I had 250 hours on my pump. It was part of the complete RAPCO package offered by Aircraft Spruce. It was shipped to me on December 14, 2000. The first flight did not occurr until March 21, 2004. The operational characteristics were never great. I could never get a good vacuum reading at idle but during runup (after I adjusted the regulator) I got a good "5" (differential) on the gauge. No observed leaks but no good test of the system beyond the in panel gauge either. Not very comforting for IFR operation until proper gyro function was verified in visual flight conditions. It always worked but I always had a concern. On the day of the failure it was a local flight under 6,000ft overcast so no sweat but the AI rolled like a dead fish on climbout and the gauge read "0". The new pump is installed and I am adding the cooling shroud offered by Aircraft Spruce today. The shroud is STC'd for virtually all of the Beech, Cessna and Piper aircraft so I expect some real life enhancement. We shall see.
Bob Axsom