chugger or march 815

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BullGator

BullGator

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I got a gift card for Amazon for Christmas. I am going to get a pump to complete my plate chiller setup. So my options are limited to what's on Amazon. I can't decide between the chugger with a SS head or the march 815. My questions are:

1 - what is the difference between the 2 different inlet/outlet design? The one that goes straight through and the one where one port is in the middle of the pump head.

2 - I am using cam lock connectors so I do not plan on taking it on and off much. So does going with stainless worth it?
 
Save the money and gravity feed your plate chiller....Im done with pumps I officially hate them....it just adds more work to my brew day
 
If you do go with a pump you need a ball valve and helps if you add another one as a bleeder for air bubbles to help with priming
 
The center inlet has a little better performance, but the placement may affect your plumbing. Obviously stainless is stronger than the plastic. I would rate March A++ on service, and Chugger a B+. My march pumps have been rock solid and i've experienced a few problems with chuggers out of the box. Nothing that wasn't taken care of but there was hassle to be had.
 
Schumed said:
If you do go with a pump you need a ball valve and helps if you add another one as a bleeder for air bubbles to help with priming
Click to expand...

I have one which will go on the outlet as recommended here on HBT (I got my fittings in one big order so I have them already). But where does this other valve go that will help with priming?
 
BullGator said:
I have one which will go on the outlet as recommended here on HBT (I got my fittings in one big order so I have them already). But where does this other valve go that will help with priming?
Click to expand...

Basically a tee from your outlet....left is your bleeder valve...right is your ball out valve...
 
outside92129 said:
The center inlet has a little better performance, but the placement may affect your plumbing. Obviously stainless is stronger than the plastic. I would rate March A++ on service, and Chugger a B+. My march pumps have been rock solid and i've experienced a few problems with chuggers out of the box. Nothing that wasn't taken care of but there was hassle to be had.
Click to expand...

The reason I ask is because people are saying that you will risk messing up the treads over time on the plastic one. But if I have camlocks on the ports then I'm not taking them on and off a whole lot. I'm just wondering if this is a reasonable theory.
 
Good point. Once i put my camlocks on my pumps i have never taken them off. So the threads are still good as new (ok, i have taken them off a few times as i re-engineered my stand... but your point is quite valid)
 
i accidentally dropped something on my pump manifold and broke my march pump head. replaced it with a stainless one with the new high flow march impeller. best of all worlds :)
 
I have two chugger pumps and have been very happy with them so far. March pumps are excellent too, I just liked the stainless heads over plastic.

The way you have your kettle plumbed will make a HUGE difference. My HLT has a dip tube which causes a vapor lock if I don't bleed a little off before I start the pump. But my mash tun and boil kettle have plumbing that's parallel to the bottom of the kettle and it primes 100% of the time.

I don't have anything other than a barb and coupler on my intake, it's very important that you don't cause too much resistance or disturbance on the intake, that's a great way to cause cavitation. A cam lock or something similar to that is perfectly fine, but IMHO you want to keep fittings a minimum on the intake (output doesn't matter much). Make sure you install the pump in the correct position, incorrect installation will cause a air pocket that will be very hard to dislodge.
 
mikronmagic said:
I have two chugger pumps and have been very happy with them so far. March pumps are excellent too, I just liked the stainless heads over plastic.

The way you have your kettle plumbed will make a HUGE difference. My HLT has a dip tube which causes a vapor lock if I don't bleed a little off before I start the pump. But my mash tun and boil kettle have plumbing that's parallel to the bottom of the kettle and it primes 100% of the time.

I don't have anything other than a barb and coupler on my intake, it's very important that you don't cause too much resistance or disturbance on the intake, that's a great way to cause cavitation. A cam lock or something similar to that is perfectly fine, but IMHO you want to keep fittings a minimum on the intake (output doesn't matter much). Make sure you install the pump in the correct position, incorrect installation will cause a air pocket that will be very hard to dislodge.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I went with the center inlet SS chugger pump. I read that the center inlet has slightly higher flow rate mainly due to elimination of the 90 deg turn the wort has to make on the inline version. I also recall reading it cavitates less and is easier to prime because of the way the wort enters the head. But I know a lot of people have developed techniques and setups to make both these non-issues for the most part.

For now, I do have a center pickup tube on my boil kettle though so I will keep my eye on issues with the need to bleed air in front of the pump. I picked up a SS tee and valve just in case.

I do have to figure out where my pump will sit while in use. I don't have a stand so right now, everything will just be on the ground. But as you said, orientation is important so I have to look more into this before brew day.
 

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