New Replacement for March Pump

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BrewNinja1 said:
^ This! Its a real pain to constantly un/plug it in all the time. Well worth the few extra bucks to put it on a switch.
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Do your plug sockets not have switchs on them? why unplug/plug when you culd just switch it off at the wall socket?
 
To the people that got pumps, please let us know what they're like. I'm still looking to buy one. I'm still interested in a SS version chugger but not so sure of the quality of these vs march or little giant. A comparison between these would be awesome.
 
JonW,
looking back on this thread member Scut was the second person to reply, myself farther down the reply list but earlier by way of my email sent
to Mike.
No one can blame Mike for this supper great offer just a possible SNAFU with Scut being left out of the free offer.
Overall this is the best way to get reviews on a new SS product, BTW thanks Mike for these offerings. Rewards should replace the cost of doing business to get the product name out. Much success to you.
 
BrewBeemer said:
JonW,
looking back on this thread member Scut was the second person to reply, myself farther down the reply list but earlier by way of my email sent
to Mike.
No one can blame Mike for this supper great offer just a possible SNAFU with Scut being left out of the free offer.
Overall this is the best way to get reviews on a new SS product, BTW thanks Mike for these offerings. Rewards should replace the cost of doing business to get the product name out. Much success to you.
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No, no, no. I don't want to play that card. Thank you though. I just want the honest feedback on the product. I don't mind buying it if it's a good product. For me to expect free products is crazy. Besides he offered me a deal for the SS version.
 
Mike,

I just received my pump today and want to says thanks. The pictures I've seen don't really do your product justice. It looks much better in person. Well done
 
I got an email asking to send my shipping address again, but haven't heard from mike since I sent it.

The suspense is killing me. I already promised the wife that second pecker!
 
Mine should be there when I get home. I'll post initial thoughts compared to my plastic head March, but don't know when I'll get a chance to water test both.
 
I would just like to say that you guys all suck. Free pump bastards. (I'm still looking forward to your reviews, of course.)
 
I purchased a Chugger Pump last Friday off ebay, received it Monday....now that's fast shipping!!!
( I didn't get my SS upgrade :( but that's ok.)
I haven't had time to wire it up yet, but so far the threads look in good shape and clean, it seems like a rugged little pump.
When I took apart and inspected the head I saw that they had tested the pump as it was still a little damp inside.
Can't wait to wire and plump this puppy up.
No more lifting 10 gallons of 178F* water over my head Yippee :ban:
 
I purchased a SS version last night. We shall see how it does. I wanted to wait to see some of the reviews of these but I needed to get working on my system and get things built. I'll let everyone know how it does.
 
Mine will be here next week, I will just swap it out for one of the march ones I have and see how it does side by side. Have them both running during the sparge
 
klyph said:
I got an email asking to send my shipping address again, but haven't heard from mike since I sent it.

The suspense is killing me. I already promised the wife that second pecker!
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I also was told I would get one to test out, I sent off my info in a PM, I havent heard from him sadly, I had my hopes up to give one a whirl! we shall see how funds work out to get one of these myself.
 
I'll say this, I don't have a lot of experience with pumps as the two Chugger pumps I bought are the first two I've owned, but I will say they have met/exceeded my expectations. I had to make a minor adjustment to the head on one of them (sounded like it was rubbing) but other than that they have worked flawlessly. Very quiet, work without any issues and overall I'm very pleased with them.
 
azscoob said:
I also was told I would get one to test out, I sent off my info in a PM, I havent heard from him sadly, I had my hopes up to give one a whirl! we shall see how funds work out to get one of these myself.
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Yeah, I offered to pay shipping since I live in Alaska, he emailed back saying 25 bucks would do it, so I paypal'd him the money, now it's been three days...

 
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klyph said:
Yeah, I offered to pay shipping since I live in Alaska, he emailed back saying 25 bucks would do it, so I paypal'd him the money, now it's been three days...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6W56HwPOQg
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Did you log into your paypal account and check the tracking number? Thats where mine was, I didn't get another email directly from them telling me it shipped but when I went back to my paypal account and my transaction history there sat a pretty little tracking number showing my pumps on their way. I did something similar to you, I offered to purchase one pump and pay for shipping if he was willing to toss one of the "free pump offers" my way. I was in well before the 4pm cuttoff time as well. But i figured I need 2 pumps, he was gracious enough to offer a free pump up to the community what the hell what did I have to loose, I may as well support a local vendor and get the word out about his product!!! So far I'm sold on the customer service alone!! I'm sure the pumps are of good quality or he wouldn't have made this offer to get the word out!
 
sjlammer said:
Guys,

please see my review here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/chugger-pump-review-205765/#post2401989
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Great review and write up, your right coast vs my next week delivery the left coast.
Question I have that is beyond normal production machining time would the pump output volume increase if the inlet and outlet bores were opened up a little bit more as well where the inlet changes direction into the impeller those sharp turns chamfered then smoothed down to increase flow?
On the outlet port inside the housing also chamfer and smooth over at the discharge port, flaired or belled slightly was my thinking.
Is there any difference in GPM plus head by changing the inlet from side to end inlet directly into the impeller like vertical well pumps use?
 
Tried out my SS head Chugger today. It squirted water 6 foot into the air, it seems to work great!

What pressure do these operate at?
 
Any more reviews for this product? I was going to buy a march pump when i stumbled across this product. I like the idea of a stainless steel head. :)
 
BrewBeemer said:
Great review and write up, your right coast vs my next week delivery the left coast.
Question I have that is beyond normal production machining time would the pump output volume increase if the inlet and outlet bores were opened up a little bit more as well where the inlet changes direction into the impeller those sharp turns chamfered then smoothed down to increase flow?
On the outlet port inside the housing also chamfer and smooth over at the discharge port, flaired or belled slightly was my thinking.
Is there any difference in GPM plus head by changing the inlet from side to end inlet directly into the impeller like vertical well pumps use?
Click to expand...

I would suspect that the performance would be slightly better with the flow path smoothed. However, I do not think the improvement would be substantial, and i certainly wouldn't do it inside the warranty period.

The existing pump is essestially an end suction pump, except that the suction has been hard piped from the center to teh edge of the pump. All things being equal, i would make this pump a true end suction, I suspect it would be cheaper, and the flow profile would be less turbulent
 
I used the Chugger SS head again yesterday on my brew kettle. No issues at all. It actually seems to prime easier than the plastic head pumps. I did not have a chance to swap my two plastic heads for the new SS heads I just got, so I ran the system with 1 Chugger and two March ones. I hope to have all 3 pumps converted to Chuggers by next brew day.
 
Got my Chuggers today! Fantastic service, great shipping and after looking at the pumps, while I am a few weeks away from being done with my stand to use them, I think you can tell from the photos and the reviews that a few others have posted, you would be a fool NOT to get the stainless steel version over the march, look at it this way there is a 6 month warranty on the pumps right? if something majors gonna happen it's gonna happen in the first few months, so what have you got to loose? And now on with the PICS!!!
The box on the porch:


pump in the box:


pump profile:


pump head:


pump thread:


Money shot of the pump hole:


pumps checking out their new home:


I am very Happy with the quality of these pumps and will post another full review once I get them wired up and pumping wort. For now they get 5 stars for service and build quality for a value price.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
Tried out my SS head Chugger today. It squirted water 6 foot into the air, it seems to work great!

What pressure do these operate at?
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Pumps are a funny animal. They operate at whatever head (pressure) the system demands.

This pump will pump up to 14 feet, but at 14 feet, it will pump 0 gpm (shutoff head) 14 feet corresponds to 6.068 psi (2.307 feet/psi). you could test this by stretching a tube 20 feet in the air from the discharge of the pump. turn your pump on, and the pump will spin, but the water will only go up to a level that is 14' higher than the water surface of your water supply (say hlt full of water).

in actuality, the pump will run on the curve, somewhere between 6gpm, and 14 feet.
 
Well POO! I'm still waiting turning purple for the "Green Machine" to be delivered by the X-Mas Brown box bearing gifts. Slated for tomorrows delivery last time I checked its "arrival scan" of 6:37 AM PT monday only 21 miles away. To be delivered tuesday.
 
Desert_Sky said:
But.....it's green
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Yeah, I've been racking my brain all night how to take care of that, it's a shame someone hasn't invented some way to change the color of something. I mean it should be easy enough to make some sort of liquid that you can change the pigment of that when put on a pc of metal with a brush would change the color of the item. If we wait long enough there has to be SOMEONE on here with all these DIYers that can come up with something to take the green off.......maybe even someday we can buy a pigment in a can propeled by some sort of air that will magically spray on and make it even easier to change colors......sigh........now all we have to do is sit and wait.:D


seriously on a complete non smart ass note...... I do plan on painting mine to match the stand:mug: I was planning on painting the march too, so its not that I have anything against green........ at one point I DID think of changing my color scheme to John Deere and calling the stand John Beere but that has already been taken in a user name AND color scheme and I have enough green in the garage with the tractors :)
 
tjferris said:
Yeah, I've been racking my brain all night how to take care of that, it's a shame someone hasn't invented some way to change the color of something. I mean it should be easy enough to make some sort of liquid that you can change the pigment of that when put on a pc of metal with a brush would change the color of the item. If we wait long enough there has to be SOMEONE on here with all these DIYers that can come up with something to take the green off.......maybe even someday we can buy a pigment in a can propeled by some sort of air that will magically spray on and make it even easier to change colors......sigh........now all we have to do is sit and wait.:D


seriously on a complete non smart ass note...... I do plan on painting mine to match the stand:mug: I was planning on painting the march too, so its not that I have anything against green........ at one point I DID think of changing my color scheme to John Deere and calling the stand John Beere but that has already been taken in a user name AND color scheme and I have enough green in the garage with the tractors :)
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Im sure glad you caught my sarcasm........
 

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