Quote:
Originally Posted by cbearden
That's a good idea...But I'd like to be able to work on these things myself, especially considering that propane may be involved later on. I already have a vacuum pump and a set of gauges, so this would compliment my tool set.
PS - awesome score on a unit for $10!
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Pretty unusual find, too.
If you poke about on the net in general and youtube in particular, you'll see that other folks have built extractor units themselves, for peanuts (real cheap). When you're extracting, you really don't have to extract past atmospheric pressure, so any HVAC compressor could be sacrificed to use in this duty.
Brad_C did some of his early work using a freezer to chill his units, and stuff for extracting. Pretty amazing, those Aussies.
You should be able to hack an extractor together pretty easily. I'm not sure what you day-job is, but if it were me, I'd try to hack one together and save my money for some really primo brazed plate heat exchangers.
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By the way, you do realize that re-purposing refrigeration equipment and messing with propane can be very dangerous, right? Having a home made propane refrigeration device inside your house could cause cancellation of your insurance, at the very least... even if it was shown to not be faulty. If you proceed with this project, it is at your own risk.
-AC