vacuum easel pump suggestion

[esearing]

I finally own a vacuum easel thanks to a member here selling one. But now the search begins for a vacuum pump. Does anyone know how much PA of vacuum suction is needed assuming all intake slots are covered? Would an 6K-8K PA mini car vac have enough suction or do I need to be looking more along the lines of 15-20K PA. Also wondering if I could reverse the air flow of a pond air compressor which is much quieter than a vacuum cleaner.

[Tin Can]

I have an oil less vacuum pump, misting oil in our DR may be a sad affair

I also have a bleed valve and easy to see vacuum gauge

[cowanw]

I use a full size Dustbane canister vacuum, not unlike any from the 1980's, and it is barely, not really, powerful enough for a 16x20 easel. Maybe my 1 1/2 inch tubing is too big but it is air tight.

[maltfalc]

get a well balanced high static pressure computer fan.

[esearing]

get a well balanced high static pressure computer fan.

What would one use for a housing? The easel has a 1.5' tube for the suction port.

[maltfalc]

What would one use for a housing? The easel has a 1.5' tube for the suction port.

any little container you can easily cut holes in with at least one flat side.

[Drew Wiley]

Don't use a peristaltic pump of any kind, including a diaphragm pump - they can actually jiggle the easel surface a little. You want something rotary, but without too much suction. A simple cordless vacuum works well, but then you have to keep recharging the batteries, because they don't hold a charge for very long in that application. I have high quality miniature vacuum cleaner which I isolate noise from by keeping it in another room via a hose through the wall, remotely controlled. But another option I use is my smaller Festool vac - true Hepa, so no dust, distinctly quiet, and with built-in variable power. I also have an optional bleeder hose segment for it, if I need to reduce pressure even further. The only downside of those is that they're distinctly expensive (not in my case - I was a dealer). Never use a typical car or home vac within a darkroom unless that's the only place you use it, completely clean. Just having a so-called Hepa filter inside it does not constitute a real Hepa vac. Fine dust still has ways to get around the filter itself. The real deal is specially sealed throughout, and will even be anti-static in cases like mine - nice for darkroom cleanup too, without worrying about dust getting spread around.
The biggest problem is that my wife likes borrowing my smaller Festool vac for the house - it picks up everything an ordinary vacuum won't.

[Gary Beasley]

I always ran my vacuum cleaner pump for my vacuum easel outside the darkroom with a switch on the enlarger table wired to turn it on and off. Still got the old vacuum if you want it, sold the easel last year.

[esearing]

I always ran my vacuum cleaner pump for my vacuum easel outside the darkroom with a switch on the enlarger table wired to turn it on and off. Still got the old vacuum if you want it, sold the easel last year.

Yeah I have a small shop vac but the noise is extreme and it would have to be in another room for the exhaust . Just need to figure out how much air flow is needed.

[Gary Beasley]

Yeah I have a small shop vac but the noise is extreme and it would have to be in another room for the exhaust . Just need to figure out how much air flow is needed.

Not every vacuum is really loud. Shop vacs seem to be the worst for noise. Ive used some of the older floor models that had pretty good sound dampening in them. It never hurts to have a little extra vacuum, you can make a dump valve pretty easy to control how much vacuum you actually get at the easel.