I Scored a Free Vacuum Chamber and Upgraded it!

In this video, I show you how I got a massive vacuum chamber for free and turned it into a pretty cool high vacuum setup.

[HuygensOptics]

Okay, just to save you from disaster: a safety margin of 2 is completely insufficient for glass. Make that at least 5 -10. The problem is not the bulk strength of the material, it's about tensile stress at the edges of the glass. Any small crack (for example from diamond tooling) can quickly grow under these conditions, leading to catastrophic failure, destruction of your chamber and vacuum system. Not to mention serious personal hazards. Buy a much thicker disk or better, decrease the window size. Or even better : both. With this 20mm window you will never feel / be safe, even if it does not crack immediately!

[alext]

Congratulations on becoming a professional mechanic. We are all very proud of you.🎉🎉🎉

[nickj]

1:34 consider using a maroon or other fine scotchbrite and make linear motion along the path of the seal, making a "race track" finish. Otherwise the rotary device shown in the video will make perpendicular scratches along the length of the O-ring surface.

[sypeiterra]

On the light clamp for the viewport you should add a conical shaped "lens" which stretches from the clamp to the glass that can help reduce any glare on the window itself from getting into the camera during recording

[MartinBalle]

Suggestions : build a ring around the viewport and have a grove with a Oring that way it won't be local pressure on the glass. And maybe build a plate that sits in front of the big vacuum pump. That way if any thing implodes it wouldn't hit the blades

[aonomus]

You're living out my dreams with a giant vacuum chamber, hope you can do some cool experiments in it when it's ready.

As for the turbo pump, you need a 'crows foot' wrench fitting so you can tighten the turbo clamps with a torque wrench without the body of the pump interfering with the torque wrench.

[yt]

At my workplace we had a turbomolecular pump connected to a mass spectrometer simply explode about a week ago. If the outer Cover (which was in place for such a case) hadn't held up it would have sent shrapnel flying everywhere around the room. I don't even wanna imagine the damage to all the other sensitive equipment in the room or what would have happened to anyone that could have been in the room at the time.

[ProjectPhysX]

0:16 haha e-waste dumpster driving, my source of hardware gems as well. No idea why people throw away perfectly working computers :D

[MikeyMobes]

Hello from Massachusetts USA! My fav chem channel

[Sheevlord]

If the manual suggests 22 clamps for the pump but you only added 12, wouldn't it be easy to drill 12 more holes in between the existing ones to allow for 24 clamps? That's even better than 22

[gork]

You can get sockets that have a crescent head off to the side that you can use to tighten your pump clamps with the torque wrench. You have to adjust the torque to account for the increased tool length

[m.i.c.h.o]

This is huge. I can’t wait to see how this develops!

[jacobe]

two things. 1. get a wheeled bench to mount under the pump so when you need to remove it in the future you don't strain your back.
2. the 3d printed brackets could be replaced with a carbon fiber safety mesh that mounts in those spots just in case it ever does shatter. that way you can still remove it easily for filming and such and the brackets have a use. as far color? I wish they were all steel color.

[mixolydian]

Amazing. All the best for your experiments.

[АртемСинельников-шх]

Awesome turbopump!!!!
From my point of view, using a solid glass for such a large window is not a good idea, as scratches on its surphase can reduce its strength a lot (up to 10 times!). In my project i use a 300 mm window made of 30 mm triplex (3*10 mm). From my point of view, triplex is more robust and suitable for such applications, as forces are more smoothly distributed)

[TheBakafish]

Crow's foot wrench adaptor for those inset bolts.

[countessa]

Idea suggestion- Pull the water out of unopened Geodes! Then open them to see if it was able to pull out all of the liquid. 😊

[xntumrfoivrnwf]

Should have hit the gym for 3-6 months before attempting to mount the pump

[NiksSofa]

- outside-in lighting is a great idea, maybe put some more leds around the window in the empty spots.
- consider putting a polycarbonate sheet outside in front of the glass. possibly removable, so you can move it aside if you want to film.

Does the BigPump need to be unobstructed inside the chamber?
can you put something in front of it inside the chamber to protect it from becoming a viral video?

As for what to do with the chamber?
Maybe start a business vapor deposition coating whole pets? anything up to a dog would fit...

[AnthemUnanthemed]

0:13 very interesting technique, I hear thats called the "whoopsy" method of lock picking