jonbakerok
Well Known Member
With all the new options available, there's probably nobody still thinking about a vacuum system. But just in case, I thought I'd pass this along.
My new, warranteed for one year or 1000 hours Rapco vacuum pump failed at two years, 10 months and 205 hours. I used the complete kit that Spruce sells, which includes a model #215cc Rapco pump. Anybody else get more than 200 hours out of theirs?
There was absolutely no warning. It was working fine on the previous flight, then produced zero vacuum on the next. Good thing I never got around to going for the Instrument ticket, I guess. If it failed like that under actual IFR, I wonder if I would have noticed in time. In fact, I wonder how long it was dead on the previous flight.
I'm tempted to switch to something else, but at this point, it's just not worth it. A rebuilt pump is $186, which is a heck of a lot less than junking two servicable gyros (one only a year old) for a Dynon or something (yes, my yellow-tag'd DG failed last year). I noticed that Spruce sells a special cooling shroud for the pump, so I bought that, too. Maybe I'll make it to 300 hours next time.
My new, warranteed for one year or 1000 hours Rapco vacuum pump failed at two years, 10 months and 205 hours. I used the complete kit that Spruce sells, which includes a model #215cc Rapco pump. Anybody else get more than 200 hours out of theirs?
There was absolutely no warning. It was working fine on the previous flight, then produced zero vacuum on the next. Good thing I never got around to going for the Instrument ticket, I guess. If it failed like that under actual IFR, I wonder if I would have noticed in time. In fact, I wonder how long it was dead on the previous flight.
I'm tempted to switch to something else, but at this point, it's just not worth it. A rebuilt pump is $186, which is a heck of a lot less than junking two servicable gyros (one only a year old) for a Dynon or something (yes, my yellow-tag'd DG failed last year). I noticed that Spruce sells a special cooling shroud for the pump, so I bought that, too. Maybe I'll make it to 300 hours next time.