[sdiy] Found good vacuum pump for desoldering iron, but request pointers...

[anthony]

Hello all,

I remembr a thread a while back about using a small pump, like one salvaged 
from a small air conditioner. Kind of a messy idea - I've done it before. 
They do make great vacuum pumps, but they're hard to cool if used 
constantly... and they're HEAVY if  they're not from a really small A/C or a 
dehumidifier (which is the best way to go in this regard). Well anyway, 
enough of THAT bother...

When I was taking my trash to the local dump/recycling center, I checked out 
the "Tradin' Post" as I always do and I found a Salter AIRE Plus. Looked 
like a medical air compressor (it was) AND one that I could asilly turn into 
a nice vacuum pump (unlike the cigar lighter powered air compressor I found 
last week - which was actually SMALLER!).

Anyway, I got it home and opened it up and since it needs a filter there is 
a nice little hose fitting for the end that would be the point I would use 
for a vacuum pump. It's a really nice piston-style pump, air-cooled with its 
own little fan (well the fan-blade is just on the rotor of the pump motor, 
which is pretty stout for such a compact unit.

OK, so getting it to be a vacuum pump is the easy part. I'm just wondering 
what the best way would be to use it to replace the hand-pump bulb on my 
radio shack desoldering iron. I thought about making the bulb rigid a little 
bit somehow by glueing tubing around it and then cutting a little hole to 
connect a nib to then connect it to the vacuum pump. My concern is that the 
solder has to go SOMEWHERE. Should I just try to find some silicone (or 
other high temp.) tubing and run that to a little jelly jar with two holes 
in the lids: one for the desoldering iron end and the other to connect to 
the pump?

Also does it not work as well to have the pump on all the time? I have a 
footswitch ready, but I tought having it try to pull a harder vacuum 
constantly and then releasing tis vacuum when need with a pin valve migh 
work well. I guess it might be tricky to activate a pin valve with a foot 
pedal. And would it really need to be a pin valve I wonder? But the pump 
really seems to pull a good hard vacuum right at start up, so the 
foot-switch might be the best way to go.

I was just wondering mostly about the plumbing and what to do with the 
flying molten solder.

thanx,
Anthony