Buying my pump and other goodies this week-- suggestions?

Here's a list of what and where I'm buying my stuff- please post feedback:

Bronze Head March Pump w/ Cord - $137
March Pump 1/25

20ft 1/2" Silicone Tubing from Morebeer @ 2.10/ft. - $42
http://morebeer.com/view_product/17608//Tubing_-_Silicone_1_2"_ID_-_By_the_Foot

1/2" Brass Hose Barb Disconnect @ $8/per x 4 - $32
McMaster-Carr

1/2" Brass Pipe Disconnect @ $2/per x 4 - $8
McMaster-Carr

Stainless Steel Hose Clamp @ $.80/per x 8 = $6.50
Stainless Steel Adjustable Hose Clamp

1/2" Brass Ball valve for Pump - $7
1/2 Inch Brass Ball Valve

Whirlpool Chiller Arm - $15
Wort Chiller Recirculation Arm - Option Two | MoreBeer

Total Pump Assembly $248

Other Homebrew Purchases unrelated to Pump:

Sterile Siphon Starter - $15
Sterile Siphon Starter - For 5 and 6 Gallon Carboys | MoreBeer

6.5 Gallon Cap for Sterile Siphon Starter x 2 - $6 (One for Siphon/One for Blowoff)
Carboy Hood Orange w/Blue Caps - (6.5 Gallon) | MoreBeer

5 Gallon Cap for Blowoff - $3
Rubber Carboy Hood w/White Caps(5 Gallon) | MoreBeer

10 Ft 1/2" Vinyl Tubing for Blowoff Tubes @ $.40/ft - $4
Tubing - Vinyl (1/2'' ID) - By the Foot | MoreBeer

Refractometer - $24 + Shipping (Props to ChefMike's thread)
Brix Refractometer ATC 0-32% Fruit Wine + 50 Pipettes - eBay (item 380097098583 end time Feb-13-09 18:12:51 PST)

Barley Crusher - $155
The Barley Crusher - Ordering

Grand Total - $482

Any other suggestions or something I'm forgetting?

Oh, and does anyone know the best way to connect that recirculation arm for Whirlpool chilling up to my pump tubing?

Stevorino said:

Oh, and does anyone know the best way to connect that recirculation arm for Whirlpool chilling up to my pump tubing?

Click to expand...

From what I remember, the recirculation arm comes with a hose clamp. You would use that clamp to connect the 1/2" silicone tubing to the tubing. You would then need to connect that tubing to the pump somehow, most likely with some kind of quick disconnect.

The rest of your list looks fine. Enjoy everything!

Awesome -- I'll give some thought on how I want to do that -- thanks!

bump bump bump

That all looks good to me. If you need something else add it to the list.

Looks good! Pretty much the same pump setup that I've got, and it's been working flawlessly for several brew days. I lot the 90 degree QD's and the 1/2" silicone tubing...no kinks but very flexible even at lower temperature. You can even comfortably handle the tubing with hot wort flowing through it.

Oh, make sure you also pickup some stainless hose clamps for the QD's. Rock on...can't wait to see your new setup!

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Looks good! Pretty much the same pump setup that I've got, and it's been working flawlessly for several brew days. I lot the 90 degree QD's and the 1/2" silicone tubing...no kinks but very flexible even at lower temperature. You can even comfortably handle the tubing with hot wort flowing through it.

Oh, make sure you also pickup some stainless hose clamps for the QD's. Rock on...can't wait to see your new setup!

Click to expand...

Thanks bud -- I'm stoked to see it too!

My buddy put a water proof switch on his pump. It made things a hell of a lot easier. If you are putting the pump on a brew stand with a pump already, then nevermind...

Although it is twice the price of the March pump I really recommend a peristaltic pump. I have the following:

Greylor Company | Model 200 | Pump manufacture and Distributor

The pump is self priming, can pump boiling liquids, and is sanitary. The only downside is the speed - I can only pump about 1.5 to 2 gallons per minute. Oh well... it adds two minutes to my brewing day.

Greylor also sent me additional replacement tubing just in case.

JVD_X said:

Although it is twice the price of the March pump I really recommend a peristaltic pump. I have the following:

Greylor Company | Model 200 | Pump manufacture and Distributor

The pump is self priming, can pump boiling liquids, and is sanitary. The only downside is the speed - I can only pump about 1.5 to 2 gallons per minute. Oh well... it adds two minutes to my brewing day.

Greylor also sent me additional replacement tubing just in case.

Click to expand...

WHOA -- that's expensive!

I'll be buying my pump this week also, and I was wondering why you went with the brass head over the poly head?

Stevorino said:

WHOA -- that's expensive!

Click to expand...

No need to prime that thing though. It can dry start up to 15 feet of draw!!

Nice

Schwind said:

I'll be buying my pump this week also, and I was wondering why you went with the brass head over the poly head?

Click to expand...

The biggest reason is the threads on the polysulphone deteriorate the more you use them, no worry with brass.

Many people are worried about the brass containing lead deposits, but if you pickle it, you won't have that worry.

Steve, everything looks great!

Yeh-- Brass is the way to go -- Just listened to 'Brew Strong' -- they said Brass is fine even if you don't pickle it, but pickling it makes it virtually perfect. Stainless Steel is still best, but for the price, Brass seems pretty damn good.

Thats all I needed. thanks for the link and happy back pain free brewing

Another advantage the bronze pump head has is strength (not just durability of the threads). I mounted mine to the kettle using standard nipples, elbows, etc. and to get a nice seal and still have the components oriented the way you want, you may have to put a pretty substantial amount of torque on those fittings. The poly head never would have held up to my needs, as I had to rotate it about 270° after the threads were already getting pretty tight. Also, where my pump is mounted, it's conceivable that it could get banged into something once in a while. The bronze head can handle that abuse better than polysulfone.

I bought mine from PumpBiz which had the best price at the time. That may no longer be true, but you might want to check them out.