Chugger Pump mounting/orientation question

So as you can see from the picture the pump mounts on my brewstand would mean I am mounting the pumps upside down (as in hanging) I don't think there is any issues with this but I was just checking? Does it matter which way the in/out is oriented?

Output up is generally the best way.

First off, that's one ugly brew stand.
Now most Ive seen have the "IN" port pointed down.
And the "OUT" pointing up..Thats how i got it.
Ignore stand comment..Just busting chops

How can you brew on such a fugly stand. You better send that to me

And I asked chugger this same question and they said it didn't matter. Still haven't tried my pump out yet. Just dropped $200 on fittings so I can finally ****ing try it.

ignore double-r. probably a case of jealousy. that's looking sweet, and i can picture it completed (at least the way i'd do it, which is most likely way different than your final look). i have in on bottom, out on top

WalterAtMarchPumps says to mount the inport at the bottom and the out up at the top. Kind of backwards from what you'd think, but the reason is that having the in-port at the bottom allows liquid to push out air and you won't have priming issues.

In measuring I cant mount my pump heads vertically. I am using quick disconnects and with the added length of those it would place the inlet hose really close to the floor so it would make a sharp bend that could restrict the flow.

akthor said:

In measuring I cant mount my pump heads vertically. I am using quick disconnects and with the added length of those it would place the inlet hose really close to the floor so it would make a sharp bend that could restrict the flow.

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In that case, remove the four screws at the face of the pump head and rotate the head so the inlet is on the left when facing the pump in the mounted orientation.

One thing to be aware of is with the motor mounted with the base at 12 o'clock the two oil ports will be pointing straight down. You'll probably have to remove the pump motor periodically to oil it...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

In that case, remove the four screws at the face of the pump head and rotate the head so the inlet is on the left when facing the pump in the mounted orientation.

One thing to be aware of is with the motor mounted with the base at 12 o'clock the two oil ports will be pointing straight down. You'll probably have to remove the pump motor periodically to oil it...

Cheers!

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+1 Can't state how important it is to avoid losing prime - this is among the more frustrating things that can happen in home brewing. If you absolutely have to go horizontal, I'd put a valve both before and after the pump, on tee fittings. This way, you can vent on either side of the pump, and you could even pour sterile water directly into the pump (from the outlet tee, through an up-facing ball valve) to prime it.

If the pumps are below the keggles and I open the valves and make sure the lines are full before I should be ok right?

akthor said:

If the pumps are below the keggles and I open the valves and make sure the lines are full before I should be ok right?

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If everything is full you SHOULD be okay - but always have a backup plan for losing prime. Because this is a magnetic impeller pump, you can throttle the output side (ball valve) with no ill effect, and I recommend doing so to help, but I would definitely have some sort of bleeder solution for the inevitable air bubble that threatens to frustrate your runoff. There are few things more frustrating than having a hard-lined pump that you can't move around if you lose prime. This is why practically everyone mounts the pump so that the input and output on the head (not the pump itself) are oriented vertically.

I could get some more 90 street elbows and terminate the both ends of the hoses with them to prevent kinks and put the pump head vertical. First I will give it a try horizontal and see what happens before I order more parts.

Have you given this a try yet? I'm building a stand currently and wondering if horizontal is fine, as I'd rather run it that way.

Not yet I am a ways off hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can try a run with some water and report back.

Hmmm OK. I just received the last 2 fittings I need so maybe I'll boil some water up tonight and try it out.

I tested the pump lying horizontal with 14ish gallons of cold water recirculating in the kettle, and it was able to produce a vortex down damn near the bottom of the keggle. Don't have all night so I drained it to about 4 gallons and fired up the burner. Currently at 160 and is still going wide open without any issues. I've heard some chuggers have issues around 180 so I'm getting close! Will let everyone know.

Well, it handled everything except a ROLLING boil, and I mean rolling. Much harder boil then what I would brew with for 60 minutes. It lost prime once, and I'm not sure what everyone gets upset about, I just turned the pump off, and disconnected the hose and lowered it till it filled my Pyrex cup, then reconnected, turned the boil down to typical brew day boil and that sucker worked just fine.

Again this is with the pump mounted horizontally, with 2 street elbows attached so the hose go up without bending.

Sounded like I killed a cat when it lost prime though.

Sweet man thanks! I was worried since with my pump mounts I can't even turn the heads horizontal if I want to without putting a piece of wood or something to shim the pump so it clears the fuel rail. They fit perfectly horizontally tho.

You have your inlets pointing to the left?

Ya, inlet left, output right

phoenixs4r said:

Well, it handled everything except a ROLLING boil, and I mean rolling. Much harder boil then what I would brew with for 60 minutes. It lost prime once, and I'm not sure what everyone gets upset about, I just turned the pump off, and disconnected the hose and lowered it till it filled my Pyrex cup, then reconnected, turned the boil down to typical brew day boil and that sucker worked just fine.

Again this is with the pump mounted horizontally, with 2 street elbows attached so the hose go up without bending.

Sounded like I killed a cat when it lost prime though.

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Because it is an unnecessary pain to deal with this issue. More than likely however it is a dip tube inlet issue rather than pump orientation when you have a rolling boil and the pump prime goes.

samc said:

Because it is an unnecessary pain to deal with this issue. More than likely however it is a dip tube inlet issue rather than pump orientation when you have a rolling boil and the pump prime goes.

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It wasn't really an issue, like I said. In would never boil at that strength on a brew day. You are correct though, it does have to do with dip tube placement,and it was nice to do this with clear water first to see where the bubbles form.