Pumps

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far9410
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Pumps

Post by far9410 » Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:10 pm

Hi all, setting up a counterflow chiller, I don't think my solar pump is up to the job, any recommendations for a reliable one?
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barneey
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Re: Pumps

Post by barneey » Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:44 pm

Hair of the dog, bacon, butty.
Hops, cider pips & hello.

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far9410
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Re: Pumps

Post by far9410 » Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:35 pm

Cheers barney
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Fil
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Re: Pumps

Post by Fil » Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:43 pm

you may be suprised with your solar pump. if your cfc feep pipes etc have an 8mm id bore then a solar pump is more than adequate to push it through 10m of unrestricted length and 1.75m of head..
Image

you can just make out the lil brown pump sat next to the cfc circa 8m in lentgth and the 8mm id silicone tube carrying it back to the fv (4m i didnt want to cut it down for the test run..)

And upto the FV
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with enough force (just) to 'fountain' in and splash aerate ;)
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Re: Pumps

Post by Jocky » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:55 pm

When I had a CFC I found that using 1/2" silicon tubing and big bore camlocks I didn't need any pump, gravity worked just fine.
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Pumps

Post by Rogermort » Thu Jul 21, 2016 12:08 am

Jocky wrote:When I had a CFC I found that using 1/2" silicon tubing and big bore camlocks I didn't need any pump, gravity worked just fine.
Me too. I use pumps to the mash tun and to the boiler but gravity works just fine for the CFC.


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far9410
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Re: Pumps

Post by far9410 » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:01 am

I want to re circulate to create a whirlpool, before chilling, so need a pump.
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Re: Pumps

Post by barneey » Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:07 am

far9410 wrote:I want to re circulate to create a whirlpool, before chilling, so need a pump.
If you want a bit more grunt a chugger pump might be your best bet for a whirlpool.
Hair of the dog, bacon, butty.
Hops, cider pips & hello.

Name the Movie + song :)

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Re: Pumps

Post by greenxpaddy » Sun Jul 24, 2016 8:31 pm

I bought a chugger pump from angel home brew this year to get a bit more flow compared to the March pump I was using. All the spec sheets say it out performs that pump but it's a load of crap. The chugger pump is a crap piece of kit with barely any more flow than a solar pump. The minute you are pumping with air bubbles it is totally useless. My advice is do not buy a chugger pump. For the price they are truly rubbish.

I have since bought a higher grade March pump with steel housing from the USA at great expense. If you are good with sanitation you can use a plastic head March pump. They are not rated to 100 Celsius though although I have used them for recircukating boiling wort for 5 mins at a time

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Re: Pumps

Post by Secla » Sun Jul 24, 2016 9:08 pm

https://vimeo.com/176060710

This is my brewtech boiler with whirlpool and a chugger pump

I was underwhelmed

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Re: Pumps

Post by barneey » Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:02 pm

greenxpaddy wrote:I bought a chugger pump from angel home brew this year to get a bit more flow compared to the March pump I was using. All the spec sheets say it out performs that pump but it's a load of crap. The chugger pump is a crap piece of kit with barely any more flow than a solar pump. The minute you are pumping with air bubbles it is totally useless. My advice is do not buy a chugger pump. For the price they are truly rubbish.

I have since bought a higher grade March pump with steel housing from the USA at great expense. If you are good with sanitation you can use a plastic head March pump. They are not rated to 100 Celsius though although I have used them for recircukating boiling wort for 5 mins at a time
Wow :shock:
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Kev888
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Re: Pumps

Post by Kev888 » Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:07 am

I've a march pump with plastic head that is rated over 100c. The 815. It is very capable, though over priced IMO. However the chuggers are almost identical and similarly well regarded, so something doesn't seem right there.

Maybe expectations were too high, or something about the setup or type of pump choice not ideal. They don't vastly outperform many cheaper pumps in terms of head or speed, though they do outperform solar pumps noticeably I would have said. Their advantages are in things like easy cleaning, ability to handle more particles, and to do what they say on the tin all day everyday.

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Re: Pumps

Post by ciderhead » Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:49 pm

greenxpaddy wrote:I bought a chugger pump from angel home brew this year to get a bit more flow compared to the March pump I was using. All the spec sheets say it out performs that pump but it's a load of crap. The chugger pump is a crap piece of kit with barely any more flow than a solar pump. The minute you are pumping with air bubbles it is totally useless. My advice is do not buy a chugger pump. For the price they are truly rubbish.

I have since bought a higher grade March pump with steel housing from the USA at great expense. If you are good with sanitation you can use a plastic head March pump. They are not rated to 100 Celsius though although I have used them for recircukating boiling wort for 5 mins at a time

Have to totally disagree with that sorry, I measure chugger output and its 22L centre fed stainless head, unrestricted solar is half that. On my herms unrestricted its 19L and I have to throttle back to 11 as its too much for the 50L MT thermopot even with a 3 inch fb.
On a cfc I guess it boils down to diameter of bore and length of cooling channel, I think you are better looking at it than for it though imho.

Its comparable to the March and toss of a coin between one and the other, both having been used for years by thousands of US homebrewers.

Speaking from experience, if you start pumping with air bubbles you are doing something wrong and need to look at your feed which needs to min 1/2 inch and preferably 3/4" feed and output of 1/2 inch or less and also look at the bore of your disconnects if you are using them.

I've had 4 solars and they are fine for pumping water but not herms and certainly not for whirlpool they just dont have the grunt and certainly not for loose pellet hops which is what I do.
I've done 20 brews with 2 chuggers and only use the one for herms and whirlpool, running for 1.5 to 2 hours each time never had a problem.

Heres a 80L pot with 55L whirlpool using an arm from brewpi, placement of the arm is critical for effective use and you need to play around with it for optimal performance.
https://vimeo.com/159392823

greenxpaddy

Re: Pumps

Post by greenxpaddy » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:45 am

I complained to Angel Home Brew but they didn't offer to take back and check it. Said it must be something wrong i was doing. Sorry but I'm too experienced to do dickhead things. Most of the time!

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Re: Pumps

Post by orlando » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:57 am

I've used both and would pay the extra. One issue you might have is an air lock so introducing a bleed valve will leave a bit more hair on your head.
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