Has any one ever used this new pump?

I have found a great little pump on ebay and was wondering if anyone has ever used it.. It is food grade and magnetic driven and has free shipping all for only $17.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-High-Qu...373&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=251457815300&rt=nc#shpCntId

It looks like a version of the Little Tan Pump, but in black. Have a look in the Cheap compact-wort-pump thread, but I think this might be a new version of it.

The pump housing mounting is different to the Little Tan Pump, but the specs and the pump mounting on the motor housing looks the same. I'd guess it'd work at least as well as that one does (which is fine, although I broke the mounting points off of mine when I dropped the pump assembly).

I bought two and they just came in the mail. Still haven't had time to wire them up and test them out.


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Rockn_M said:

I bought two and they just came in the mail. Still haven't had time to wire them up and test them out.


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be sure to lets us know how it goes

Yes indeed please keep us posted on how they work. I have convinced SWMBO into letting me upgrade so i am trying to put together and E-BIAB and i want to see how inexpensive it really can be compared to those i have seen that sell for around $1000.

I have these saved also. FWIW there's also knockoff topsflo's on eBay for 25$. These are larger, more flow, and seem to be stronger.

However they have been sold out for the last few weeks. I emailed a seller and they said should be back by the 9-10th. It might be better to wait for these...

I decided to order one. I decided that for 16 bucks with free shipping you cant beat it. plus i only need it for a E-BIAB so i think the flow rate will do me just fine. and it only has to travel a total of 3 feet.

bennihana said:

I decided to order one. I decided that for 16 bucks with free shipping you cant beat it. plus i only need it for a E-BIAB so i think the flow rate will do me just fine. and it only has to travel a total of 3 feet.

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Agreed on that. For the price, it is worth trying. I mean, I probably wasted that amount plus some buying things I grew out of by my third brew. At least this has purpose that will last a while.

I did just buy a chugger, but I too am considering this for the inside brewing operation.

I am buying one as well, just to see how it works. I'll have to see if I have a 12V charger laying around for the plug part.

I'm going to give it a shot. Just bought a lesser one for more: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390665472833 for $21.29. The one I bought is 109 GPH with 2M head, this cheaper one is 158 GPH and 3.8M head. It'll be nice to have a backup (not that cheap, overseas components ever fail!)

bennihana said:

I have found a great little pump on ebay and was wondering if anyone has ever used it.. It is food grade and magnetic driven and has free shipping all for only $17.

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Considering that I have no electrical knowledge and am about as likely to kill myself as succeed in wiring a lamp, how does one power this?


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DrWill said:

Considering that I have no electrical knowledge and am about as likely to kill myself as succeed in wiring a lamp, how does one power this?


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This just needs a 12v 2amp plug in that you can twist the wires together on. usually very cheap to buy or you may even have a few just lying around the house. i have several old beard trimmers that used these.

bennihana said:

This just needs a 12v 2amp plug in that you can twist the wires together on. usually very cheap to buy or you may even have a few just lying around the house. i have several old beard trimmers that used these.

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Wow. I think even I could do that without a trip to the ER. So, if I understand correctly, I could take any 12v2a plug, snip the end off, and connect the two wires to the leads on the pump with some wire nuts and tape it up?


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DrWill said:

Wow. I think even I could do that without a trip to the ER. So, if I understand correctly, I could take any 12v2a plug, snip the end off, and connect the two wires to the leads on the pump with some wire nuts and tape it up?


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That's what I'm going to do.


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DrWill said:

Wow. I think even I could do that without a trip to the ER. So, if I understand correctly, I could take any 12v2a plug, snip the end off, and connect the two wires to the leads on the pump with some wire nuts and tape it up?


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yes, and if the pump does not work then just swap the leads around to get the correct polarity. i couldnt tell from the picture if the leads were labled or not

Just a quick follow-up; I ordered a couple of these and I'm looking forward to getting them running. Any ideas on what kind of fittings to use on them? The inlet and outlet sizes are listed as 20.3 mm, but I'm not sure what the actual outer dimensions are.

DrWill said:

Just a quick follow-up; I ordered a couple of these and I'm looking forward to getting them running. Any ideas on what kind of fittings to use on them? The inlet and outlet sizes are listed as 20.3 mm, but I'm not sure what the actual outer dimensions are.

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They are usually 1/2". I have the tan and topsflo's and they are both 1/2".

What kind of fittings would depend on your system.

DrWill said:

Just a quick follow-up; I ordered a couple of these and I'm looking forward to getting them running. Any ideas on what kind of fittings to use on them? The inlet and outlet sizes are listed as 20.3 mm, but I'm not sure what the actual outer dimensions are.

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That's probably 1/2" NPT compatible - same as the little tan pump.

I have the tan version of this exact pump. It works perfect for 100% constant re-circulation for a RIMS mash. I also used it for chilling running through a plate chiller and back to the kettle. Not strong enough to whirlpool, but it pushed through the plate chiller just fine. I'm actually selling my Chugger now cause I'm happy with this little guy.

dyqik said:

That's probably 1/2" NPT compatible - same as the little tan pump.

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Yep. Just a couple extra turns of tape before putting your fittings on and your good.

rgauthier20420 said:

I have the tan version of this exact pump. It works perfect for 100% constant re-circulation for a RIMS mash. I also used it for chilling running through a plate chiller and back to the kettle. Not strong enough to whirlpool, but it pushed through the plate chiller just fine. I'm actually selling my Chugger now cause I'm happy with this little guy.

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That's good news, I plan on using mine just to transfer from my HLT to my Mash Tun for now.

Just curious on what you guys use for power for this. I noticed it's 12V DC 1.05A rated. I was digging through my old chargers and found a Linksys Route 12V DC 500MA rate. Do you guys think that will work fine for this?

No, 500ma = .5a . you're going to need at least the motor load of 1.05a. Just to not burn up your power supply

grandequeso said:

No, 500ma = .5a . you're going to need at least the motor load of 1.05a. Just to not burn up your power supply

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12V 0.5A is the best I have at home. I'll have to swing by radio shack to see what they have.

I just built a pump box using two of the $17 black ones.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/pump-box-dual-12v-pumps-pwms-471423/

These things are all of similar design but vary slightly in size due to variations in pump size and then the attached impelled size varying with the motor size. I have a pic of the black next to the tan wonder that i'll get uploaded one of these days.

I have four (maybe five?) of these pumps. Been using them for about four months. Only three are in my setup though. Since it came from china and I didn't know the quality I ordered some spares. Also thinking about making a small fountain for drinking water for the dogs in the yard, so one was intended for them..

Anyhow. I use one submerged in my HERMS, works flawlessly. Another one is just recirculating HLT-water, and the third one is pumping from the HLT to MLT. I have not had any troubles with these at all. The only thing (I just wanted to try and it was to much to ask for) was when I tried setting one up as whirpool-pump, it just couldnt cope. I tried daisy-chaining two of them (output of #1 went straight into input of #2) which gave me some more flow, but they are just to small to deal with the hop-matter. Eventually the one which was connected to the other one broke at its outlet due to weight, the outlet snapped off.

I've ran boiling water and boiling wort through them and they do their job, just don't ask to much of them, like in a whirpool setup, and they're dead cheap. IMO they're good bang for the buck. And all ports are 1/2" even if the description says 20-something mm. But the best thing is they are magnetically driven, which means you can put a choke-valve after them without burning the motor.

Mine has come in the mail and I cant wait for the rest of the components to come in so I can hook this little bad boy up and try it out.. so close yet so far away from being done with this build.

Did a back to back 5 gallon brew day yesterday with the tan version. I would say it had about 4 hours of total use with at least 2 stretches lasting 60+ minutes. Worked like a champ. You'll love it.

I finally put this pump to use today, brewed an extract batch (was left over from the winter when I brew indoors) so I didn't run a sparge with it, but I used it to pump sanitiser through the plate chiller, transfer hot liquor for the steeping grains, and then to chill the boiled wort. Groans a little when it isn't primed, but other than that works like an absolute charm. It will make my all grain brewdays much easier; no lifting 20 litres of boiling hot water up over my head and no desperately trying to get a siphon going through a plate chiller.

Interested in this nice find. You guys are saying it's not strong enough to whirlpool but does it have enough power just to get some movement around an immersion chiller to cut down on chilling time?


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A return flow will create some sort of movement in the wort in the kettle. The flow would depend on your direction your fitting is pointing inside your kettle and the diameter of your kettle. I imagine it would for sure decrease your chilling time simply because there is "some" sort of flow, but by how much I can't say.

I ordered a couple of them - I'll tell you what I think! I'm planning on making a portable wireless transfer skid.

One of mine took a dump yesterday. It shorted. It's been submerged in my herms for a few months now. I'll open it ut and see if there is something do do about it.

Zibe said:

Interested in this nice find. You guys are saying it's not strong enough to whirlpool but does it have enough power just to get some movement around an immersion chiller to cut down on chilling time?


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I used it to recirculate while chilling my last batch, temp dropped MUCH faster than usual. I'm sure any movement keeping the wort moving while chilling will speed it up, and this provides plenty of movement.

Wacki said:

I used it to recirculate while chilling my last batch, temp dropped MUCH faster than usual. I'm sure any movement keeping the wort moving while chilling will speed it up, and this provides plenty of movement.

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I was the one who said it won't whirpool. By that I meant that it wouldn't move enough wort (6gal) with "standard" pale ale hop schedule to gather the hops in the middle. I bet you can use it for a somewhat quicker cooldown. But IMO I'd rather invest in something with more punch if you already want to cool the wort fast, to also bunching the trub together.

Smellyglove said:

I was the one who said it won't whirpool. By that I meant that it wouldn't move enough wort (6gal) with "standard" pale ale hop schedule to gather the hops in the middle. I bet you can use it for a somewhat quicker cooldown. But IMO I'd rather invest in something with more punch if you already want to cool the wort fast, to also bunching the trub together.

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I should have been more specific, I use a copper immersion cooler, and recirculating the wort while using that made a huge difference, but definitely mixed the cold break and trub into the fermenter. I also have an electric element, which I imagine would inhibit the ability to whirlpool...in any way, I'm still figuring out how I can separate this out w an electric element. I'm all ears if anyone has input!!

Smellyglove said:

I was the one who said it won't whirpool. By that I meant that it wouldn't move enough wort (6gal) with "standard" pale ale hop schedule to gather the hops in the middle. I bet you can use it for a somewhat quicker cooldown. But IMO I'd rather invest in something with more punch if you already want to cool the wort fast, to also bunching the trub together.

Click to expand...

I should have been more specific, I use a copper immersion cooler, and recirculating the wort while using that made a huge difference, but definitely mixed the cold break and trub into the fermenter. I also have an electric element, which I imagine would inhibit the ability to whirlpool...in any way, I'm still figuring out how I can separate this out w an electric element. I'm all ears if anyone has input!!

Wacki said:

I should have been more specific, I use a copper immersion cooler, and recirculating the wort while using that made a huge difference, but definitely mixed the cold break and trub into the fermenter. I also have an electric element, which I imagine would inhibit the ability to whirlpool...in any way, I'm still figuring out how I can separate this out w an electric element. I'm all ears if anyone has input!!

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Into the fermenter?

This is a guess. So take it as one . Since you have a element in your BK, try to direct your WP-outlet high. It seems like the whirpool collecting trub material gets smaller (thinner) the further down in your BK you get. If you can get the hops/break-material to start swirl high up, it will gradually compact on it's way down, evading the element, that's why you see a little poop with trub in the middle, not scattered all over the place on the bottom. Momentum of the wort covers all the kettle, but maybe it works even if the outer momentum is disturbed.

A quick saison-influenced thought

Smellyglove said:

Into the fermenter?



This is a guess. So take it as one . Since you have a element in your BK, try to direct your WP-outlet high. It seems like the whirpool collecting trub material gets smaller (thinner) the further down in your BK you get. If you can get the hops/break-material to start swirl high up, it will gradually compact on it's way down, evading the element, that's why you see a little poop with trub in the middle, not scattered all over the place on the bottom. Momentum of the wort covers all the kettle, but maybe it works even if the outer momentum is disturbed.



A quick saison-influenced thought

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I meant that by circulating the way I do w an immersion chiller, the cold break is still mixed back in...or are you saying to do a whirl pool after it's cooled and I remove the chiller??

Btw I've only brewed on this setup once, so still figuring **** out!!

Wacki said:

I meant that by circulating the way I do w an immersion chiller, the cold break is still mixed back in...or are you saying to do a whirl pool after it's cooled and I remove the chiller??

Btw I've only brewed on this setup once, so still figuring **** out!!

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Yes. Get a whirpool going after you've removed the chiller to compact trub material on the bottom of the kettle.