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I have seen a few references to people using old refrigerator compressors to make their vacuum systems. I have pretty much breezed past without much attention since I don't really have any intention for set up vacuum. That said, I will be having some old refrigerators hauled out of the basement at my mom's house. I'm wondering if it would be worth while to grab one of the compressors in case I have need of one some day.

Is this really a good option for the types of uses we might use vacuum for in our shops? I could also see my daughter using one in the future to degas resin craft projects.

How does lubrication work for these without the refrigerant? Is this something that would wear out quickly if it was only pulling air with no oil or other lubrication? I don't know much about these things.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

To meet current environmental regulations, you’ll need to extract the freon from the system rather than just cut the pipes and release it into the atmosphere. An appliance repair shop can do that for you.

That is a good point and I’m glad you brought it into this discussion for future readers. The unit in question is old, lit was old when I was a child. It crapped out in the early 80s and instead of getting it recharged, it was replaced (but never disposed of). The gas that was in it has long since been released. It does make me wonder tough, what will become of the other two units that (as far as I know) are charged. When the appliance place hauls them off, do they have them emptied before they are scrapped?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

In my county in Virginia, the freon containing appliances are taken off to the side at the dump. Periodically, a contracted company comes out and collects the freon. Then, the metals are recycyled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxvH3EtxN-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWzzttw4SuE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eokuMItfx2E
You tube is your friend!
I heard you could use a frig compressor could be used as a vacuum pump and the first video shows how to do that. The second one is how to modify a small air pump, and the third shows how use a compressor and hose to draw some vacuum for doing odd jobs.

Thanks Clay. I have a love hate relationship with going to YouTube for this kind of stuff. I get lots of interesting ideas but often feel like I’m missing out on one of the great things this forum offers. That is a community to vet the info presented. It looks like this is pretty straight forward (as I guessed it would be), but you don’t know what you don’t know.

I think I’ll go ahead and squirrel away this compressor for the future. I’d still like to know if these types of compressors are up to the tasks that instrument makers would use vacuum for (glueing and perhaps parts holding).

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Soldering tip: don't touch the prepped surfaces with your bare fingers.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

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John