Schematic of parts for pumping wort

Hi all,

I made the stupid mistake of buying a March Pump last spring without realizing that the cost to properly outfit one pump and one kettle for a drain and whirlpool return was about 1.5 times the cost of the pump!

So I want to get it right and not spend twice. I currently use one kettle for the boil (5 gallon batches) and a cooler for the mash tun. A seperate junky pot serves to heat strike and sparge water.

The cooler and the junky pot work fine as is. I want to add a drain to the kettle and a whirlpool-style return. I figure camlocks are the right way to do this and I was inspired to re-investigate this plumbing when I saw that Bobby_M had new elbow-&-barb-in-one parts.

So I put together a not-to scale schematic of the parts needed. I have the pump, the kettle, and the chiller. I need to buy everything else.

Is my diagram correct, or is there a better way to get into this sort of system? Camlock fillings are in gray and the letter type is indicated. The elbow fittings with hoses are Bobby_M's new offering. Obviously, hoses will be kept short and not run at 90 deg angles as shown.

Any input is appreciated.

that looks fine... if you were looking to save some money, you could easily do away with atleast the upper-most ball valve on the pot, and possibly a lot of the fittings on it. you have a few options for that one...

1- do nothing, just put the end of the hose in the kettle over the top and find some way to keep it from falling out (duct tape, wire, zip tie...). obviously not the most secure way to do it, but very cheap.

2- put the return line on a simple weldless hose barb. if you put it above the liquid level, you wouldnt have to be concerned. if it was below the liquid level, you would need to keep it hooked up to the pump/valve, obviously. could be mildly irritating to have to keep in mind, but would save some money.

3- in addition to #2, put a camlock on the weldless fitting for easy disconnection, but get rid of the valve. optionally, you could get rid of the valve on the pump, as this return kettle valve will also limit flow. a march pump wont produce enough pressure to burst even soft silicone, even if the valve were closed, so that flow rate valve could pull double-duty as a kettle valve.

4- do it like you have it, which is nice, but costs extra money.

It look OK to me but the one mod I'd make is to use a type D and 5/8" barb on the input side of the pump. Having an elbow that close to the input of the pump is known to encourage cavitation and impede priming. It's minor, but it's one location where the elbow is really not much of a benefit in hose routing. You can do the same on the output for maximum flow.

Thanks Bobby. I will look into your suggested modification. Now I need to do some fundraising.