JVD, Just in case you don't know this, you CANNOT close off the flow of a perastaltic pump like you can on the March type pumps. When you throttle back the flow, you need to provide somewhere for the restrained flow to escape, like back to wherever it came from via a return route fitted somewhere between the pump output and your restricting valve? If not, then your pump will over pressurize the tube and that may be the reason you are getting tube failures. To reduce the flow you should reduce the rpm, or change the tube for a smaller diameter bore, or throttle the output but provide a feedback route.
I restrict in front of the pump - coming from the mashtun.... but I had never done it on the output side so that is great to know.
On the throttling the pump thing, you could throttle the flow to the intake of the pump, and as someone pointed out a while back that would just cause the tube to flatten if the pumps flow rate outstripped the actual supply. Still not good, but not too damaging either.
Sorry about the slow progress! I have been concentrating on extending my outbuildings to make room for the the brewery, but the pump is coming along! I have now machined two 10 mm thick Perspex end plates for the 12" alloy tube and these contain the shaft bearings. Next I need to cut holes in the alloy tube for entry and exit points for the 1/2" silicone tube.
I have also completed my wort cooler project, which has six separate 16 ft long copper coils, made from 1/2" diameter pipe. Each coil is fed cold tap water and they are all suspended from a perspex lid. I am not posting details of that untill it is fully tested and I can give operational details and cooling performance figures. Suffice to say it is all plumbed up and does not leak when tap water flows through it at 15 litres per minute. It is a monster!
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Blessed are the "cracked", for it is they who let in the light.
I have also completed my wort cooler project, which has six separate 16 ft long copper coils, made from 1/2" diameter pipe. Each coil is fed cold tap water and they are all suspended from a perspex lid. I am not posting details of that untill it is fully tested and I can give operational details and cooling performance figures. Suffice to say it is all plumbed up and does not leak when tap water flows through it at 15 litres per minute. It is a monster!
Wow! You are using 96 ft of 1/2" copper pipe! I don't think I could fit that much copper tubing inside my kettle and still have room for the wort. What kettle size are you planning to use with it?
I shouldn't be talking about this as it is off topic, but, the coils displace 1 imperial gallon, and are in a 22 imperial gallon stainless pot 18" diameter, 21" deep. I will post details, pictures, and a "how to" in the DIY area in a few weeks when I get my computer back from brain surgery.....It is reasonably easy to do.....make a wooden former, fill the copper tube with dry sand, bend tube into left hand and right hand pairs, fit any number of pairs to a stout lid (I made eight coils, but may settle on using just six) The coils intertwine, but do not touch, and are supported only where they come through the 10 mm thick lid using "cable glands" that compress a rubber sleeve onto the tube and clamp it firmly in place. I thing peeps will be suitably impressed once it is posted! Bear with me........
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Blessed are the "cracked", for it is they who let in the light.
Today I cut the first of the three windows in the side of the aluminium tube, and fitted one of the silicone tubes inside for the first time! I will probably get to test for water pumping and priming tomorrow, or very soon, and then fit the other two tubes.
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Blessed are the "cracked", for it is they who let in the light.
I have just run the Mk2 pump for the first time and it was a resounding success!!!
With the pump connected to my lathe so it was just above stomach height, I ran the lathe at 20 RPM, which is very slow indeed! The pump proceeded to start pumping the air in the pipe and water rose from floor level to the pump at a nice steady rate. This is the slowest I am likely to run the pump, so it has proven itself to be self priming at all speeds, as even the MK1 pump primed satisfactorily at higher speeds.
I now have to concentrate on enlarging the guide ways that I have positioned each side of the three pump tubes, and refining the inlet and outlet guides, as the pipes were tending to creep into the pump cavity as the wheels rotated!
Once I have fettled it a bit and made a proper mounting for it I will post pictures and maybe even a video!
I am now one step nearer to a working brewery!!!!!
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Blessed are the "cracked", for it is they who let in the light.
Last edited by silverbrewer; 12-02-2009 at 08:29 PM.
Based on using my peristaltic during mashing I would suggest you pair the pump with a grant and either a direct heat mash tun or a HERMS system. A peristaltic pump does not work well in a RIMS configuration because it is likely that the mash will - at one time or another as I have experienced - create a stuck mash or vacuum, which causes the pump to flatten the hose, which in turn cuts off the flow to the RIMS, which in turn causes the heating element to melt.
Linear Mode
