great design for a vacuum pump, I did make one modification to it that may save you time building it. I moved the exhaust check valve that comes out of the side of the 2” pipe, I moved that check valve to the bottom of the 1 ¼” piston cap and so then it vents out the top of the push/pull handle. This change seems to make it easier to build this pump. I hope this helps someone.

[@oldtymeliving4198]

I was worried about the placement of the vent. It would be impossible to replace if needed as the parts are glued and you can’t get to it. I’m looking to vacuum seal jars in a 2.5 gallon glass chamber is this pump capable.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

That's a good idea. That should work quite well also.

[@TraceurArok]

You have an amazing narrating voice. Also, you are a clever man. 10/10

[@flaplaya]

Love this channel. If (when) society collapses, the smart will survive. :)

[@joesitter20101]

In this design, max. vacuum achievable is determined by the pressure required to open the check valves. Small 1/3 psi check valves are available at low cost. That lets 97.7% atmosphere to be removed so, with 29.9"Hg barometric pressure, you could achieve the removal of 29.2"Hg (741.7mmHg) air pressure. Atm. press. @ sea level is 760 Torr (mmHg) so this pump, when fitted with 1/3 psi valves could pump down to slightly less than 18.4 Torr. The key part is the valve on the inlet side. Great Job!

[@old_guard2431]

Impressive engineering is involved to keep both materials and assembly simple. Well done.

[@RimstarOrg]

Another one for future use. Thanks! And nice technique for making the groove for the o-ring. I've gotta remember that for making pulleys. I've been doing it without the drill but with the drill you'd get a better result, as well as being easier to do.

[@ganjalfthegreen5312]

RimstarOrg the man the myth the legend

[@aidanblackwood6078]

this guy really loves his pvc.

[@zoltan1953]

I'm really glad I went digging through your older videos. I'm definitely going to make one of these.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I'm very proud of this project. My vacuum pumps all still work perfectly years later. It's a great design.

[@Kaija97]

You sir are the king of DIY projects

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Going wider makes the pump exponentially harder to pull up on. A two inch diameter piston takes around 45lbs to pull up at full vacuum no matter how long the shaft is, but go to three inches and you're at 100lbs. Doable, but a lot of work. Finding a piston to fit three inch pipe is quite a bit harder as well.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I use a black backdrop and increase the contrast slightly in post.

[@JonnRamaer]

Thank you. Your orderly instruction by itself is 100% merit to this video, far more for the usefulness of this device. Again, thank you and well done!

[@Dragonsayian]

Him and kipkay are purely just inventive

[@Elijah668]

I love your videos... they are amazing because the way you make some of the hardest things, amazingly simple...

[@fossil98]

Thats a really neat way of making a one way valve!

[@chickgen]

Great to see you're still making awesome stuff, keep it up.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Yep that would help. You also have to account for a small amount of air still remaining in the chamber after the down stroke, which is where a longer chamber will allow more vacuum to be drawn since it will give more room to 'dilute' the little bit of air that is never forced completely out. Dilute isn't really the best word, but I think it paints the picture.

[@LeonardGreenpaw]

You are so full of win. I wish to one day be as full of win as you.

[@vladkalina69]

Excellent job at explaining and video supporting the explaination. Good Job!

[@SoccerToBePro]

You're super cool and make some pretty awesome stuff!

[@notyourking381]

The principle that this works on reminds me very much of the functioning of the hearts pumping mechanism

[@JohnL9013]

This guy is a DIY God!

[@as3fawf]

So simple yet so beautiful - i really like it. Thx for sharing :)

[@mooncake5899]

can i just say this one thing this man right here is awesome

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Some hardware and auto parts stores have sheet rubber for making gaskets. Sometimes it's red, not black. If you can't find any you can just buy large rubber washers and cut pieces for your valves out of them.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

True value hardware carries the caps i use in this video. The design seems to vary brand by brand so you might need to call a few smaller stores to see what kind they stock.. Worst case you could order flat caps online.

[@vaporainwaves]

Omg, its awesome, you should make more vids, like putting water in it, or leafs to dry out. Amazing project.

[@Ganjau]

This man has a very nice voice.

[@aerobyrdable]

If anyone is wondering, degassed marshmellows are pretty terrible to eat XD

[@Trebukeet]

Thanx. Yes, I was wondering.

[@earthchanger]

No

[@GoRepairs]

Great build, what a useful bit of kit.

[@danielstrobel3832]

Realy cool! I was thinking of a realy simple design for a valve and there it is!

[@normellow]

This man’s a genius !

[@cajcaleb14]

You got big fast, NightHawk... I was your 6th subscriber I believe... now you have thousands... darn you! Keep up the amazing work! I loved your videos from the start!

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I believe I got it down around 28in/hg. The longer the pump body and piston stroke the deeper a vacuum it will be able to pull, but I found this size to be the most convenient to use.

[@oldtymeliving4198]

Do you think this is capable of removing enough air out of 2 1/2 gallon glass jug to seal mason jars

[@lawabidingcitizen5153]

@@oldtymeliving4198 Definitely, consider modifying a bike pump though, as that might work better

[@hskzn]

hi. diameter 50 mm strok 800 mm is i good for vacuum 0,9 bar about what do you think. can u help me ı have problem about vacuum

[@MrkBO8]

Thanks for this video, another excellent DIY

[@DJspinmaster88]

WOW! Well good job I really liked this build.

[@gdxd7956]

Pretty nice and easy, especially the valves. I'll ceartinly be doing one.

[@electronicsNmore]

Nice project. Use E-6000 glue. It is the best. Very strong, and flexible. I use it for all my projects. The valve design is very common. In engines they are "reed valves".

[@zippy3711]

Nice design

[@faridmak6738]

Realy good. thank you for hint to my project

[@fckinnonstick9919]

Genius Project!

[@TreethanRexus]

This is brilliant.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I'm not sure how much vacuum is required for them, but if 28 in/Hg is enough then yes. You can pull more vacuum as well with this design if you increase the pump and shaft length.

[@g41thomas]

very talented...

[@nfVidz]

This is brilliant!

[@TechVentions]

Simple but awesome !

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Yep, 28's about right. With a longer pump body you would be able to pull more but it starts getting a little tall.

[@trevorheinemann4204]

I made mine w/ a pvc elbow at the bottom because i'm low on materials. thanks for the great vid

[@Nighthawkinlight]

It's two sheets of polycarbonate laminated together for the base with a schrader valve threaded in as the air release and a quarter inch hose adapter running to the pump. A big rubber gasket I cut out of a sheet to seal it. The bowl I am using is just the heaviest I could find locally, but I do not recommend using anything other than a real bell jar. If the bowl were to fail it would send glass everywhere at high speeds.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Should be. The water would be contaminated with grease though, so you might want to use a different lubricant for that purpose.

[@vericuel1915]

Thank you a lot! I used this + calcium chloride for my freeze drying science fair project.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

As much time as it's been since my last video. Gotta think of it, figure out how to build it with common stuff, how to make it interesting, and then film it. I made two prototype pumps for this video before coming up with this particular design.

[@mackd7141]

I love science , well done

[@Wijpke1]

very ingenious

[@TheSeriousHawk]

thank you fro your time

[@ReMoBoY97]

Awesome and i was searching for something like this but unfortunately it is hard to build, anyway thanks for the video.

[@ColeHomestead]

Great job, keep 'em coming

[@TheGeekPub]

Awesome Idea.

[@techmouse.]

I'm so glad I found the x2 playback speed adjuster.

[@nickjbland2000]

Another genius idea and I'm only 14 and have made most of his ideas and use them frequently

[@saudalfozan8410]

Nice and clever

[@TheSeriousHawk]

ooh. i get it thanks nighthawk it helped a lot actually have a nice day

[@fireshotvids9188]

Thanks for the awesome video!!!!!

[@Nighthawkinlight]

The valves do work better with grease, but there's no need to apply it to them specifically. If enough grease is used on the piston the valves will be covered in the excess.

[@basyoni95]

Dude you are amazing i love all your videos :))

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I thought about it but there wasn't enough time to go over them in the video. Besides...I blew one of them up accidentally when I was testing my vacuum cannon. The projectile blew through the backstop I was using and hit the pump which I had stored behind it.

[@tomino3093]

This is awesome!

[@jamesthemlg]

just epic good job

[@charleskaminski221]

Thanks for the reply!

[@martinclark1333]

Brilliant!

[@sarhadradha7066]

thank you so much

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I have. It's not quite sensitive enough for a good vacuum pump.

[@SidsArt]

You are awesome!!! Thanks Alot man.!!

[@TreethanRexus]

You should incorporate this into more projects.

[@johnrobinson4445]

Brilliant.

[@elizabethreyes2186]

Wow! So amazing

[@TheMlf]

Brilliant...

[@Oinikis]

i wish there was such PVC parts here. we got really poor selectability. brilliant video anyway both pump and filming.

[@2awsomedogs]

I think you are the most AWSOME person EVER!!!!!! I love all the stuff you do you are REALY Inspiring. I find is so great, useful and fantastic that you put the as videos up. I also have a question would you be able to tell me about how much it will cost to get all the parts for this?

[@Kirby444]

Brilliant. Well-explained, visually perfectly organized, clear... Nice. Rare. Thank you.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Thanks! I hope you can put the information to good use.

[@Kirby444]

NightHawkInLight Okay, well, I have now attempted to build it. I followed your specifications carefully (I used lithium grease as my lubricant, and it seems to be working pretty well) but am having trouble with the valves. I ended up creating a kind of spring-loaded ball valve inside of the brass fitting at the tip of the PVC tube to block air from flowing back into my vacuum chamber, but the rubber flap on the side of the tube isn't holding much of a seal unless I hold it closed with a finger or two. Have just gotten some thinner rubber to try out. Looks like you had success with these rubber flaps in the past-- any pointers/ warnings?

[@mitchcrafter8953]

Nice one

[@Delta7Smith]

I need to build several of these. I need one for irrigation on the farm which in theory should only need one modification

[@SynS7ven]

Nice... and I think I have all that already. I think I would shield the jar too, maybe an acrylic box or something. At the very least to minimize the damage. I'll wear my shields, of course. ;) thanx for the response.

[@jimmysheds8914]

This is brilliant. Please let me know what pressure you can achieve (deepest vacuum).

[@MattyTeare]

Very cool

[@vicpetrishak7705]

Lubricate the piston seal with silicone paste . Garbage Freight has hole cutters to cut rubber very efficiently with a drill motor , use dish soap to lubricate the bit .

[@johnybravo2317]

much better pvc pump that grant thompson made. :)

[@tintin27udec]

Very good!!! it's easy and cheap. Thanks for sharing.

[@Efferheim]

Still a fantastic video! You sound much different now.

[@davetherocketguy]

I would recommend giving any areas that are to be bonded to the PVC via CA (super glue) to be given a light sanding with a 180 or so thus giving more surface area for the glue to bond to. Anyways, interesting video! Thanks for sharing.

[@leonelferia4341]

Can you make a video on how you made that sealed environment?

[@MrSlehofer]

thanks

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Bike pumps are cheap and common so I really don't have much reason to make one. If you could take the one way valve on the outside of the pipe and figure out how to connect a hose over the outlet it would be able to act as a bike pump from that line. This large of a diameter of pump body would make it very hard to reach high pressures though.

[@cgdl60]

Excellent project. Which has been the maximum vacuum pressure you have reached?

[@Olaoo99]

Awesome!

[@sofoklatesjabu714]

I love you Grant !

[@loganraimer]

about the same as a bike pump, but it supplies you with the resources, skills and is much more fun than just buying a pike pump