Slang for a turbomolecular pump failure in which the rotor blades touch the stator and shred, caused by a sudden inrush of air at full speed, a part dropped down the inlet, a mechanical shock or a failing bearing. A crashed turbo goes out with a bang or a scream, often throws metal fragments into the chamber and needs a factory rebuild or replacement. The interlocks on gate valves, vent valves and backing pump status exist largely to prevent it.
Somebody opened the vent with the gate open and crashed the turbo, there's aluminium chips all over the chamber floor.
A turbo that sounds rougher or spins down faster than it used to is warning about its bearings; swap it before it crashes.
Also heard as
- turbo crash
- crashed turbo
Related terms
Turbomolecular pump
High vacuum pump whose rotor blades spin at tens of thousands of rpm and bat molecules toward the exhaust.
Spin down
Of a turbo pump, to coast down from full speed after it is switched off, which takes many minutes on its own.
Gate valve
Full-bore valve with a sliding plate that isolates a high vacuum pump or a load lock from the chamber.
Throat
Inlet opening of a high vacuum pump, the flange where gas enters a turbo, cryo or diffusion pump.
At speed
Said of a turbo pump that has finished spinning up and reached its normal rotational speed.