Like many, I use the "215CC".
They tend to last about 500hrs before one starts to see a drop in the vacuum, especially at low RPM.
Tempest do a more pricey one, which may or may not mean anything...
The normal price is about $270, and this one is $370.
$270 / 500h = $0.54/h. Not a great opportunity to reduce your operating expenses.
I have one with a wear indicator. That means it can be operated on condition whereas the ones without wear indicator have to be replaced on a fixed interval (5y) in EASA land. However, in my airplane, vacuum is only needed as a backup so I don't do preventive maintenance on the vacuum pump.
I use the Tempest and recommend them.
Used Tempest and had no issues.
Vac pumps gets worn out.. no matter what brand. Get one with the inspection hole.
/Sam
The one you don’t have is the best one :-)
Sorry for doing what I always detest on forums: instead of answering the question (for which I am in no way qualified) I will question the question:
who wants a vacuum pump today? I understand the vacuum driven steam gauges are a good deal less expensive than their electrical counterparts – but who is installing (or even investing in the keeping up of) steam gauges in the 21st century?
BTW if one really wants to go low-cost, ISTR there are venturis for creating a vacuum for your gyroscopes… Perhaps less than optimal for aircraft performance, though.
who wants a vacuum pump today?
In an IFR-certified aircraft, if you have just one alternator/battery, then you need a horizon which is either (a) vacuum driven or (b) it is electric and has a backup battery of a specified duration which is fairly substantial and not many products meet it.
Also most of the King autopilots are certified only (practically speaking) with the KI256 vacuum horizon as the pitch/roll source, so they have you by the goolies in that way. If you install a G500/600/EFD1000 then these have an optional KI256 emulator module so you can get rid of the KI256 but you still need to have a backup horizon which meets the requirements in the above para (people normally buy a cheap Sigma-Tek vacuum one then).
The only way to go all-electric is to have two alternators, two buses etc, or as I say have a large battery for the horizon.
The references are deep in here somewhere… could start by searching for KI256.
