Well, being frugal and somewhat creative i built a vacuum pump from pvc , i used 2" for the cylinder and 1" check valves, 1.25" pvc shaft with a 1.25" rubber sleeve over it for the piston. It works great but, i'm afraid that after pumping out all the CO2 from over 60 gallons of wine my forearms and neck muscles will look like I'm a football player. I'm guessing that it takes about 60 lbs of force to move the piston up, it has about a 2' stroke, down is easy, the vacuum sucks it right down. I've used it on a 6 gallon carboy of Blackberry wine and am glad that after several days of pumping it finally looks like the bubbles I'm raising are slowing down. I only pump for a few seconds as it really is hard work. I think i've proved that it will work , now I'm going to save for a real vacuum pump. Anyone else try this?
