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I have obtained two diffusion pump stages from a pair of very old Vacuubrand high vacuum pump. The rotary vane pump in one of them was dead and another overheating. So, I salvaged only the diffusion pumps. I pan to set it up with a rotary pump to build my own high vacuum pump. The inside of the oil diffusion pump was quite burned up due to lack of proper maintenance. I cleaned it up with Toluene and detergent and now it's almost clean.

I have presently have two types of rotary vane vacuum pump oils with me i.e., a clear looking hydrocarbon based mineral oil and another one is a brownish thick oil (could be polyester based or something). The latter is quite viscous also. I managed to borrow a rotary vane and tried using the brownish vacuum pump oil and it was a bad idea. Once heated the entire room stank. Took it apart and cleaned again.

My question is can I used the clear mineral oil or it must be a silicone oil? I currently only have like 25mL XT 704 silicone oil with me that a friend gave me. Is it mandatory that only this particular silicone oil must be used or any type of regular silicone oil will do the job?

Here are a few pictures of the oil diffusion pump (the second unit is also same) below: enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

The_Vintage_Collector
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    Without knowing what you want to use these pumps for, I recommend you check out the following links so you can understand the criteria you have to balance: https://www.lesker.com/newweb/fluids/fluids-technicalnotes-1/ https://www.vacuumscienceworld.com/blog/oil-diffusion-pumps – J. Ari Feb 07 '21 at 20:49
  • Also, the manufacturer may still have information for these units and could tell you what is recommended. – J. Ari Feb 07 '21 at 20:51
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    Silicone oil supposedly behaves better when overheated – Pete W Feb 08 '21 at 00:21

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