In school where I also work, we have a shop there that has tons of lab equipment. A whole shelf is full of vacuum pumps (direct or belt driven), most are in need of rebuilding. I've already rebuilt one myself successfully (my supervisor provided the rebuild kit), and am working on the next. This time it's belt-driven, but it's a pain to disassemble considering it's cast iron (30 years old daw) but still pulls good vacuum! Amazing these machines can be.

For me, fixing them is like giving them another life. I appreciate it everytime the professor I rebuilt the pump for complements at how it works perfectly, like brand new.

To rebuild a pump at the manufacturer's shop would cost $1800 daw, but the rebuild kit was ~$160. Since I get paid student salary (considerably higher than the basic though, since it requires more skills), they save, I get to learn more things, and get to appreciate this kind of fine engineering.

If you have something you want to have fixed, see if your boy can learn to do it. We have a boy at home and my dad gave him a multimeter. Guess what? He was able to fix the phone grounds (static), convert the 220V outlet to a 110V for a spotlight we purchased here in the US, the old Sony stereo we had that didn't work, and tons more things he fixed.

Just my thoughts.