This is not intended to be a "don't let that refrigerant into the atmosphere" argument.
Out back, I have a few fridge and freezer compressors. I was going to make one work as a vacuum pump, for pulling a vacuum on my car's air conditioning. My question is, would a fridge compressor work as a vacuum pump for ski building? Or would it provide not enough or too much vacuum?
I've used a fridge pump on several pairs of skis. It is a slow pump but a fridge pump will pull a very hard/strong vacuum. There is plent of info on the web about making a pressure cut off valve for it.
Don't think a car AC compressor would pull enough vacuum, but then again I've never tried.
I got a dehumidifier compressor from a local appliance repair guy who gladly removed the refrigerant and gave me the compressor. He said I was saving him the cost of throwing it out. He also gave me some tips about leaving the capacitor in the electrical loop to help the start and stop of the unit. Surprisingly it pulls 29" HG when blinded on the suction side. I'm still sneaking up on the first lay-up, so I don't have working numbers to tout yet.
There's a lot of info around this site on vac pumps, so search away.
