I am waiting for my electric pump to be delivered. I am giving it a shot since I don't have $800 for a quality mechanical vacuum pump. I couldn't find any pumps below $300. then you need the accessories. Most used pumps need rebuilding anyway. I will post my results in a couple of weeks. Theoretically, it doesn't matter how you create vacuum....just that you create it. Somebody else had posted they were running one so I decided to experiment. I got an electric for $100 off of ebay.