iwaki pump and SS parts score from junkyard

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ekjohns

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So i stopped at the local junkyard and found a 316 SS compression tee for 3/8 tubing and a iwaki WMD-20RLT pump. I figured I would check the price to see if it was worth risking the money that the pump even worked. Total cost for both parts came to $5!! so I figured hell I will give it a go. Got home and wired it up and BOOM it runs perfectly fine. So I got to looking online and all iwaki makes is plastic heads so I called them up and talked to a technician about temp ratings etc. The pump head is made from GFRPP (glass fortified Polypropylene) which is rated above 212 F and does not leach. PP is used for autoclaving consumables. The outside pump housing on mine is broken but everything else is there and in good condition. However, since I do not know the origin of the pump I wouldn't want to use anything that has contact with beer. For $40 I could get a new pump head housing but the impeller will run me $60. However, I noticed that the march pump head would fit into the motor but was a little smaller than the iwaki impeller housing. With a collar I might be able to make something work. My other options would be LG or chugger pump heads. Could anyone with either a chugger or LG let me know what the diameter of the impeller house is? Also, if you could measure the distance between the screws that hold it on (ie, Distance from hole 1 to 3) that wold ROCK!
 
Jeeze, miss the point much?

The OP tried his Chugger head and the fit was apparently not optimal, and was wondering if the March head would work better, apparently not knowing that the Chugger and March heads are essentially identical...

Cheers!
 
Jeeze, miss the point much?

The OP tried his Chugger head and the fit was apparently not optimal, and was wondering if the March head would work better, apparently not knowing that the Chugger and March heads are essentially identical...

Cheers!

Otherway round, seems like he tried his March and was wondering about the chugger :D
And I'm missing the point with that reply too :D

And the original thought that chugger had was to make them in china (or where-ever) so they are much cheaper.
 
However, I noticed that the march pump head would fit into the motor but was a little smaller than the iwaki impeller housing. With a collar I might be able to make something work. My other options would be LG or chugger pump heads. Could anyone with either a chugger or LG let me know what the diameter of the impeller house is? Also, if you could measure the distance between the screws that hold it on (ie, Distance from hole 1 to 3) that wold ROCK!

The bolt circle on our pump where the studs are is 2.875"
the housing where the impeller sits inside is 2.377"
 
walter thanks for the measurements. Does March make any MD pumps that have slightly larger pump heads? The iwaki motor uses larger magnets for the impeller and the magnet that is attached to the motor. Outfitting this motor with march parts would be BA:rockin:
 
i have a feeling that the closest (if you need it bigger)would be the series 3 pump...you can get it in the polysulfone material like the 809's (Its the 3B pump) that has a bolt circle of 3.375" and the part that would fit inside the magnet on the motor is 1.315"
 
I have two Iwaki pumps (40RLT i believe); even though the housing will handle boiling temps the impeller will not. it has a molded in "bearing" of sorts and will melt. Ask me how I know :) I use one on my keg washer the other is an impeller less paperweight.
 
you can fit the connecting bracket from a march pump allowing for you to add a march pump head. I have not run it this way cause I dont have extra parts for the need to run it put I was able to fit the connecting bracket on it
 
I have two Iwaki pumps (40RLT i believe); even though the housing will handle boiling temps the impeller will not. it has a molded in "bearing" of sorts and will melt. Ask me how I know :) I use one on my keg washer the other is an impeller less paperweight.

Really? I have a Resun (Iwaki knockoff) md40 and have used it with boiling wort no problem. From the Iwaki spec sheet there is nothing that would not handle the temps (both the housing and impellor are GRF-PP and the bearing is PTFE/Teflon). Are you sure you didn't dry run it? Sorry just checked and the thrust washer could be PE which if LDPE has a melting point of 105°C so might of been the issue, but you could replace this with a ceramic one.
 
It didn't run dry. It failed on the maiden voyage and all I was doing was recirculating boiling water. I'm not sure how I'd replace that piece, mine is molded in to the impeller. If I could find a better impeller I'd use it. It is an amazing pump as far as power and quietness are concerned. BTW mine are Iwaki MD-70RLZ (~ 1/3 hp). The March head wont fit, maybe a larger model may.
 
I bought an Iwaki 15 pump 100Volt(Japan) for $20. It gets pretty warm on 110Volts, and it is volumetrically just fine. The Iwaki site says to 180 degrees F. I also just bought 2 - 110Volt Iwaki 20's for $30. They are bigger volume and head also 180 degrees. I will use my new March 815 for the BKettle and Iwakis for 2 other pumps and have a spare. Careful to do good cleaning and beware some were used in photo processing and very dark (likely silver oxide?). Mine all were very clean looking, sterilized and tested for taste. All seems good.
FYI, Jim
 
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