Wort pump

[Eightball]

Hi

I have a homemade counter flow wort chiller and its really hard to start manually siphoning through due to the multiple loops of coil. Because of this and also due to not wanting to contaminate the beer with my mouth (starting the siphon) I want to buy a pump.

My idea is that i can use it to cycle the wort for a bit to sterilize the chiller and pump. So, knowing nothing about pumps, I guess it needs to be able to:-

1. handle boiling wort
2. cope with any hops/particles in the wort that make it through
3. not break when it pumps air
4. easy to clean, hopefully by running cleaner through it.

I looked online and I like the look of this one:-

http://www.rolling-beers.fr/stainless-steel-drill-pump-novaxdrill-14mm-p-891.html

Can anyone tell me if it is suitable (I have a drill) as it states:-

"viscosity is not over 30 degrees CENTISTOKES or over 4 degrees ENGLER. The fluids to be conveied are to be neutral and clean or contain in suspansion only a small percentage of solids ( 0.2-0.5% max). They are to have a hardnes and granulation which prevent the damage of the inside pump surface"

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

 

[jenivida]

I have been looking to get something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6M-19-6FT...90-/400813221334?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

not sure if it would be any good though.

 

[Fil]

I have been looking to get something like this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6M-19-6FT...90-/400813221334?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

not sure if it would be any good though.

Purfect for he job, the lil brown or solar pumps are very popular, they can after a bit of use start to stick, needing the head pulling off (4 x screws) and the impellar nudging to get it going again. but are good lil work horses. I use one to recirculate my boil and then pump the off the boil wort thru my cfc..

buy from http://www.solarproject.co.uk/ for a warranty purchase, or via ebay china for about a fiver if you can wait for delivery and wantg the cheapest option.

to power i use a tattoo gun psu (2a and a upto 18v dial up controll knob)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tattoo-Po...hash=item1a007040d6:m:mzCtT_GPnqd1LV0HwfV41xQ

 

[peebee]

I also used the "solar" pumps but more recently went with these:

http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/pumps/120-12v-homebrew-pump-type-1.html

Seem a bit more substantial.

 

[rodabod]

I use those same little brown pumps. Works great.

 

[peebee]

Ahh, something no-one has mentioned:

These pumps are not self-primers (they push wort along, they don't suck). They must be fitted upstream of the chiller where they can be gravity fed wort from the boiler.

 

[Fil]

Ahh, something no-one has mentioned:

These pumps are not self-primers (they push wort along, they don't suck). They must be fitted upstream of the chiller where they can be gravity fed wort from the boiler.

very true,, just let gravity prime it

 

[stevered]

I have a wort pump. Something I am having difficulty with is the speed at which it transfers liquids - it is single speed and moves liquids very fast! When you restrict the outlet of the pump the pressure in the pipes increases (making them leak in my set up) and if you restrict the inlet to the pump it makes funny noises that sound like something is going wrong which I thought was maybe the pump being run too dry.

If you want wort to run slowly through the chiller this may be an issue. I couldn't use my pump here for this reason and only use it for sparging and transfer to the boiler. Have you though about a syphon starter?

 

[Fil]

I have a wort pump. Something I am having difficulty with is the speed at which it transfers liquids - it is single speed and moves liquids very fast! When you restrict the outlet of the pump the pressure in the pipes increases (making them leak in my set up) and if you restrict the inlet to the pump it makes funny noises that sound like something is going wrong which I thought was maybe the pump being run too dry.

If you want wort to run slowly through the chiller this may be an issue. I couldn't use my pump here for this reason and only use it for sparging and transfer to the boiler. Have you though about a syphon starter?

If its a DC voltage pump look at a controller like the one i linked to above, for an AC pump thats magnetically coupled then its safe to restrict the output with a valve so look at upgrading the connections so they can contain the pressure.

 

[rodabod]

I just adjust the voltage I drive mine with (adjustable mains adapter).

 

[stevered]

If its a DC voltage pump look at a controller like the one i linked to above, for an AC pump thats magnetically coupled then its safe to restrict the output with a valve so look at upgrading the connections so they can contain the pressure.

Thanks, It runs on AC, not sure if it's magnetically coupled though. The pressure it creates is enormous, when I was draining some sanitising water I pointed the outlet hose straight up and it went up as high as the top of the house!

If I was buying again I would get a DC pump so I could slow the pump down with a voltage controller. I think that would be much simpler in my set up than trying to contain large amounts of pressure.

 

[jenivida]

As High as the house. That would have been something to see :lol:

 

[Fil]

Thanks, It runs on AC, not sure if it's magnetically coupled though. The pressure it creates is enormous, when I was draining some sanitising water I pointed the outlet hose straight up and it went up as high as the top of the house!

If I was buying again I would get a DC pump so I could slow the pump down with a voltage controller. I think that would be much simpler in my set up than trying to contain large amounts of pressure.

post a pic ? if a commonly used pump like a march may it could be identified by someone with one

hoses made from 1/2" thick walled silicone tube terminated with hosetail camlocks and secured with jubilee clips will contain pressure even from one with house height jets

 

[peebee]

I do have a "March May" and I do use it for pumping wort into a cooler (i.e. boiling wort) and also recirculating mash through HERMS coil (actually, the HERMS coil and cooler are the same thing in my setup). Once (just a few years ago) it was the only pump to consider for homebrewing, now lots of alternatives like what I linked to earlier in this thread. It is AC and magnetically coupled, and apparently designed back in the sixties!

I keep the little "solar" pumps for pumping clear water only (e.g. sparging): I don't trust those little pumps to handle the dross in the wort!

 

[stevered]

The AC one I got is a NOVAX 20B

http://www.rolling-beers.fr/novax-special-beer-p-883.html

Same site and same manufacturer that the original poster asked about coincidentally.

OP regarding your original question about the drill pump I would think you're fine moving wort with that as mine is from the same manufacturer and is also specified for clean fluids. Doesn't seem to be a spec on the tempreature it will tolerate on the site so perhaps only use it after the chiller.

I guess using a drill to drive the pump might make a pump speed problem easier to solve. I have used a drill powered pump in a non-brewing application and wrote off a drill when I had a leak. I always think that occasional unexpected leaks are inevitable so if you're after a long term solution and don't want to risk your drill you might be better off with a pump that has integrated motor.

(I hope no will judge my plumbing skills based on the number of leaks I've been talking about...!)