Piston Vacuum Pump Failures

Dave2 said:
Has anyone had or know of, first hand, failures of Sigma Tek's AEON Piston Air Pump ???

Dave
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I've heard of some early on, but the problems were identified and have, I believe, been solved.
 
I've now got the Aeon pump. I've been told when they do fail, it is more gradual instead of all at once.
 
Chris

My Aeon Pump failed just like the rest, instantly. The drive shaft sheared. The one I had that failed was a revision "B" , noted by the last letter of the serial #. SigmaTek is or was when I talked to them manufacturing and shipping rev "C" pumps. I hope this version works.

Dave
 
Just a pirep: I've now had 2 failures. One "B", one "C". Each around 100 hrs. Going to contact Sigmatek tomorrow to see if they have addressed this further, ? "D" revision. May go to wet type.
 
Had a good long talk with them last year at OSH. They had a "D"rev and were waiting on FAA approval. Should be available by now. They told me if it failed again to call them directly. They explained to me what the different failure modes were and how the "D"rev would take care of what they believed might be a failure mode. I was satisfied with their explaination. So far I'm good. :fcross:
 
Well Dave, I had one fail on me as well at 150 hrs. I stand corrected. It actually failed during my FFI checkride and I noticed it just before my break/rejoin. This one is going strong now though.

However Aircraft Spruce was being a pain the rear trying to get the RMA done. Thank God for American Express! AMEX saved the day.
 
I have been reading this thread with great interest. I have had one vacuum pump failure, traditional rotatory type. It happened after almost 1000 hours of use. I did replace it with a similar design pump and have put 300 hours on it. I have been thinking about when it breaks go with another design, wet or piston. This thread makes me think that the piston is not quit ready for prime time.
 
Dave2 said:
Had a good long talk with them last year at OSH. They had a "D"rev and were waiting on FAA approval. Should be available by now. They told me if it failed again to call them directly. They explained to me what the different failure modes were and how the "D"rev would take care of what they believed might be a failure mode. I was satisfied with their explaination. So far I'm good. :fcross:
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When I talked to them (SigmaTek) on the phone 2 days ago, I got the same story. They are waiting for FAA review. Personally, I'm done with SigmaTek, going back to Rapco rotary. Piston pump sounded like a good idea and at some point in the future may work out.
 
Bill1200 said:
When I talked to them (SigmaTek) on the phone 2 days ago, I got the same story. They are waiting for FAA review. Personally, I'm done with SigmaTek, going back to Rapco rotary. Piston pump sounded like a good idea and at some point in the future may work out.
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If I have another failure, SigmaTek is gonna have a hard time convincing me I need another one of their piston pumps.

They do make a vane pump that uses carbon fiber vanes which won't shatter like carbon vanes. Just a thought.

Here's hoping.
 
Dave2 said:
If I have another failure, SigmaTek is gonna have a hard time convincing me I need another one of their piston pumps.

They do make a vane pump that uses carbon fiber vanes which won't shatter like carbon vanes. Just a thought.

Here's hoping.
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They have more failures, and I'd be surprised if they keep making piston pumps! :)
 
Aircraft Spruce punted me to SigmaTek. Full refund, no questions asked. At least that part was painless.
 
im not sure what style of vacuum pumps our 172s have, but my experience with 2 or 3 of them is that they dont die suddenly. it seems a slow drawn out death is the typical failure mode. easy to watch as the runups produce less and less suction until finally they die.
 
Bill1200 said:
Aircraft Spruce punted me to SigmaTek. Full refund, no questions asked. At least that part was painless.
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Well at least they got that down now. Aircraft Spruce wouldn't do anything, Sigmatek said I wasn't THEIR customer, and that's why Amex had to come in and save the day.

Glad to hear they fixed that!
 
AirBaker said:
Well at least they got that down now. Aircraft Spruce wouldn't do anything, Sigmatek said I wasn't THEIR customer, and that's why Amex had to come in and save the day.

Glad to hear they fixed that!
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Bought mine from A.S. Called their customer service. The gal needed a few pieces of info and the new pump was on the way the next day. She didn't have the revision I wanted in GA so she had CA search their inventory until they found the requested part. I couldn't have been more pleeased with their service.
 
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