Well, I'm pretty confident the vacuum pump mechanism is toast, I can't get anything from it, took it apart and only one spot on the circuit board looks funky and it tests out to have zero resistance so it must be making contact.

Now the amp is a different matter, I never looked on TV that side but the carpet is wet and we haven't had rain in days and when I pulled the amp out it was covered in what looked like sweat. I guess my first chore is to figure out where the moisture is coming from.

Anybody out there have a pump assembly with a bad pump but looks good otherwise? I can tell my pump does work and it is clean as a whistle, not cruddy/rusty as I see in lots of pictures of failed units.

Thanks for as ny leads or suggestions. Now off to do some searching!