Beer Handpump Diagram or Photos

[dcq1974]

Hi All Fellow Craft Brewers
I am currently involved with the writing of a book on alcoholic beverages involving all types of alcoholic beverages and nutritional, analytical aspects etc.

The editor (English but now based in South Korea) has asked me if I can get a diagram (or photos) of a handpump? I need to know the mechanism of the lever system when the handpump is operated to pour a pint.

Can any of you chaps out there help? Pics/diagram and description would be brilliant.

Best Regards
Darren

[Waffty]

I've got an Angram CO pump in bits at the moment, which I could photograph for you, the Angram range are a little unique in the world of beer engines, in respect to they 'dispense' & 'refill' on the same action i.e pull the handle down to fill the glass & at the same time, it's sucking up a new batch of beer from your barrel.

[Waffty]

As promised, this is the 'engine' out of an Angram CO beer engine, which some would argue is the Rolls Royce of beer engines.


In terms of operation, is quite simple, yet very clever by the same token. The engine is clamped by the ball joint at the bottom of the cylinder & the top brass bit is passed through a hole in the pump plynth & connected to an armeture off the pump handle itself.

When the plunger is at the bottom (ball joint end) ie handle up right, the inlet valve is close (steel thing with green O ring. Then the handle is bought forward, the, the cylinder goes down & in doing so, the plunger moves up the cylinder. In doing so, it creates a vacuum & opens the inlet valve (this valve is only held closed by it's own weight).

When the cylinder is full of beer & the handle forward, here comes the clever bit. As he handle is return to the upright, the plunger lowers but since the cylinder is now full of beer, it should provide a fair amount of resistance but for the holes in the plunger and the floating top i.e as the plunger is lowered, the floating top raises, revealing 4 holes, which allows the beer to squeeze though.

Now that the beer is in the cylinder, here comes the second clever bit, as on the second stroke (& every other one afer priming), beer is both dispenses & drawing into the cylinder on the same stroke i.e this time around, the floating disc shuts, forcing beer out, plus the vacuum on the plunger is drawing beer in. Then when the handle is returned, the float opens & the beer is ready to be drawn dispensed.

The plunger itself is a solid nylon type disc that has a grove cut into it, to provide a flexible seal, that 'opens' on the dispensing stroke by provides little resistance on the return stroke. Looking at the written note, it's important for the plunger to match the glass (yes glass) cylinder, as any excess eitherway could result in a leak, too much resistance.

As mentioned before, the Angram CO pump is a dream to use, as all the effort is in the downward stroke & in this stroke, it draws & dispenses. Now on the homebrew front, it could also be counter productive to automatically draw a quarter/half a pint into the cylinder, as it could lead to waste i.e some pumps dispense on one action & draw on the other, so in there cases, you could simply leave the handle forward, until the next time you want a beer.




Floating top & half open, inlet valve (green O ring)



Better look at floating top & view of 'breather' holes



In and outlet valves quiet a size difference ?



Tight tolerances i.e the glass cylinder & plunger are a matched pair



Closure look at that sealing rim i.e kind of like an umbrella ?



View from the bottom, of those 'breathing' holes i.e floating top is on the other side



Breif description as I'm tight on time
Darren.

[Mashedtun]

I've just cleaned the cylinder etc. of an Angram CO: that's a great description and set of photos! (I can finally get rid of the snaps which I'd taken using our digicamera to help myself reassemble the thing. My engine has perhaps been having a bit of seepage down the stationary steel rod at the base of the engine on which the glass contraption moves up and down, which seems like a bit of the design that might often lead to problems. But another nice feature of the design is that the lose-able beer above the steel rod is fairly limited when the plunger is lowered.)

[Waffty]

I've just cleaned the cylinder etc. of an Angram CO: that's a great description and set of photos! (I can finally get rid of the snaps which I'd taken using our digicamera to help myself reassemble the thing. My engine has perhaps been having a bit of seepage down the stationary steel rod at the base of the engine on which the glass contraption moves up and down, which seems like a bit of the design that might often lead to problems. But another nice feature of the design is that the lose-able beer above the steel rod is fairly limited when the plunger is lowered.)

The stem seal is easy to replace ie it's just a bog standard O ring, can't remember how I removed mine but remove it I did & put it all back together, leak free & working perfectly. Being anal, I even tested the qantity & yep, it pulls a full print in exactly 4 pulls, almost to the last tear drop

I've also got a couple of CQ pumps with cooling jackets, which are the dogs ... i.e if you think CO pumps are good, get yourself a QC pump with cooling jacket

[Mashedtun]

Good to know: I didn't want to spend a relative fortune on a special replacement set of seals
But I'm now suffering from beer-engine envy

[dcq1974]

Waffty
Great! Many thanks indeed - much appreciated.

[flytact]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I seem to be having the same issue as Mashedtun regarding the lower o-ring.
Pictures are now dead, but I've had the pump in bits and pieces and can rebuild.
Any chance anyone can recall the diameter/thickness of the lower seal o-ring. I've tried several that I have laying around but they all leaked. I'd love to find something over here rather than order from the UK. I've got a 1/2 pint, but I'm sure the rod diameter is the same.

Cheers.