# 12v vacuum pump



## ObsceneJester83 (Sep 9, 2017)

Does anyone have any experience converting a 12v DC vacuum pump to 120v AC? Can that even be done? I got the pump for free and would like to use it for degassing and transfers. If I could convert it and not have to have a car battery on my countertop that would great. Thanks in advance for any help. I'd add photos of the pump but I can't figure out how


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## AkTom (Sep 9, 2017)

I'll give a guess... free advice and all;-)
Get a 12 volt phone charger and wire it to your pump.


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## stickman (Sep 9, 2017)

You can purchase a 12VDC power supply, but they can be somewhat expensive depending on the power rating needed for your vacuum pump. Do you have information on the amps or watts required for your pump?


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## ObsceneJester83 (Sep 9, 2017)

It says that it draws 8 amps @ 3,000rpm.


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## Brian55 (Sep 9, 2017)

Sell it on e-bay. While you're there, pick yourself up a 120v vacuum pump.


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

ObsceneJester83 said:


> Does anyone have any experience converting a 12v DC vacuum pump to 120v AC? Can that even be done? I got the pump for free and would like to use it for degassing and transfers. If I could convert it and not have to have a car battery on my countertop that would great. Thanks in advance for any help. I'd add photos of the pump but I can't figure out how



Easy, go to electrical wholesaler and pick up a 12v/120v transformer, wire the pump to the 12v side and wire a plug to the 120v side. Done. Buy a 75VA 120v primary 12v secondary transformer, should be about $20


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

Here, ill take a pic, i have one in my service truck, only difference is this one is 24v secondary, you need a 12v secondary. If you need help with the wiring you can pm me. Try and get a 75VA transformer as it will come with a little circuit breaker on it and you wont need any fuses, as well it will be able to handle the pump better than a 50 or 40va. This is a multitap primary and can be wired into 120 or 240, you use the wires as per the wiring diagram to choose your primary voltage then marret off the unused wires, its very easy, like i said if u need help u can send me a pm. Just about any elecrical whosaler or electronics shop will have these in stock. A 12v charger from a phone or laptop wont work, there not powerful enough, your pump will smoke it as soon as it starts drawing too much current, not only that but most laptop and phone chargers are not 12 volts, my laptop is 18v for instance, and as volts go up amps go down and vice versa so if your feeding your pump anything other than 12 volts you will end up burning up the pump windings, proper way to do this is to buy the proper transformer and you wont have any issues


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

Oh and one more thing, you might want to check the specs on your pump before going through the effort, my guess would it will need to pull a minimum of 10"hg to draw wine from carboy to carboy without taking a long time, and putting alot of current through the windings on the pump eventually burning it out, cfm will come into play as well but not as much as hg". The all in one wine pump pulls 22"hg and is probly the perfect vaccum for wine, i have one on order, at the moment im using my refrigeration vac pump which is heavy ackward, and draws a vaccuum well beyond 29"hg and can evacuate a sealed system beyond 100 microns, which its designed for, probly enough to implode a glass carboy if im not carefully watching my gauges as im using it. So the right vaccuum pump is the key to a good wine pump, not too big, not too small, Id recommend the all in one wine pump if your pump doesnt meet the specs to be used as a wine pump.


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## stickman (Sep 9, 2017)

He needs DC volts, that transformer will step down the voltage, but delivers AC volts which won't work with his pump.


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## ObsceneJester83 (Sep 9, 2017)

I'll need 12v DC. It's a suction pump off of an ambulance and advertises 22" of vacuum. It's designed to run off a car battery. Smok1 would what you are suggesting work for that?


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## ObsceneJester83 (Sep 9, 2017)

I may just skip the hassle and borrow a friends hvac pump and use a regulator so I don't end up with a mess in my kitchen. Or worse, a trip to the ER.


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## sour_grapes (Sep 9, 2017)

This would (just) do it: https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Cigarette-Lighter-Charger-Vehicle/dp/B00SDXONI6/ref=sr_1_12?srs=7885600011&ie=UTF8&qid=1504984812&sr=8-12&keywords=cigarette

This would provide a bit of a margin: https://www.amazon.com/SMAKN-Adapter-Cigarette-Lighter-Charger/dp/B00ZOETLL6/ref=sr_1_21?srs=7885600011&ie=UTF8&qid=1504984873&sr=8-21&keywords=cigarette


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## semenn (Sep 9, 2017)

ObsceneJester83 said:


> I'll need 12v DC.


I can not argue because I do not live in the US, but we have the most affordable way to buy a 12V DC power supply. These are the units that are used for LED lighting fixtures and there are a large assortment in any electric goods store.


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## ObsceneJester83 (Sep 9, 2017)

The only problem with these is that it's rated at less than 2 amps. The pump draws 8 amps.


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

stickman said:


> He needs DC volts, that transformer will step down the voltage, but delivers AC volts which won't work with his pump.



Your correct sorry i over looked that, you can build a ac/dc rectifier using diodes if im not mistaken, ypud need to google the diodes u need based off 12v and amps the pump draws


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

Well a 120vac to 12vac at 100va transformer will handle 8 amps but the problem is gonna be building a rectifier to convert to direct current that will handle 8 amps, youd need to find some diodes that can handle that current, another option is a 12v battery hooked to one of eliminators but that will be costly, might as well buy the all in one wine pump at that point


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

ObsceneJester83 said:


> I may just skip the hassle and borrow a friends hvac pump and use a regulator so I don't end up with a mess in my kitchen. Or worse, a trip to the ER.



I use an hvac pump right now until my all in one shows up in the mail, they work well as long as you watch the pressure, only other issue is they use hydroscopic vac pump oil and the oil goes milky after using it one time to transfer wine even if you use two 1 gallon jugs in between the pump and the carboys, your hvac buddy may not like that, refrigeration pumps arent ment to be used with any liquids.


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## ObsceneJester83 (Sep 9, 2017)

Any links to this all in one you're speaking of?


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

ObsceneJester83 said:


> Any links to this all in one you're speaking of?




https://www.allinonewinepump.com

Comes with everything for degassing, transfering, bottling attachment, and hes working on a vacuum press attachment for it, lots of threads and reviews on this product on this website.

This is the way to go, vacuum pump discussions are all over this thread and have been beat to death, i havent seen one bad review on the AIO wine pump, everyone raves about it.


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## GreenEnvy22 (Sep 9, 2017)

I've used ATX computer power supplies for all sorts of stuff needing 12V. Usually yellow/black lines on the power supply are 12V. Cut off the rest of the lines or tape them up.
12V rail can usually supply over 10A.
Find an old scrap computer, rip out the power supply, and check the specs on it to see if it does at least 8A on the 12V lines.

Most power supplies even have an on/off switch on them.

Last year I wired up my father in laws rotisserie on his BBQ to run off one.


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## Trick (Sep 9, 2017)

I purchased a very cheap vacuum pump (12v 500ma) from ebay. Still waiting for the delivery:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/DC12V-Mini-V...446351?hash=item4afecd490f:g:9V0AAOSw3zxXMDVC

To make it work, I also bought a 120V AC - 12V DC adpater (2A version.):
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/12V-1A-2A-3A...var=500806805105&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

It also comes with a small adapter for wire connection to the vacuum pump.
Planing to make a wood frame to mount these two items together.

I also bought a vacuum gauge, a ball valve and some fittings. Altogether less than $40.
Downside is that I have to wait for a long time for the delivery from China.
There are some videos in Youtube for the mini vacuum pump.

I will use the assembly to do degassing and racking.


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

GreenEnvy22 said:


> I've used ATX computer power supplies for all sorts of stuff needing 12V. Usually yellow/black lines on the power supply are 12V. Cut off the rest of the lines or tape them up.
> 12V rail can usually supply over 10A.
> Find an old scrap computer, rip out the power supply, and check the specs on it to see if it does at least 8A on the 12V lines.
> 
> ...



Thats a brilliant idea, you can get all sizes of atx power supplies for computers, im sure you can find one that will run 8 amps, large servers are bound to draw 8 amps.


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## Smok1 (Sep 9, 2017)

Just took a picture out of my old computer, 12volt rail will do 17 amps


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## sour_grapes (Sep 9, 2017)

ObsceneJester83 said:


> The only problem with these is that it's rated at less than 2 amps. The pump draws 8 amps.



The first one that I cited can handle 8 A. The 2nd can handle more.


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