The specs say there is a 0-16hg of vacuum available. Is there an adjustment on the pump for a specific vacuum?
Nope. You turn it off when you’ve reached your desired level of nothingness.
Then it’s no better than a manual vacuum pump.
It is usually preferable to manual pumps because you don’t have to manually pump the air…electricity does the work
You can always also adjust the pump’s activity with with external controls, it just doesn’t have any adjustment on the pump (you can still have a MCU and pressure sensor that turns the pump on/off via relay to achieve your desired range)
Can you point me to a prebuilt MCU unit or a diagram for DIY?
SparkFun stuff
SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic MCU, runs the control logic/programming
SparkFun Micro Pressure Sensor – BMP581 (Qwiic) Measures vacuum level
SparkFun Qwiic Single Relay Switches 12V to the pump (5.5A rated, no soldering)
Flexible Qwiic Cables (you only need 2 but the kit is nice to have)
Other parts
12V wall adapter, ≥1.5A* - Powers the pump through the relay
1/4" ID silicone tubing + brass tee fitting - Splits the vacuum line to the chamber and sensor
Small enclosure + grommet/epoxy - Airtight housing for the BMP581
Wiring connections
RedBoard (qwiic) → sensor
RedBoard (qwiic) → relay (hardwire) → pump
12v (hardwire) → relay (hardwire) → pump
Hose connections
Pump → T-fitting
→ T-fitting (one of the 2 outlets) → BMP581
→ T-fitting (other outlet) → chamber/tank/whatever
Make sure the hoses after the T are the same length (different lengths = pressure differential from disparate volumes)
Programming
First get the Redboard to ingest the sensor data from BMP581
Then have the Redboard output a signal to turn the qwiic relay on/off, powering/unpowering the pump
Next combine those 2 above to where you can get it to turn on/off based on the sensor’s readings
Thank you!