Yellow Jacket AC Vacuum Pump

Yellow Jacket Vacuum Pumps

Yellow Jacket is one of the United States' premier manufacturers of HVAC testing equipment, trusted by technicians nationwide for their superior reliability and constantly improving technology. While many other manufacturers have shipped much of their production overseas, Yellow Jacket has maintained their trademark "Made in the USA" advantage. A continual leader in the vacuum pump market, Yellow Jacket has recently upped their game considerably by introducing their new complete line of Brushless DC Motor-powered pumps.

We'll take a look at the technology behind this new innovation before moving on to the details of each new pump model. To put it all in a nutshell upfront, you can expect significantly lighter machines, more reliable power draw, continuous torque, and special design for working on intrinsically safe A2L systems. Let's dive in.

Some background on Brushless DC Motors

This section will provide a technical background on BLDC (Brushless DC) motors and the significant advantages that this technological advance brings to vacuum pump technology. We're going to go fairly deep, so feel free to scroll ahead to the details on each pump. However, if you'd like to know precisely how BLDCs improve vacuum technology, this discussion is for you. The short version is that a BLDC is a much more effective design for a motor in terms of efficiency and power generation.

Starting from basics, a motor of any kind is a device for taking electrical energy from an input source and converting it into mechanical energy. With a vacuum pump, the motor takes the electricity from the power source and changes it into the physical torque required to power the machine and produce a vacuum.

A so-called brushed motor, one that has brushes as opposed to brushless, consists of two primary parts: a group of rotating magnetic coils and fixed magnets on the walls of the motor chamber. Current from the electrical supply is sent to the coils. The principles of magnetism dictate that a magnet of one pole, north or south, is strongly attracted to a magnet of the opposite pole. The current from the power supply will magnetize the rotor-mounted coils to be pulled toward the fixed sidewall-mounted magnets creating rotation. The issue is that unless the current in the coils is changed, past a certain point of rotation, the rotor assembly would pull back in the other direction, halting the movement. At this point, the "brushes" come into play. The brushes are fixed pieces that touch the rotating coils, changing the direction of the current and altering the polarity at the right point to ensure continuous rightward spinning of the rotor assembly, generating the torque the motor is designed to supply. The biggest downside to this setup is that there are inconsistencies in power draw and torque output due to the nature of the brushes needing to touch the coils to change the polarity (causing minor friction).

The simplest way to understand the function of a BLDC is that the two main pieces, the fixed magnets and the current-supplied polarity shifting magnets are located in the reverse locations. In other words, the spinning assembly that's rotor-mounted houses the fixed magnets, and the changing magnets are mounted to the sidewalls. The current is supplied externally to the sidewall magnets, which change polarity at the proper time to keep the fixed magnet hub spinning, thus generating constant torque uninhibited by friction issues or power supply issues.

Now that we've covered the technology briefly, you might be rightly wondering why any of this matters. Of course, there'd be little reason to know any of this if it didn't translate into some significant direct benefits in vacuum pump performance. Luckily, this motor design does just that.

The greatest advantage to using a BLDC design in a vacuum pump is the increased efficiency in torque generation. With a brushless DC motor, torque is generated consistently and continuously. By contrast, a brushed motor only generates maximum torque at a few points in the rotational cycle. This fact means that a brushed motor needs to have much larger magnets to produce comparable torque to a much smaller BLDC motor. The end result of these factors is that, to produce the same amount of mechanical energy, a brushless motor can be much smaller. This translates into a significantly more compact pump design. With the new Yellow Jacket Superevac pump line and the Yellow Jacket Bullet vacuum pump line, the BLDC motors equate to a 20% smaller and lighter pump than past models. That's a difference you'll feel immediately and adds to your ability to carry the pump on the job site and to overall convenience.

Another big benefit to using a BLDC motor in a vacuum pump is that it reduces the electrical noise that can lead to sparking. This advance allows all the new pumps to be used when working on A2L systems, which eliminate all sparking potential, avoiding fires and other dangers. The lack of physical wear from not having brushes naturally extends the life of the pump because there isn't any friction going on to degrade the components. Simply, a BLDC motor makes for a safer and more reliable vacuum pump.

Finally, another benefit is controllability. Since current is applied externally to the coils, a BLDC motor runs at an exactly programmed and consistent torque. This, in turn, cuts down on power draw, making for better electrical efficiency. The reduction in energy consumption, as well as the consistency, will extend the life of the electrical components.

Let's jump in now to the specific pumps on offer from Yellow Jacket. We'll begin with the more inexpensive Bullet vacuum pump series before moving on to the top-of-the-line Superevac pump series.

The Yellow Jacket Bullet DC

In previous versions of this line of pumps, yellow jacket offered a variety of cfm ranges for the bullet series. With the advances in BLDC technology that we've detailed above, they have now been able to offer a whopping 7cfm in a single model that supersedes the entire old line of bullet pumps. And as we mentioned above, this increases power comes to you in a pump that is 20% lighter than the prior generation models. 7cfm should be plenty of power for any residential job and all but the most demanding industrial work. We're going to get into the details of this exciting pump now but be advised if you want to purchase and learn about a higher-range pump, you can scroll down to the higher Superevac models below.

As we hinted above, the Bullet DC offers reliable and continuous torque generation, so the power you need is there when you need it. XX The BLDC design also promises better efficiency and thus longer life. Along with that efficiency comes the ability to handle drop sin voltage and to work in lower voltage environments. Additionally, the pump can easily start and stop even in extreme weather conditions, especially the cold. The long and short of a BLDC pump like this Yellow Jacket Bullet is that power supply and longevity concerns are largely eliminated. It's just an all-around more dependable machine.

Physically, the pump comes in at 27.5 pounds, a full 20% lighter than previous iterations of the Bullet, due again to the BLDC. That motor itself is ½ HP, but as we explained above, the amount of power you'll get out of it is much better than an AC half horsepower pump. This is clear from the 7cfm air displacement power and the ultimate vacuum rating of 25 microns.

As implied above, many AC system manufacturers have made the switch to A2L systems. In a nutshell, this means that many of the newer, more environmentally friendly refrigerants are combustible. So the A2L systems themselves and the equipment you use on them need to be "intrinsically safe". This means that there is no potential for the equipment to spark, causing a fire or worse. The BLDC design helps with this as well as the power switch itself being specially designed not to spark.

Let's run down the rest of the physical design features from top to bottom. There's a heavy-duty padded steel handle for easy carrying, as well as a built-in mount point for a shoulder strap (sold separately). To one side of the handle, you have a three-port intake fitting block with multiple sizes, 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2". To the other side, you'll see a large ¾" wide-mouth oil reservoir port. You can easily attach a standard garden hose here, later on, to vent the exhaust to a remote location. There are cooling fans on the side of the pump as well as impact-resistant toughened nylon feet to keep the pump stable and relatively quiet. The sump design is downwardly angled to prevent the backup of contaminants that can happen with more standard designs and a 3/8" brass oil drain for fast changes and disposal of dirty oil. On that final note of oil (we'll have a short section below on the importance of clean oil in vacuum jobs, don't ignore this!), there is elongated sightglass across the entire front of the machine, so you get a super clear view of your oil quality.

Now, Let's move on to the Superevac series.

Yellow Jacket SUPEREVAC PLUS II Vacuum Pumps

As far as the technology that we've discussed so far is concerned, the Superevac series is fairly similar to the Bullet. You'll get the all-important BLDC motor with a host of benefits like consistent high torque and power generation, reliable operation even in low voltage conditions, long life from reduced mechanical stress, and of course, the incredibly light weight of the unit compared to other similar cfm rating vacuum pumps.

The Superevac series comes in four different models, priced according to their free air displacement range. The series features a 4cfm pump, a 6cfm pump, an 8cfm pump, and a whopping 11cfm pump. We should also mention just for emphasis that the 11cfm pump weighs just shy of 29 lbs! that's incredibly lightweight for such a powerful machine.

The final factor differentiating this pump from the Bullet is that all the models feature a built-in vacuum gauge. Now, having a digital gauge on the line will give you the most accurate readings, but for spot checking, this built-in analog gauge works great, and it's a simple and efficient way to become quickie aware of any leaks in the system you're working on.

A Word on Vacuum Pump Oil

Before concluding, we should say a bit about the importance of keeping clean vacuum oil and why it's a useful feature to have the large elongated sight glasses that these Yellow Jacket vacuum pumps have.

In the compression chambers that the pump motor powers to create the vacuum, there are rotors that touch the sidewalls creating chambers that allow pressure to flow from high to low (as it does by physical law) in order to create a vacuum. It's not necessary to understand all the science of how this works, but it's important to understand that these chambers must be sealed to create the pressure differential required for vacuum. Most people think that vacuum pump oil merely acts as a lubricant for these rotating chambers. This is partially correct, but the oil is also a viscous liquid that is integral in the process of actually creating the seal necessary for vacuum. If your oil gets dirty, air pockets and other debris can compromise the seal that's made by the oil and thus reduce the efficiency of your vacuum. Simply put, dirty oil equals longer and less deep evacuation jobs. It's essential to keep the oil clean by changing it often, and you can spot problems easily when you've got a big obvious sightlglass as these models do.

Wrap Up

Now you know most of the important things to know about the new Yellow Jacket pumps. Brushless DC Motor technology is definitely the future for vacuum pump technology, and as always, Yellow Jacket is at the forefront with their high-quality, US-made tools. There isn't a bad thing to say about these pumps, and we recommend them totally. Simply establish what cfm range you need for the job, and you'll know which pump is right for you.