March pump - aeration?

I just got my thermoplastic tubing in the mail from NB and, yes, it's opaque. So if I use this stuff I won't be able to see my wort being pumped in the tubes.

Is it worth it to go out and get clear silicone tubing or is aeration with march pumps basically never a problem? Since I've never used them I don't know. But if you just let the liquid flow down to the pump and then switch the pump and it's fine then I won't worry.

I'll have a ball valve on the output of the pump...

If you have a lot of air in the line, the March pump is not going to be doing much pumping.

I like the silicone tubing because you can see the flow as well as how clean it is when your done with clean up. It also has a higher temperature range.

When I am pumping from my mash tun or boil kettle, the valve is is at the bottom of the kettle. There is no way for air to be getting in the line. I bleed out the air before I start pumping. Aeration has not been a problem.

I use thermoplastic tubing and like it because it doesn't "kink" as easily as silicone.
(I have both silicone and thermoplastic)

The march pump will not introduce enough air into your wort to worry about... If there is air in the pump, it won't pump so no air in the wort, when it does start pumping, your flow will be pretty free of air (not enough to cause a problem).


As for temp ratings... thermoplastic will handle the liquid temps of brewing just fine. The only place where I have had any concern is when a hose ends up in close proximity to a burner or super heated keg skirt in which case, silicone is only gonna hold up marginally better.

Good luck,
Ed

Thanks. Maybe I will stick with the thermoplastic. The stuff looks pretty rugged and I don't need to see the wort as long as I know there's not going to be a problem.

Anyway, at some point you will want to get some more, or new tubing. At that point you can pick up the silicone. I really like to see the wort being pumped. Especially when I am switching to either star san to sanitize and I want to get that last bit of wort out. I can slow or stop the flow at the junction of the wort and star san.

I've used the March 809 pump about 4-5 times and I'm figuring out that it works a-lot better if you open all the valves and bleed out the air bubbles before power on. I use a two tier system (bayou classic) and i have a 15.5 gal keggle on my hi pressure burner and a 40 qt polar ware on the smaller top burner.

I use the pump almost entirely through out the entire brew session. I use it to recirculate the mash while i have a small flame on the polar ware pot (mash tun) and i use it to recirculate the boil to keep the wort moving. the most beneficial use is during chilling because it moves the wort around the immersion chiller so I don't have to stir. And of course, the final transfer to the fermenter because the valve on the keggle is lower than the neck of the glass fermenter.

I don't know what i would do without the March pump now that i've got it dialed in. It was one of the best investments i've made.