PB Motor Tech 3 Gallon Vacuum Chamber Kit with Tempered Glass Lid - 4.5CFM Vacuum Pump. 38 Micron Vacuum Pump Kit (Oil Not Included) - Ideal for Wood Stabilization

The vacuum chamber works just fine. The glass lid makes all the difference with some of the resins that normally craze plastics. The 4.5 CFM Vacuum Pump makes a difference in time to pump down over other offerings with 3.5 CFM 1/4 HP Single Stage Vacuum Pump. It would help if the instructions were written in standard US or British English. For example: when filling the vacuum pump with vacuum oil, the instruction state to fill, rather than noting the Min and Max levels in the sight glass.

Worked well degassing 64oz resin. Held vacuum with no leak down.

This is my 2nd Vacuum Pump. I'm not an expert. I'm using it to stabilize soft stones like chrysocolla with Cactus Juice resin. You MUST use a tempered GLASS lid with Cactus juice or it will cause a million hairline fractures in a plastic lid. Lesson learned. This unit has a sturdy glass lid with a very nice seal on both the lid and the chamber. It comes with more than enough tools to assemble and they even threw in a pair of gloves and plumbers tape. My only complaint is the directions are pretty useless so be sure to watch some YouTube videos on using Vacuum chambers to you have the concept before trying it. What is missing from the directions- I used my best judgement and took pictures of how I set it up. The main gauge is screwed into the lid hole using this configuration: metal washer, plastic o-ring, GLASS LID, plastic o-ring, metal washer, nut. Make it tight but not too tight. If you can't get a Vacuum you can always go back and tighten it more. Vacuum oil is NOT included (it usually isn't) so order that when you order a chamber to avoid disappointment. Use a funnel so you don't make a huge mess and don't be in a rush or you will likely overfill and make a huge mess. I used the included plumbers tape when attaching the hose to the pump. The directions did not say anything about how to do this so again, I just used my judgement and you can see what I did from the images. Also, No Karen, I'm not using this in my kitchen....its just where I set it up to make sure it was working before lugging it to the workshop. I think the motor is a bit loud and makes some weird noises but it did pull a solid Vacuum and that's all I need it to do. I'm pretty happy with it and would recommend it.

As others have mentioned, the included instructions are pretty much useless and/or incorrect. It did come with sufficient parts/tools, but the wrench that's punched from a piece of metal is too big for the valve that installed on the pump itself, and too small for the 1/2”~1/4” adapter that is also included (there's only 2 hex shaped parts in the whole kit, besides the lid nut!). No doubt most people will have an adjustable wrench in their home, so it's not a huge issue. One of the silicone washers included with my kit was already broken. Unfortunately, that means the entire thing is useless until I can get a replacement. The parts list claims that it comes with a 4.9ft hose, but in actuality the included hose was only 3.25ft (attached photo). Luckily, a 3.25ft hose is sufficient for operating the equipment. The instructions also claim that you need to use the included hex wrench to install/remove the oil drain plug, but the oil drain plug on the pump is just a Phillips head screw (attached photo)! 😖😖 Bottom line.... these kits aren't exactly made for precision and/or laboratory type work, so keep your expectations tempered. I can't comment on it's functionality until I find a replacement silicone washer, but it seems like it should work just fine once that issue is resolved.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: Perceived value

I recently used this for the first time. I got the 3.5 gallon. The directions were lacking directions on usage and assembly. The noise is not bad but the pump got hot. It took a long time to get the vacuum up and longer to get the bubbles out of the resin.

This is an absolute steal at the price I paid for this. The double gasket kept the vacuum for 3 day's after I turned the pump off. I am absolutely pleased with this purchase. The other one I bought came with an acrylic lid and cracks started appearing after the 3rd use. Also it only had the gasket around the lid. This one is tempered glass and has held up. It comes with a gasket for the lid and also one for the pot.

So... product presentation needs to play with Russian dolls on this one,.. and fit the pump inside the vacuum vessel pot before packaging, because it raises end cost

Some washers were broken - seems rather common. Instructions should be clearer but rather easy to put together. ADD THAT OIL - it is needed. Works just fine, even better and faster than i thought.

Muy buena calidad.

This works pretty well. The instructions are garbage, written by somebody who's never seen this machine before, but youtube fills that in. It only goes to -27, not -30, but it gets my bubbles out, so that's okay

It works great. But needs oil (the compressor) For the price it’s good

Great Vacuum Chamber Kit. I am using it as a vacuum chamber to seal my mason jars, works amazingly well, great product, thanx.