Pump Broke

Hey so I’ve tried to read through some threads already, but can’t pinpoint how to fix this. Everything was working perfectly fine yesterday, but today, my pump won’t create any suction. I’ve ruled out any problem w the cylinder. I can squeeze the pump with it attached to nothing and it immediately builds pressure until I unscrew the little release knob at the bottom. Like if I squeeze it once, it’ll be stuck at 15hg. It won’t create and suction to my cylinder (or finger). I can’t see the hose clogged. It’s a leluv maxi series and I haven’t had it for long… any help would be appreciated!

What kind of Leluv pump is it? T-Grip, Z-Grip, B-Grip…?
Or is it more like a brake bleed pump?

When you say “builds pressure”, do you mean it creates suction?

Maxi is a pistol style pump I believe.

You need to test each section of your pump system for integrity: pump, hose, cylinder.

Take the components apart.

Put your finger over the nipple on the pump, then squeeze the pump to create suction, say -5inHg. Watch the gauge for several seconds to make sure the vac level does not move. If it does not hold vac then the pump is leaking.

Attach the hose to the pump, put your finger over the open end and repeat as above. If it does not hold, your hose section is leaking. Check that the hose does not have any splits. Check that the connection to the pump is tight, if not, cut off an inch of the hose and re test. Check the male quick connect fitting for any obvious signs of damage. Remove the connection and test the hose without the fitting.

Attach the cylinder and hold it tight to your thigh and pump and test as above. You may want to put some lotion on your thigh to insure a good seal. Monitor the quick connect fitting to confirm it is holding. The male part of the fitting has a small o ring which is the seal when it connects with the female fitting. The female fitting has a small o ring where it screws into the cylinder. It can break and cause a leak.

Cylinder leaks at the pubis is caused from poor seal due to an excess amount of pubic hair. Many or most pumpers keep their pubes trimmed short or often just shaved. Keep the skin lubed to insure a good seal.

Good luck.

Oof my bad I didn’t see that you mentioned it was a maxi series.

Ok just re read your post and must have over looked this part. If you squeeze the pump with everything attached and the cylinder is open, then there is a plug somewhere. Sometimes the quick connect coupler for the hose-cylinder connection can plug up. Disconnect and look through intothe cylinder. Use a small wire or toothpick to clean out the passage. Reconnect and push the hose tightly to the cylinder to make sure it has a good connection. While holding it squeeze the pump. If it builds suction, you still have a plug and need to find it.

Disconnect the cylinder and test the hose&pump as I described before.

May need to take hose off and blow through it to make sure a foreign object didn’t plug it up.

Like a brake bleed. When I say “builds pressure” I just mean it registers HG on the dial. It creates no suction whatsoever

Ok thanks I’ll try this. I’m sure it must be the hose or pump that’s plugged, and not the cylinder attachment. I will disassemble the hose and give that a look.

To be clear, and what Twisted was pointing out, is we are working with vacuum, not pressure. But we are not NASA and we commonly get the terms confused and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. If you use the vac pump and the gauge moves you are removing air and creating a vacuum somewhere in the system. If the cylinder is not sealed and the gauge indicates vacuum there is a plug or stoppage somewhere.

The most likely place for the plug is a loose/poor connection between the female and male quick connect couplers at the cylinder/hose junction. Mine does it regularly. I just push the hose coupler more firmly into the connection and pump while still holding the hose.

Ok totally understand the terminology now. It wasn’t the connection b/w male and female, because it was registering pressure on the gauge when disconnected. However, it seemed to have worked itself out, for now. I sometimes use Vaseline on the connection so that was the obvious first thought. The only reason I made this post is bc I couldn’t see any Vaseline occluding either connection. It must have been lodged somewhere in the hose.

The small O - rings on the quick connectors sometimes wear out or become thin and leak. Other times dry tubing causes small leaks. Hardware stores have the small O -rings.