Filters ... for Cheap Pumps

[grunter]

Following on from the previous cheap pump thread,

What are people using for inline pump filters for grain and hops ... I've got a pair of solar pumps burning a hole in the brew cupboard and would like to get a whirlpool setup sorted.

I have bazooka filters in the mash-tun and kettles would these been enough for the weedy beige pumps?!

Cheers

[Fil]

Just go for it for a 2nd line of defence the standard plumbing Y filters which divert the flow through a small ss or nylon mesh screen get used a lot. but like most inline options the filter face has a small surface area so if your liqupr is laden with debris be prepared to service it a few times..


A few years ago the collective wisdom in here discovered a simple way to improve the efficiency of 99% of the kettle filters out there by simply slipping a fine mesh nylon (volie?) bag over the in kettle filter



BTW Whos calling my lil brown solar pump WEEDY!!

[Kev888]

The little brown solar pumps would easily be able to handle and pass through anything normal that gets through a half decent hop filter. Whereas small inline filters get blocked very easily (and big ones are more expensive), so I would suggest not going there unless you have a specific need.

In fact 'tiny' particles can be a bigger problem for these pumps, since they can get trapped around their magnetic shaft, as can wort to a degree. But it would be hard to filter out things that small without the whole system clogging, so probably not much sensible that you can do about it. IMO they aren't truly hygenic enough for use with cool post-boil wort, so if you intend that then be 'really' rigorous with cleaning and disinfecting them. It will likely also help to extend their life.

[grunter]

Great advice cheers lads ...

so in essence wrap a hop bag round by bazookas and pump away!!, better check what temp the nylon bags are safe too / if they'll leach anything into the beer, cheers Fil... weedy, I stand corrected!!!

Interesting about the hygiene Kev, i did wonder as the're small, seems like i need to use the hot water from the chilling to run the pumps with PBW through afterwards. How do you sanitize your kit after the brew???

[Kev888]

The motor's shaft is flooded with liquid in use, but it is hidden behind a bearing and so creates a back-water which can trap stuff; even after hours of recirculating PBW I found particles still in there. These can wear and jam the motor, but also mean that disinfectants/sanitisers need to penetrate the organic matter to be effective. You can just about remove the bearing and shaft but it isn't really designed for this - it is fiddly and can cause wear and tear on the bearing and motor casing.

Cleaning is important after brew-day, I use a hot percarbonate based cleaner and run that through the pump for quite some time, before rinsing with clean water. I may give it a squirt of starsan to show willing, but proper disinfecting/sanitising really needs to be done shortly prior to use, there is time for it to become reinfected if done days or weeks beforehand.

To disinfect, you can recirculate boiling wort (during the boil) and let the heat do the job, though on very hot days this seemed a bit too much for some of my solar pumps. Given the nature of these particular pumps I would also use a strong chemical disinfectant (like bleach solution) beforehand and rinse well, but give it plenty of time to penetrate hard to reach areas and small particles. It isn't so bad if you pump near-boiling wort (e.g. to a plate chiller or CFC), as the heat makes it self disinfecting, but it is more important if you use an IC and so pump cooled wort.

(BTW you probably know, but if you use the same pump with pre-boil wort then it needs to be cleaned and disinfected before use with post-boil wort; The grain and mash is 'not' sterile, quite the opposite in fact.)

[grunter]

excellent advice again cheers Kev,

I've looking to get a full rims/herms or possible brew pi setup on the go soon, but I want to sort the whirlpooling first as currently most of my hops at that point and I want to make sure I'm getting the most of the hops!!!

Kev as you seem to be a seasoned sanitiser what's your percarbonate based cleaner of choice?

[Kev888]

Yes, the percarbonate stuff is used for physical cleaning, rather than sanitising/disinfecting. Mine is home-made; I mix two parts sodium percarbonate to one part sodium metasilicate, but thats partly because I won a 25kg sack of percarbonate cheaply some years back, and it is still going!

PBW is the better and more professional equivalent, although rather costly for what it is. In this case I would use it as directed to get its full cleaning power; you won't need a lot of solution to recirculate through the pump.

For less critical and easier jobs PBW is strong enough to use 'well' below manufacturer recommended strengths, or you could use the cheaper laundry oxy-cleaners. Some people claim these are as good as PBW, that is not correct - they contain less active ingredient - but mixed fairly strongly they can still do a good job for routine cleaning.

[grunter]

excellent ... cheers Kev!