Another take on the DIY Vacuum Box

[Justin G]

Thank you to everyone for the inspiration and help. Here is (I know, again?!) my version of the vacuum box.

General concept is 4 of the lighthouse motors, independently controlled with 4 DPDT switches and home made check valves for each. Motors pull from a "group" vacuum area into individual chambers. Cut from one sheet of 1/2" PRE FINISHED BB, sealed with silicone on every joint. top lid opens for easy access to motors for inspection/ maintenance and blowing out filters. Check valves are gravity operated with a built in stop limiting their opening range to 80 degrees. gravity holds the check valves down, and when a motor is running, it seals the valves down hard of the other motors. when any motor is turned on, it pulls the check valves open for each of the motors individual chambers. So any combination of motors, or only using one, works great.

It works. 9" of Vacuum for each motor with a predrilled 1/4" hole to vent the lower bearings per motor in their secondary chambers. Not sure about the total cfm because while reading the airflow with an anemometer it sucked the fins off of the flywheel and broke it, whoops. If there was parts sucked into the motors they are long gone.

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[EricSchimel]

Any chance you could send the cut files or drawings for that? I'd love to get a closer look.