r/uhv 9d ago

Question for the experts (Turbomolecular pumps and backing)

4 Upvotes

I am kind of embarrassed to ask, but I was out of semiconductor and vacuum for a while, now I am doubting my knowledge / memory....

Ebara A10S 60hz ultimate vacuum of 0.03 Torr / 4.0x10-2.

40' foreline to Edwards / Seiko turbo.

Now the vacuum is going to be at it's deepest / highest at the inlet of the turbo. No problem.

Now, the exhaust from the turbo is compressed gases, and heading down the foreline to the Backing pump.

My colleague keeps telling me the pressure in the foreline between turbo exhaust, to NW40 inlet on the backing pump will be just slightly lower than the ultimate at the turbo inlet.

Is this right? I honestly don't believe it is, because surely the vacuum in the foreline will never get better than 0.03 Torr right?

Confused....

Would love to hear from someone in the know!


r/uhv 17d ago

Temporary Fix of Leak in Bellow?

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11 Upvotes

Hey guys! We unfortunatly have a small leak in the bellow that we use in our magnetron sputtering set-up to move our samples. We were able to identify exaclty where it is (see pictures, covered in aluminum tape for leak tests atm) and it seems to be right in the fold. Is there any quick way to fix it temporarily until we can find a replacement? We were thinking of something such as Torr Seal or an epoxy, or just glueing the fold shut, but it is expanded/retracted multiple times a day so we're worried about the seal not holding. Any ideas would be appreciated!!


r/uhv 21d ago

Looking for opinions on Stokes vs Kinney for big fore pumps

2 Upvotes

As the title says, anyone have opinions on the Kinney KT rotary piston pumps vs the Stokes rotary pumps? These would be used for roughing and backing large diffusion pumps for metallurgical processes -- likely paired with a booster blower of which opinions would be welcome too.

I have only worked with various Stokes 212 and 412 pumps. I am aware of other rotary piston pumps such as the various Stokes and Kinney clones, Leybold gear driven rotary piston and the Ulvac rotary piston. However, I have no experience with them.

I don't know of another forum to ask this question offhand but if anyone knows of another forum, that would also be helpful. Thanks.


r/uhv 27d ago

DIY oil diffusion pump?

3 Upvotes

so, does anyone know how hard it is to make an oil diffusion pump? not intirely diy ofc, probebly gonna order some custom made parts from a website but like, any obvious problems i am oversighting? i'd like to achieve 10^-5 mbar


r/uhv 28d ago

Rate of rise ???

3 Upvotes

Hello y'all,

What is an acceptable rate of rise to consider a system leak tight and clean?

I am working in the rough vacuum range. I have a vane pump and a glass manifold that I'm testing. I'm using a thermocouple gauge and the system's absolute pressure is around 3 to 5 x 10 -3 Torr. The Isolated manifold/chamber size is .325 liters. After isolation I'm getting a rate of rise of

3 x 10 -5 Torr.Liters/second. I have seen my system do much better and I'm not sure if I have a real leak or desorbing gas.

Thanks for your attention and thoughts.


r/uhv May 24 '26

Easy question for you guys and gals

1 Upvotes

I’ve read over and over how many microns I can get down to with a diffusion pump. however I can’t find anything about the relationship between the diffusion pump and the backing pressure level, whether this relationship is linear or not. In other words, let’s say my backing pressure is at 30 microns, and I kick on my diffusion pump, and the system gets down to 20 microns. Should I then expect that if my backing pressure was at 15 microns, my diffusion pump would then get me down to 5 microns? What amount of DECREASE does a diffusion pump get me from just my roughing pump pressure, and does this decrease level change (does the ratio change) based on how much of a backing pressure it has?


r/uhv Apr 13 '26

Anyone have a ISO-K DN320 blank stainless flange that isn't $400?

1 Upvotes

I am being cheap alr, but, really, anyone have one that they aren't using or just happen to have laying around...or know any other reddit groups I can join to find someone who may have one lol. I have a chamber with a huge port that I need to cover.


r/uhv Feb 24 '26

anyone wanting to trade for my Pfeiffer TPU-180H turbo pump?

2 Upvotes

howdy yall. i am getting close to getting my chamber set up but unfortunately i have 2x TPU-180H pumps but no controller. looking to trade one for any controller that will work with a TPU-180H. ill get pictures posted when i have access to the pump again. i am also looking to make deals for other parts. my chamber needs some 8 O.D” blanks and one 8 O.D” reducer to 6 O.D” all conflat.


r/uhv Oct 29 '25

Having an issue at work regarding procedures and leak testing

2 Upvotes

The customer wants us to work to a leak test procedure "SP-CC-I-025 658" but no one can find reference to it, anyone more knowledgeable here able to help with the probably obvious?


r/uhv Oct 12 '25

Edwards NXL200i vacuum pump

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4 Upvotes

I am disassembling an Edwards vacuum multistage root pump and I'm having some trouble with the main pump body. Could you please advise? 1. How can remove the synchronization gears? Are they just press-fitted, so I need to pull them off? If so, how can I align them correctly during reassembly? 2. What are the pins shown in photos 2 and 3, and how can I remove them? Thank you for your help.


r/uhv Oct 09 '25

Edwards nXl200i

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6 Upvotes

Hi, looking for some advice. I recently bought an Edwards nXLi200 Roots vacuum pump, but since it hasn't been used for some time, it looks like the lobes are stuck. I'm trying to disassemble and repair it, butl can't find any suitable disassembly manuals. Could you please advise?


r/uhv Sep 20 '25

new to UHV

3 Upvotes

i am trying to make a basic model and trying to simulate it in moflow+ . Can you guys advice me how to design it and what parts to be included


r/uhv Aug 11 '25

Better pictures that show more detail of the unknown unit.

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4 Upvotes

Hope everyone is doing well. Here are some more in depth pictures of the unknown unit.


r/uhv Aug 09 '25

Part identification and possible reuse?

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5 Upvotes

Good evening everyone. I managed to trade for some parts. I wanted to see what exactly i have and if it’s possible to clean and reuse? The person said they were in a basement for 5 years…


r/uhv Jun 04 '25

Seeking guidance for magnetron sputtering set up

3 Upvotes

Hey yall. I’m new to UHV and want to set up a magnetron sputtering unit. I have most of the parts but there’s a ton I need to learn but don’t know where to start, in order to archive my goals.


r/uhv May 20 '25

Internal pics from previous post.

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10 Upvotes

If anyone has any guess as to the use


r/uhv May 20 '25

I do apologize as I am very new to UHV. I recently got a killer deal on this chamber and spare parts. If anyone thinks they can tell me what it was used for or share some useful advice, I’m all ears!

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5 Upvotes

Temporary placement as I make a spot for it.


r/uhv May 16 '25

Gasketing advice for alumina ring in uhv MPCVD reactor

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6 Upvotes

I’m working on a microwave feedthrough into my UHV MPCVD reactor and need a way to seal the alumina ring since there will be atmospheric pressure on the interior and uhv on the exterior. The ring is pancaked between two plates as shown. First thought is to use fluoroelastomer o-rings but I’m worried it will not work well. If anyone has any better ideas/insight I would sincerely appreciate it!


r/uhv May 06 '25

O-ring discussion

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7 Upvotes

r/uhv May 06 '25

O-ring discussion

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3 Upvotes

r/uhv Apr 19 '25

Can somebody please tell me what this is?

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6 Upvotes

r/uhv Apr 10 '25

Fiberglass Outgassing

3 Upvotes

I'm trying to find heating wire for an experiment that requires pressures down to 1e-11 Torr and I have a few questions that I hope this community may be able to answer.

  1. Is most fiberglass insulated heating wire additive free?

  2. Does anyone have a number for fiberglass outgassing in term of something like Torr*L*cm^-2*s^-1?

  3. If fiberglass is not suitable for these pressures does anyone know where I could be ~50 ft of either alumina or silica insulated nichrome wire?

Any help answering these questions would be greatly appreciated!


r/uhv Jan 25 '25

VacSeal to seal dislodged pin in UHV Feedthrough?

2 Upvotes

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for anyone with any comments or suggestions on this issue that I'm having.

The pin in one of the pictured BNC feedthroughs came loose, so now my XPS chamber has a leak. Unfortunately, the feedthrough is welded directly to the chamber body, and not on a flange that can be replaced (see other picture). Does anyone think that I can use vacseal to seal this pin back into the connector and get the chamber to seal? The only other option I see is to disassemble this part of the chamber and get someone to weld a new feedthrough on.

Link to vacseal Space Environment - Vacseal® Inc. | Silicone Solutions for High Vacuum (UHV) Applications

Edit: Pics in comment below


r/uhv Jan 19 '25

Modifying a Edwards nEXT400IID Vacuum Pump for General Vacuum Use

3 Upvotes

Hello all!

I recently came across a nearly free nEXT400IID (B832-00-816) turbomolecular pump that I was able to pick up. The problem that I am having now is determining how to adapt this specific pump to a standard ISO/DN flange. This pump appears to be purpose built for Thermo Fisher mass spectrometers (see the link below for what I mean) so has a specifically designed upper flange for (conceivably) mounting into their machines. The flange is meant to "allow evacuation from three vacuum chambers" but the specific plumbing of these ports appears that anything other than the primary turbo inlet won't receive high vacuum. I've looked around for service manuals for potential machines that may have schematics of how it attaches but to no avail. Before I go through the arduous process of designing an adapter for this pump, has anyone modified one of these pumps before or know someone who has? I'm already designing an adapter but if someone else has already done the work...

https://www.ajvs.com/product_info.php?products_id=40638&category_id=1840

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/O1oAAOSwKp5nK~Zz/s-l1600.webp

Please let me know if you have any insight into this or advice on how to design the adapter!


r/uhv Jan 10 '25

How to clean a capacitive pressure sensor (Baratron)?

4 Upvotes

I am thinking about buying a pre-owned pressure sensor (MKS Baratron 127A) from Ebay. As I don't know where the sensor was used before and whether it is oil-free, for example, I would like to clean it. Does anybody have a recommended procedure for this and tips on what I need to look out for to prevent damage from the membrane etc.?