Three chemical precleaning methods-degreasing, electropolishing and acidic etching-suitable for stainless steel vacuum chamber have been studied and compared. The techniques used in evaluating and comparing the three treatments include Auger analysis and the measurement of the outgassing rate. The obtained outgassing rates (N2 equivalent) are 1.1 $ imes$ 10-10torr l/s cm2 and 3.9 $ imes$ 10-11torr l/s cm2 for degreasing electropolishing, and etching method, respectively, after 48 hours from the initial pumpdown at room temperature. A simple model is introduced to analyze the pumpdown curve. Some surface parameters, such as surface coverage, mean residence time, and desorption energy, are calculated from corresponding equations derived from this model.