Rietschle VTE Maintenance

[soeffingodly]

Hey Trolls!

I've been having some suction issues with my VR lately and after cleaning the tube and hitting everything with talc it seems to be persisting. (Everything seems to be sealed just fine) That said, I purchased my Rietschle VTE (I think it's a VTE-6) vacuum pump second-hand and it occurred to me that I have zero idea when this thing has last been serviced. If it's ever been serviced.... (Shame on me)

That said, I am trying to take off the base plate to reach the air filter and I can't figure out what is needed to get these screws out. I just moved into a new home in December and my tool stash is low/still building. I initially thought it might be an allen wrench key, but after picking up standard/metric none of those fit. None of my bits in my tool kits have anything that fit, either.

With the black paint on the screws it's difficult to tell what they actually are. If at all possible I am trying to not lug the pump to the hardware store. But at this point, I'll do what I have to do because this is driving me absolutely bananas! If I need to post a picture I can. I knew that there are some folks here familiar with these pumps so my hope is I can get a quick(er) answer from my fellow trolls.

Any help is much, much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

-S

[Dogtemple]

I can’t help on the pump but if the metric keys don’t fit have you tried imperial?

Maybe post a photo of the pump and what you’re working with, someone may be able to help figure it out

[soeffingodly]

I can’t help on the pump but if the metric keys don’t fit have you tried imperial?

Maybe post a photo of the pump and what you’re working with, someone may be able to help figure it out

Thanks for the tip! I'll look into imperial.

Here is the pump:

pump.png

[soeffingodly]

Here is the actual pump:

PXL_20220408_202041749.jpg

[soeffingodly]

So, I ended up using a 5/32 hex to get the screws out. I am not certain that the bit was correct, but it worked and I should be able to tighten them. They may be torx but I am unsure if I chewed the inside a bit or if it was paint coming off or both. (I may just dremmel the screws for flat head screwdriver access instead) I think the paint on the screws was mucking things up, to be honest. The filter was in bad shape inside. Now, I need to fully identify the model and find the air filter replacement. (below) And possibly the maintenance kit depending on the current blade size.

Air Filter is replacement part #731145

Replacement for: Rietschle filter 731145, 731145.600 | MANN-FILTER C 31/4

For Rietschle vacuum pumps:

DTE 3 / 6 / 8
VTE 10
VTE 6 / 8

https://shop.remequip.com/collections/rietschle-air-filters/products/air-filter-replaces-rietschle-731145

Pretty sure mine is either a VTE-6 or VTE-8 based on the hole configuration on the top plate. Still trying to decipher that.

[soeffingodly]

The link above was from Canada and requires a Tax ID or you pay further duties, FYI. I just ordered one from a spot in AZ instead.

[Based in AZ]
https://vacuumpumpnow.com/rietschle-vacuum-parts-lookup/

Once I identify my model, I'll report back.

[soeffingodly]

Looks like a T25 Torx bit has a better, snug fit.

I also identified the model. It's a VTE-6. I had to measure the pump from front-to-back when I realized that they were all different lengths. The VTE-6 is 8.82 inches/224mm from end-to-end. Between that and the hole configuration on top of the pump, it looks like I'll be ordering a VTE-6 maintenance kit since the o-rings/etc look like they are in rough shape.

Hope this helps someone else.

[soeffingodly]

Hey Gang,

So I purchased a maintenance kit for the VTE-6 and replaced all the relevant parts. It seems to have fixed my suction problem thus far!

VTE-6.jpg

Hope this helps someone else out if they need to identify/replace the parts in their VTE-6.