I have been trying to stretch my homebrew budget, so I hope this purchase doesn't end up costing me more. I just saw the sale at AHS for the march pump and somewhat wish I'd waited... Anyway
I got this pump on E-bay for $51 It is a circulator pump and is for potable water and good up to 220 degrees.
It is not a magnetic drive pump.
Here are some specs...
Performance Data
Flow Range: 0-10 GPM
Head Range: 0-9 Feet
Minimum Fluid Temperature: 40º F (4º C)
Maximum Fluid Temperature: 220º F (104º C)
Maximum Working Pressure: 125 PSI
Connection Sizes: 3/4” NPT
The Taco 006 Cartridge Circulator is designed for circulating hot or chilled fresh water in open or closed -loop, lower-flow applications.
* Unique, “00” family replaceable cartridge contains all of the moving parts so you can service it easily instead of replacing the entire unit.
* Compact, low-power consumption design is ideal for high efficiency jobs.
Features
* Standard High Capacity Output
* Quiet, Efficient Operation
* Unique Replaceable Cartridge Design – Field Serviceable
* Direct Drive-Low Power Consumption
* Self-Lubricating
* No Mechanical Seal
* Unmatched Reliability --Maintenance Free
* Bronze Construction
Typical Applications:
* Domestic Hot Water Recirculation
* Hydro-Air Heating/Cooling
* Heat Recovery Units
* Water Source Heat Pumps
* Drain Down Open Loop Solar Systems
* Potable Water Systems
I like that it is bronze, i'm not worried about lead (I could always pickle it) I know it can handle the temps and has the flow rates I need.
My worries are that Wort is more acidic than water (shouldn't be a problem...) and I don't know how it will affect it if I restrict the outflow (I think this will be ok, it would be similar to giving it a 9 ft head perhaps).
This guy continually sells these pumps on E-bay so if this works out it could be a cheaper solution than the march pump for those that want to try it.
Thoughts?
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"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
The fact that it's made for hot fresh water is a plus at least. I wouldn't trust it based on that alone, but it's a start... Hopefully you will be able to open up the pump head and take a look at the construction.
Kind of a weird design, all the moving parts are contained in that little "cartridge" which goes in the pump. I assume the motor housing is a sealed unit containing all the coils, and then the rotor with all the magnets is inside the cartridge, directly connected to the impeller. If that is true, it probably means that the whole chamber where the rotor is (in the cartridge) gets filled with liquid and the rotor runs wet, which could explain why they say it has 'no mechanical seal'. On the Taco page, the pump is even listed under the "wet rotor" category. I had a small pond pump once that worked just like that on a smaller scale.
On the plus side, it most likely means there are no bearings or grease - the rotor probably relies on the water for the necessary lubrication, which would explain their warning not to run it without water in it. On the down side, depending on the design, it may not be easy to keep it clean - although water is allowed into the rotor area, it's probably MOSTLY closed off so that sediment can't easily get into the rotor area, which would then make it hard to thoroughly rinse out the rotor region, so you may get some sticky wort gunk building up in there and getting nasty.
Of course, a lot of that is speculation because I can't find much more detail on their design yet...
Last edited by Funkenjaeger; 09-18-2008 at 03:41 PM.
I'll see if I can take the pump head apart tonight to see. Every brew session I plan to be running HLT water through it first, then during the boil I'll recirculate for the last 15 minutes to sanitize everything, then pump through the chiller. After that I'll do a run with cleaning solution (maybe oxyclean) through the boil kettle and pump, then with clean water. That should help to rinse out and keep it from gunking up inside, we'll see
__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
I found out a couple things that will annoy me but can be worked around. There are two leads coming off of the pump. One to start it with a switch and one to start it remotely. The issue is that it has built in temperature sensing (which could be nice but it is not configurable) and the switches only turn it on, none turn it off.
I've messed with the wires on the temp probe and they are able to turn it off, but not back on. I think if I get the right switch (at worst 2 switches) then I can make that work.
Otherwise I can wire an outlet with a switch so I can turn it on and off. I'll basically just keep the temperature probe wires always disconnected.
__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
As you can see from the pictures it has a backcheck valve. Should be just fine. The holes are large enough that a reasonable amount of hop particles and break should go through. Also I use the Lil'Sparky hop bag so I don't have a lot of hop leaves or particles circulating in the wort anyway.
__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
I just had a seminar on these pumps. I'm in the heating industry and involved with hydronics. These pumps are wet roter and self lubed with the liquid it pumps. It isn't a pump per se but a circulator and although it will pump a little head, it won't be the same as a March pump with positive displacement.
I have a similar type pump I hope to incorperate into my brewery also.
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How do you BBQ an elephant....first you get your elephant....
wow great to have someone that actually knows something about these instead of me just fuddeling along with them. If you intend to use one at some point does that mean you think they will work? Thanks!
__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
So now that you've got it in hand and working, when are you gonna throw some tubing on it and try pumping some water? That's the real test, seeing what kind of head and flow rate it can give you under typical brewing conditions.
Yep I will do so, though I need to get some 3/4" NPT fittings to adapt it to some sort of barb. I'll probably order some silicone tubing from McMaster, the thicker walled stuff (I don't know if I can spring for the reinforced stuff...)
I'll do the tests with water, see how it does with that. Then it'll get built into the brewstand, so more results will wait till I have it all together.
__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
Taco Bronze circulator pump
and very interested in how this turns out.
Linear Mode
