Cheap compact wort pump
 

Hey guys,

I was trying to find a cheap (<$150) wort pump and was not having much luck. Then I came accross this video:

I liked how his wort pump was compact, low voltage, and was able to connect it right to the end of the ball valve. Pretty slick.

I think I found the same pump (or one just like it) and it is dirt cheap at $22:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-High-Quality-DC-12V-Electric-Centrifugal-Water-Pump-P-38I-03-/270951067871?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f15f1 30df

It can handle high temps, is food grade, and I think the flow rate will be good enough for recirculating and pumping through a counter flow chiller into my fermenter.

Does anyone have any experience with one of these?

I found another video of the pump in action:

Cool. Looks like it could be useful as a secondary pump, or even a primary one on a small system. Not so sure about the second video where he submerges the pump wiring....:eek:

I bought one of these a while back and have been pleased with it....don't count on much customer service from the seller he can't seem to provide updates on shipping or respond to emails....but once you have the pump it does everything that is needed.

http://greatbreweh.com/Beer_Pump.html

:off:


What is that blue insulating material around his kettle? Looks like the same material life jackets are made of.

I think you would be happier with this one granted its not $22 but it is sub $150 and moves alot more liquid then the one you linked.

Peter_R, if you have one of these (and especially if you have any experience with a March pump) I would be interested in any other contrasts to a March pump you could provide (aside from the fact that this low-cost pump rated to pump less):

1/ can it be cleaned as easily as the March pump (impeller removed, cleaned, etc...)?

2/ it's pretty obviously not as solidly built as a March pump, but at this price, you could afford to have one (or even five :) ) as backups - how much have you used your pump and what is your feeling as to how many brew cycles it will last?

3/ it claims to be food-grade - from what you have seen are you confident that this is the case?

4/ have you used the pump to recirculate hot wort? Any concerns about it's ability to withstand 212 degrees F?

I'm probably getting a March pump as my 'main' pump for mash recirculation but I am thinking about picking up one these as a second pump for whirlpooling my wort near the end of the boil - unless this pump is a disaster, just being able to avoid having to move a single pump halfway through the brew cycle would make it worth the very modest cost...

-fafrd

For the price your looking at buying a march and that dc pump you could buy 2 chugger pumps with plastic heads. That dc pump is cheap but it only does 12 lpm's where the chuggers do 22.7 lpm's thats close to double the volume.

Hello Fafrd,

I don't own a March Pump so I really can't provide any reasonable comparison between the GreatBrewEh pump and a March pump...other than the obvious price delta.

1. I have not had any issues cleaning the pump....I don't take the pump apart to clean....I run hot PBW throughout the system (kettle, Mashtun, Hop Rocket, and plate chiller) with the pump for 30-45 minutes at the end of brewing.

2. It was the price difference between this and the March Pump that helped determine which pump to use. I also looked closely at the Chuggar SS pump...it was much closer in price to the March and had similar specs...but at the time I had a bad case of the "I wants" Chuggar was out of stock and their estimated arrival date kept slipping.

3. Not having a way to measure the food grade claim....I have taken them at their word on this....same as I would do for March or Chuggar. I have not noticed any off flavors on the 8 batches of beer I have made since getting the pump.

4. I use the pump on my single tier system...to move hot water from the HLT to the Mash Tun....to recirculate the the wort during the Mash....to move the wort from the Mash Tun to the Boil Kettle and of course during clean up. I did use the pump on 2 brews to push the wort from the boil kettle through my Hop Rocket (Hop Back) through Plate Chiller (Schirron) to my Carboys (10 Gallon Batch). I found that even with throttling the output side of the pump to slow the flow...my Plate Chiller wasn't efficient enough to cool the wort below 80 degrees. A good friend of mine has a Therminator that I will hook up in place of the Schirron during an upcoming brew session to see if that solves my concern.

One item that had me lean to the GreatBrewEh Pump was my desire not to have AC anywhere near the combination of water, beer, and me....the smaller pumps are DC which enable me to keep the AC connection a good distance away. No matter what the distance, I still use a GFCI protected outlet.

Overall, my experience with the pump has been very good I would not hesitate buying another if I thought it would improve any of the processes I have.

Regards,

Peter_R

I went ahead and bought the $22 pump off ebay as I think it will be adequate for my needs for now. And really, at this point, i just want to see how viable it truly is as a wort pump. I'll do a review once it comes in.