Lichamp Vacuum Pump, 4.5 cfm 1/3 HP HVAC Single Stage Vacuum Pump for R134a R410a R22 R12, for Automotive Air Conditioner Refrigerant, Oil Included, Cool Gray

I saw how you can make resin super hard by sucking the air out of it. I also had issues with getting refrigerant out of my house AC system a while back. This is great for both hobbies and practical reasons. I did have to make an enclosure in order to use this for the hobby things, and let me tell you making sure it is air tight is a very hard thing to do, but so worth once you get it right. The kids love watching food grow and shrink as the air gets sucked out and then pulled back in. I have yet to use this for anything but hobby things and demonstrations for the kids but I know for a fact that this will be able to pull the coolant out of the AC lines when the AC inevitably fails and I need to fix it. It is easy to setup, just add the oil it comes with until it is filled to the indicated line. Make sure to fill to just below that line or the oil may get sucked into the motor and that will ruin everything. Also it takes a little time for things to settle so fill it slow and a little at a time when it gets close to the limit or you may over fill.

I see the one negative review is that this will not hold vacuum when it is off.... okay but it is a single stage and if you need that reliably you must buy a dual stage pump. Generally when you do car AC work you let it run for 30 minutes to an hour to ensure you have a true empty system before you refill. This worked perfectly for that. I cannot speak to house or other AC work but for my purposes only needing it a couple times a year max this worked wonderfully. I have no problem having to run it continuously to ensure vacuum. There are definitely better products out there, but not many around this price. I would certainly look for a two stage pump if I expected a lot of uses.

I'm going to cut to the chase here folks, because as the headline above reads, this pump, after initially impressing me, has ruined my day. I'm no stranger to vacuum pumps, in fact, I own two others which I have used for mini-split installs/maintenance and also for vehicle AC work. They have served me well, but I thought I would go ahead and give this Lichamp vacuum pump a try.In short, during use, I started to notice that I was having difficulty maintaining a solid vacuum. At first, I thought my manifold gauge hoses were getting loose, so I snugged them up and tried again, but still no improvement. I checked the seals on my hoses, and even swapped the hoses out with others and tried again, but still, no improvement.As I continued to troubleshoot, my attention then turned to my manifold gauge thinking perhaps that maybe "ole-reliable" may have decided to throw in the towel. However, even after isolating each gauge and trying again I found that the problem continued - I could not hold a vacuum and I was getting frustrated. Pondering that the valves on my manifold gauge may have been a problem, I really cranked down on them, way more than I should have, and again, same problem - I could not hold a vacuum and I sat in frustration watching the vacuum slowly fade with each attempt.At this point I had the pump on my workbench with my manifold gauge and hoses. I completely dumbed-down my troubleshooting process and literally just put my thumb on the port on the pump and turned it on to pull a vacuum. It would initially grab my thumb and hold onto it, at which time I would shut off the pump. It would continue to hold suction, but I started to hear a funny, but very slight gurgling noise from somewhere within the pump. Concurrently, the vacuum would drop off, and then it would let go of my thumb. I then looked closely at the brass port - was it leaking? I grabbed a wrench, pulled the brass port out, and examined it. It had minimal sealant on it, so I put a few wraps of Teflon tape on the threads and reinstalled it. I tested it again with my thumb, multiple times, and also my manifold gauge - no dice!!! It would not hold a vacuum, and now that I was keen to it, I could continue to hear that gurgling noise as the vacuum dropped off to nothing over and over again with each attempt.Somewhere in the pump, clearly, something is going wrong. That squeaky gurgling noise is consistently repeatable, and the pump simply will not hold a vacuum once you power it off. I spent WAY too much time and energy diagnosing what was going wrong, thinking it was perhaps my hoses or my manifold gauge, only to find out that it is indeed the pump that is the problem. As I mentioned, I have two other pumps so I'm not stuck in a jam here, but my day would have been COMPLETELY RUINED if I needed to rely on this pump only to find out that it is a dud.The specs and the price on this pump looked pretty good so I thought I would go ahead and give it a try, but what a disappointing and a frustrating day, arrgggg. That said, that’s what I’m here for – to test stuff out and to report back to folks, so in that regard, it’s pretty simple – I absolutely cannot recommend this pump as it does not function properly. Quality Control should never have let this pump leave the factory. One-star is the lowest I can go here and that’s what this pump is getting – it has no redeeming qualities that can overcome the fact that is fails to function properly.

Just keep good oil in it and it will serve you well. Not the most powerful, but not a slouch either. For a single stage pump it gets the job done. Hook it up and walk away (depending on what you are working on). Don't forget to keep the pump oiled!

So - here's the thing. These budget vacuum pumps are so much cheaper than the 'name brands' for a reason. Specifically marketed as AC vacuum pumps, they're not expected to see a lot of use, nor frequent use. How long does it take before the return window closes?The pump worked - ran it for a few hours on the bench with a vacuum gauge. How long until the poorly honed cylinder or low-quality vanes wear out? Maybe not in the time you'll own it, maybe much sooner.Like most budget tools from that part of the world - I'd advise disassembly and inspection before relying on it long-term. For the money - I think you can do better - I've seen two-stage RV pumps for the same or cheaper.

So this is working well for the price. It is getting the job done. Not sure how long it will last but so far so good after 4 uses. It holds a vacuum and works in a pinch. So good value for the price.

The media could not be loaded. This is a great quality low cost vacuum pump! Its comes complete with oil to fill its reservoir.In the video, I pumped down an empty cylinder with a volume of about one cubic foot in well under a minute. The video shows the pressure gauge go from atmospheric (0.0 psig) down to a full vacuum (about -30 inches of mercury) on the gauge in a short time.The noise level is reasonable and pretty smooth: it is a thin motor-running hum that is only about a conversation level of noise when nearby the pump.

The unit came with the oil needed for the pump. I had to get some adapters for my gauges, but those can be found on Amazon too. Seems like a sturdy, well-made vacuum pump. I would have liked to have the adapters included.