How to manually vent and pump the Sputnik

The turbo-pump Leybold T1600 does not have the automatic vent-valve installed. Instead there is a manual vent valve with a black plastic handle mounted.

To ventilate:

  1. Shut off the vacuum gauge inside the chamber.
  2. Check that the valve between load-lock and chamber is open. In this way you can still see the chamber pressure on the full range vacuum gauge on the load lock.
  3. Press the STOP button at the back of the turbo. One of the two green LED:s should start to blink.
  4. Shut off the backing pump in the service area.
  5. Wait for the blinking LED to stay off. This should take about 30-40 minutes. Now the turbo is fully stopped.
  6. Open the vent valve at the back of the turbo.
  7. Slightly unscrew the lock of the load lock door, thereby making it possible to hear when the chamber is at atmosphere.
  8. Shut off the vent valve when chamber has reached atmosphere.

To pump down.

  1. Check that the load lock door is closed and screwed shut.
  2. Check that the vent valve is closed.
  3. Check that the valve between load-lock and chamber is open. In this way you can see the chamber pressure on the full range vacuum gauge
  4. Start the backing pump in the service area.
  5. Start the turbo with the START button.
  6. The LED that was extinguished should start blinking.
  7. You should be able to see the pressure going down on the vacuum gauge on the load lock. Please note that it does not go lower than 10-5 mBar.
  8. The turbo is at speed when the LED stops blinking and is steady on. This should take about 5-10 minutes.
  9. Turn on the vacuum gauge on the chamber. It should read 10-6 mBar and going down.
Anders Liljeborg Nanostructure Physics, KTH.