104: Thursday 14th January 2010

Today I borrowed a vacuum gauge and found that the pump is only pulling down to 8 inches of mercury (0.027MPa). It needs to be pulling nearly 3 times this to reach the turn-off limit of the vacuum switch. I tried taking the pipes off and connecting the gauge directly to the pump, but it was the same reading. I have emailed my supplier in China and now I shall wait for a reply. I also managed to secure a couple of free sample pressure switches that are adjustable from a UK firm. So now I feel like its 3 steps backwards. I am getting frustrated from this. I need to focus on another snag to hopefully solve something.