Pump

[Brewer]

Hi
Matt here from keg kingdom, if anyone would like to review the brew pump 3000 and post the review on the forum then I would offer 50% discount, please drop me a message if interested..
Regards
Matt
Keg kingdom
www.kegkingdom.co.uk


http://www.kegkingdom.co.uk/products/brew-pump-3000

[Haydnexport]

Wow that's a brilliant offer ! If none here fancy it I'll take you up on that !

[naturals]

Bit slow but I'd be very interested! I'd even purchase a second if it were good.

[Eric]

Hi
Matt here from keg kingdom, if anyone would like to review the brew pump 3000 and post the review on the forum then I would offer 50% discount, please drop me a message if interested..
Regards
Matt
Keg kingdom
http://www.kegkingdom.co.uk


http://www.kegkingdom.co.uk/products/brew-pump-3000

Just a brief report after receiving last week a pump from Matt as per his kind offer. It's a brute, weighing one and a half kg with a metre and a half of cable to a mains plug. It came in a cardboard box with the pump,cable and plug in a purpose made polystyrene container which would appear strong enough to protect contents from a great deal of abuse.

It's yet to be put through its paces, but first findings are that it's robust and appears conservatively rated to be surprising if it's not a lot more than fit for purpose. All my existing pumps are composite, having brushless motors with the motor's shaft incorporated inside the pump chamber. I'm not sure if this pump's motor is brushless, it matters not as the shaft is separated from the pump chamber, instead having a rather large cylindrical magnet connected to the motor shaft to surround the pump chamber and thereby drive the pump impeller.

The solar pumps I've so far used have performed perfectly well with clean hot or cold water, but when used with wort of high gravity or containing small particles of grain have occasionally stopped and more frequently not restarted after a pause in operation. It has been necessary to take a pump apart to clean it thoroughly and hopefully get it aligned during reassemble for the system to save a brew, but the parts on this pump are meatier with large clearances.

Please ask any questions.

[dbambrick996]

I will be putting the 3000 through its paces also and pitting it against my chugger, I will post back my findings

[Eric]

Not been the best weather for testing the pump, but at least the results were favourable.

Maximum head is given as 2.7 to 3.4 metre. 3.6 metres of flexible pipe was connected to the pump outlet and the other end tied to a pole. The pump inlet was connected to a supply with head of 20cm. The pump was started and the pole raised to the vertical where the flow continued at a significantly reduced rate, but does satisfy the maximum claimed. The flow rate with 2 meters head on the outlet was not measured but by observation was probably acceptable for home brew purposes.

The flow was tested using more than 2 metres of various pipes joined by 9 @ 1/2" BSP joints, a right angle bend and a ball valve each side of the pump. 10 litres was transfered in just under 2 minutes. At the beginning of this test there was a head of 80cm on the pump input and the output head was 120cm with the head differential rising to 80cm as the liquid was transferred. The rating is 16/19 l/min and I suspect, as in the above test, can be achieved with suitable plumbing in the right circumstances.

With setup as above the ball valve at the outlet was closed until the flow reached what was thought to be the minimum steady flow rate. In one minute 80ml of liquid was transferred which I find very impressive.

The pump is quiet in operation in all circumstance so far tried.

[orlando]

With setup as above the ball valve at the outlet was closed until the flow reached what was thought to be the minimum steady flow rate. In one minute 80ml of liquid was transferred which I find very impressive.

The pump is quiet in operation in all circumstance so far tried.

A lot of emphasis is placed on maximum grunt but being able to slow the pump down for a slow sparge is often overlooked, the last point can be very important to some too.

[Eric]

A lot of emphasis is placed on maximum grunt but being able to slow the pump down for a slow sparge is often overlooked, the last point can be very important to some too.

Indeed, it's been a problem I've struggled with using lesser pumps. With the valve fully closed the pump sound like it hasn't stalled, so it is easy to close the valve stopping the flow then slightly easing back. There could be a problem setting the exact rate as 80ml to 5l a minute is a massive range, though not something to complain about.

[Kev888]

This seems promising so far. I have experienced similar issues to those Eric mentioned with cheap little pumps, some had quite short lives when pumping boiling wort on hot days, in particular. They also contained nooks and crannies that were not (IMO) sufficiently sanitary for post-boil uses. I'll be very keen to hear how the 3000 compares over time.

I will be putting the 3000 through its paces also and pitting it against my chugger, I will post back my findings

That seems like a useful comparison, of course they're quite different price points but chuggers are a pretty good base line against which other pumps too have been compared. I'd be keen to know how loud you find the 3000 compared to the chugger, for instance.

[Eric]

I don't know the chugger, but this one is not very different in noise level to the small solar pumps, indeed the electrical rating is little more, 10 watts rather than 6.
One major difference with the solar pumps is that the impeller and chamber is much easier to inspect and clean.

[Kev888]

Ah excellent, thanks Eric. The solar pump's quietness was impressive but their cleaning challenges and longer-term unreliability with hot wort caused me to give up on them for most roles. If the 3000 is reliable with particles and boiling wort then it could be an ideal replacement.

I have a march-may equivalent to the chugger; it isn't hugely noisy, but it is still many, many times louder than the near-silent solar pumps. Since moving into a small flat the noise level is proving a little too intrusive and wearing on the ear when used for prolonged periods, such as with RIMs.

[dbambrick996]

This seems promising so far. I have experienced similar issues to those Eric mentioned with cheap little pumps, some had quite short lives when pumping boiling wort on hot days, in particular. They also contained nooks and crannies that were not (IMO) sufficiently sanitary for post-boil uses. I'll be very keen to hear how the 3000 compares over time.

I will be putting the 3000 through its paces also and pitting it against my chugger, I will post back my findings

That seems like a useful comparison, of course they're quite different price points but chuggers are a pretty good base line against which other pumps too have been compared. I'd be keen to know how loud you find the 3000 compared to the chugger, for instance.

I will be doing some tests this week and a brew day on Saturday I will let you know how it goes

[Kev888]

Thanks, and the best of luck with it.

[VesPacelli]

This seems promising so far. I have experienced similar issues to those Eric mentioned with cheap little pumps, some had quite short lives when pumping boiling wort on hot days, in particular. They also contained nooks and crannies that were not (IMO) sufficiently sanitary for post-boil uses. I'll be very keen to hear how the 3000 compares over time.

I will be putting the 3000 through its paces also and pitting it against my chugger, I will post back my findings

That seems like a useful comparison, of course they're quite different price points but chuggers are a pretty good base line against which other pumps too have been compared. I'd be keen to know how loud you find the 3000 compared to the chugger, for instance.

I will be doing some tests this week and a brew day on Saturday I will let you know how it goes

I'm also interested in the comparison between the 3000 and a Chugger. My Topsflo TS5 has just given up the ghost which I'm annoyed about as it was only 14 months old (power connections were melted on the cct board with minimal continuous use i.e. <60 mins.). I'm particularly interested in the flow control given by the 3000 that Eric mentioned when it comes to sparging.

Good luck with your brewday.

[Eric]

I'm particularly interested in the flow control given by the 3000 that Eric mentioned when it comes to sparging.

I've no experience with the TS5, but the solar pumps I have used have the impeller directly driven by the rotor so when the impeller slows under load, so does the motor and its power output. This means it becomes more liable to stall, but when testing the 3000 its motor speed sounded constant under all load conditions and the available torque to drive the impeller via the magnetic coupling remained reasonably constant enabling it to deal with small bits of debris or suchlike that my solar pumps haven't.