Wort Transfer Pump

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TravelingBrewer22

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I need some sage advice. I know that March pumps are the preferred method of transferring hot wort from the boil kettle to the carboy via chiller (immersion or plate). I've seen the "chugger" pump on ebay for a great price as well. What about the Wayne PC2 pump? It seems like it would be sufficient but I am not sure if it will work or not for my setup (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CPZTEK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20). I recently swapped out my IC for a 30-plate chiller and want to tranfer through it using this pump bc it's the cheapest option.

Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks!
 
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March pumps are not necessarily THE preferred pump anymore. Little Giant makes some excellent magnetic drive pumps and from the reading I did before buying one, they seem to be a lot quieter and perhap even more durable. (According to the specs, I can run my little giant dry for 8 hours without damaging the pump).

Anyway... from some digging I did back when the chugger first came out, I am pretty sure that the Chugger's ARE march 809's, probably with some scratches or something and being unloaded as factory seconds. I think they just get a green paint job and a new logo and become Chugger Pumps.

Regarding the Wayne pump you linked to... it looks like a basic transfer pump and not really meant for hot liquids that will eventually be consumed. I have a little pump like that in my garage. I got it with the intention of using it to pump ice water through my IC, but two things about it made me stop using it.

First, it was loud. CRAZY loud.

Second, it had to be primed with vegetable oil to get it lubricated before each use.

You really want to find a magnetic drive pump, preferably made of food grade materials and capable of handling the high temps of boiling hot wort.
 
i read some of the amazon reviews of the pump. it's exactly like the one in my garage; loud and needs to be primed with cooking oil before using it.

I don't think you want cooking oil inside your chiller or in your fermenter.
 
I just bought that pump to help move some water we had in the yard due to the recent flooding here in SoCal.

It is a piece of crap. First as Walker says you do have to put vegetable oil in there every time you use it. The one I got worked great for about 20 minutes before it stopped working. I opened it up and noticed that it was missing a gasket, and the impeller was warped after 20 minutes of of pumping 40F water.

Also there's no way I'd trust that to pump anything that I was planning to drink.
 
Actually, the Chugger pumps are cheap Chinese knockoffs being "designed" (aka ripped off since patents have expired) and sold by one of March pump's East Coast distributors. There are definitely some questions about the manufacturing quality and the amount of testing being done, but the basic design is identical to the 809 series March pumps.

But it's 140 bucks for a true March pump American-made and designed product where the company will actually stand behind it and support it after the sale has been made.

I have a Little Giant and a March 809 with the upgraded impeller. I like them both, although the Little Giant model I have is a much more powerful model (and cost it) so I use them for different uses in my brewery.
 
Oh related to pumps you can actually use for wort:

I have a Gorman-Rupp magnetic drive pump that I found on ebay for something like $40 that works great. The only caveats are that it doesn't have threaded inlet/outlet connections and uses 1/2" hose barb connections instead, so it's kind of a pain to get hooked up on brew day.
 
No, not the submersible pumps from Little Giant.

I have the 3-MD-HC. They're a bit more expensive than a march 809.
 
I have no idea on the model number for my pump. But it's a moot point because there was only one guy selling them (so far as I could tell) and I must have bought the last one because I could never find another for sale.
 
+1 to little giant pumps. We use them in the lab for hydroponics and they're incredibly dependable.

How fast is everyone trying to move their wort with these? Is transfer from kettle to primary time dependent? Does a plate chiller a great deal of resistance?
 
Oh related to pumps you can actually use for wort:

I have a Gorman-Rupp magnetic drive pump that I found on ebay for something like $40 that works great. The only caveats are that it doesn't have threaded inlet/outlet connections and uses 1/2" hose barb connections instead, so it's kind of a pain to get hooked up on brew day.

I have one of those, and it pwns a march pump, except for the damn hook ups.
 
(According to the specs, I can run my little giant dry for 8 hours without damaging the pump).
.

Thats only if you have the model with the carbon bushing in the impeller. Also keep in mind that carbon does wear and give off particulates as its used....so those end up in your liquids. We have options like that for our pumps as well...we just dont want to open a can of worms with customers doing crazy things with their pumps. Also keep in mind the Ryton plastic the Little Giant is made from is only ated to 200*F (just like ours) so pumping boiling wort at 212*... or close to it...you could damage the pump and be denied warranty. The 809's are rated to 250*F and i have yet to see one melted like our Polypropylene/Ryton/or Kynar pumps.

-Walter
 
Also keep in mind that i dont believe Carbon bushings are acceptable as far as FDA or NSF is concerned. (We do not recomend it for any food or purity type applications) This may not mean anything to a small scale home brewer but i wouldnt want to risk my health.

-Walter
 
Thats only if you have the model with the carbon bushing in the impeller. Also keep in mind that carbon does wear and give off particulates as its used....so those end up in your liquids. We have options like that for our pumps as well...we just dont want to open a can of worms with customers doing crazy things with their pumps.

Oh, yeah... I'm not suggesting running the pump dry is a good idea at all. :D

Also keep in mind the Ryton plastic the Little Giant is made from is only rated to 200*F (just like ours) so pumping boiling wort at 212*... or close to it...you could damage the pump and be denied warranty. The 809's are rated to 250*F and i have yet to see one melted like our Polypropylene/Ryton/or Kynar pumps.

Maybe you can explain something regarding the part in blue that I highlighted, because it has me confused.

You said Ryton has a temp rating of 200*F, and the March 809's impeller is made of Ryton, so how is it that it can be rated for 250*F?
 
Actually, the Chugger pumps are cheap Chinese knockoffs being "designed" (aka ripped off since patents have expired) and sold by one of March pump's East Coast distributors. There are definitely some questions about the manufacturing quality and the amount of testing being done, but the basic design is identical to the 809 series March pumps.

But it's 140 bucks for a true March pump American-made and designed product where the company will actually stand behind it and support it after the sale has been made.

I have a Little Giant and a March 809 with the upgraded impeller. I like them both, although the Little Giant model I have is a much more powerful model (and cost it) so I use them for different uses in my brewery.



The little Giant 3-MD-HC is the same as our series 3 pumps. You can't compare the 809's to the #3 as they are different animals. We do make our #3 pumps from the same polysulphone plastic as the 809's, so you could get a pump with outputs of 10gpm and 20' of head with the same temp ratings of 250*F as the 809. Its a special assembly we make for some customers.

-Walter
 
Oh, yeah... I'm not suggesting running the pump dry is a good idea at all. :D



Maybe you can explain something regarding the part in blue that I highlighted, because it has me confused.

You said Ryton has a temp rating of 200*F, and the March 809's impeller is made of Ryton, so how is it that it can be rated for 250*F?

Well the issue is when "pure" Ryton is used in making a pump head the rear housings expand and can come in contact with the drive magnet and lockup above 200*F Ryton as a raw material plastic has heat deflection ratings up to 500*F. But when used in chemical applications its only rated to 200*F

The impeller in the 809 is a Teflon/Ryton/glass mix. So the combination of the three materials gives it its temp rating. Unfortunatly you cant make parts much bigger then the impeller before it starts having distortion issues.

-Walter
 
The little Giant 3-MD-HC is the same as our series 3 pumps. You can't compare the 809's to the #3 as they are different animals. We do make our #3 pumps from the same polysulphone plastic as the 809's, so you could get a pump with outputs of 10gpm and 20' of head with the same temp ratings of 250*F as the 809. Its a special assembly we make for some customers.

-Walter

Walter, I actually have the TE-5.5-MD-HC, but it seems like it has a similar rating as the 3 series. Is that true? I have been running boiling wort through it for 15 minutes before I kick it through my chilling setup which drops it under 180 in a matter of a minute or 2. In the application of chilling the wort, the high volume output of the 5.5 pumping through a restrictive chilling device improves the chill time (which is important in brewing as it stops the processes of hop utilization specifically) vs the 809.
 
Walter, I actually have the TE-5.5-MD-HC, but it seems like it has a similar rating as the 3 series. Is that true? I have been running boiling wort through it for 15 minutes before I kick it through my chilling setup which drops it under 180 in a matter of a minute or 2. In the application of chilling the wort, the high volume output of the 5.5 pumping through a restrictive chilling device improves the chill time (which is important in brewing as it stops the processes of hop utilization specifically) vs the 809.

Similar ratings in what way??? Temp wise? ....nope!

The LG TE-5.5 they have it rated for only 180*F liquids according to their site specs. http://www.franklin-electric.com/ir...g-drive/highly-corrosive-handling/585604.aspx

Flow is a whole nuther story as these guys will do 30gpm and can build up to 17psi.

Also that LG pump has carbon bushings in it....

-Walter
 
Randar, i would call LG and see if they have any other options for the bushings for the impeller. If they do i would maybe go Teflon/Ryton or Mica-Teflon if they have it. If not since your so close you can stop by and see if one of our impellers fit in that pump. Of if the bushings are replaceable i may be able to machine one of ours to fit their impeller...

-Walter
 
Thanks Walter, I will give them a call and see if they have any upgrade options. Thanks again for the offers of help!
 
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