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Well mine broke... Never got to use it... Plugged it in and. Nothing.... I don't have a confirmation # so I'm sure I'm screwed...
 
Farmboy send them an email, never hurts to try. You likely have a PayPal or Cc statement to show proof of purchase.
 
I was thinking on trying to solder a stainless steel tri clamp fitting on one. do you think I would melt the pump end?
 
I was thinking on trying to solder a stainless steel tri clamp fitting on one. do you think I would melt the pump end?

I think that would be a bad idea. In addition, the pump is probably too fragile for a tri-clamp application. Look at an all SS Chugger. These little pumps are great for recirc mash and running wort through a chiller in compact systems. If you're building something like a full blown HERMS system, go with a full size pump.
 
FarmBoy530 said:
Well mine broke... Never got to use it... Plugged it in and. Nothing.... I don't have a confirmation # so I'm sure I'm screwed...

It's not broken. Loosen the screws on housing to free up the impeller. I think their magnet coating is making things tight.
 
After reading this entire forum I decided to order one of these and use it to pump wort thru my 40 plate chiller that I pump ice water through. My stand is gravity feed and the boil kettle vavle is only about 16 inches above ground so gravity flow wort runs really slow through the chiller and I keep having to turn off my ice water pump as my wort gets cooled to 60F if I don't. (It was 102F when I brewed this weekend....ground water won't work.) I'm thinking this little pump ought to move my wort fast enough so I don't have to keep dicking with the ice water that flows at 10 GPM using a submersible pump in a tub with 40 lb ice and water recirculated back on it....I plan to connect it with cam/groove lock right to the boil kettle valve.

I sure hope so.....I don't like the 20 minute process to get my wort into the fermenter at the slow rate it's going.
 
FYI changes coming to our Pumps.

We will be offering in a few weeks Stainless Steel full NPT fittings on all our pumps. No price increase either.

Please do not email us for exact date but look to our website www.greatbreweh.com for updated information, it will be posted there (currently not) when we have an availability date.

Thanks
Scott
 
Has anybody made any recent orders of these pumps. I'm considering buying one and am just curious on how long it takes to ship nowadays
 
Ended up finding the polysulfone chugger for only 99$ at farmhouse. Seems like a better way to go for not much more money.
 
FYI, many posts back I said I was going to run a 1/2" NPT die over my pump just for the sake of it. I didn't have any leaks the way it was with a Camlok on the Inlet & outlet, pumping hot wort. Just got the opportunity to borrow the die and chase the threads. It made a definite improvement in the thread engagement, hardly any thing in the way of shavings which is understandable since all it was doing was changing the thread angle from 55 deg to 60 deg. If you have issues with leaks, then I'd recommend chasing the threads, if not, don't bother.
 
I just bought a Topsflo TS5 from Sun-Pump and I can't get it to do anything... I've confirmed power going to the pump, I've tried every sort of priming I can think of to the pump. Anyone have this issue? The thing won't turn on, or even make a sound. Maybe I just got a dead one?

Edit: The power supply wasn't powerful enough! I tested a new one and it fired up perfectly!
 
I just bought a Topsflo TS5 from Sun-Pump and I can't get it to do anything... I've confirmed power going to the pump, I've tried every sort of priming I can think of to the pump. Anyone have this issue? The thing won't turn on, or even make a sound. Maybe I just got a dead one?

Edit: The power supply wasn't powerful enough! I tested a new one and it fired up perfectly!

Yea with mine topsflo i tested like 4 different power supply and the best one was 12V 1A ( strangelly 12V 2A worked but not as well)
 
I feel like the robot in Lost in Space. WARNING! WARNING! These pumps come with "bsp" thread. Just try to find a proper fittings. NPT will go on for about 3 turns only.

NO MORE BSP...
.We are in final production stages with Stainless Steel NPT fittings NOT BSP, We had them custom cut. Our new inventory is 750 units so should have plenty to go around. As we have always strive to do.... listen to you guys our valued customers and make the changes you ask for.

On another note I have partnered with another guy who brings a vast wealth of manufacturing to the table and we plan to improve on a number of products to help us home brewers do it easier, faster and more consistently, we promise to innovate this industry...

He will also improve our customer service as we continue to expand, we are moving this from a part time business to a full time gig with this partnership.
 

NO MORE BSP...
.We are in final production stages with Stainless Steel NPT fittings NOT BSP, We had them custom cut. Our new inventory is 750 units so should have plenty to go around. As we have always strive to do.... listen to you guys our valued customers and make the changes you ask for.

On another note I have partnered with another guy who brings a vast wealth of manufacturing to the table and we plan to improve on a number of products to help us home brewers do it easier, faster and more consistently, we promise to innovate this industry...

He will also improve our customer service as we continue to expand, we are moving this from a part time business to a full time gig with this partnership.

Great news! I'll be ordering 2! Do you have an ETA?
 
Seconded, when are the NPT SS fitting pumps going to be available? I'm definitely interested, though I know shipping from across the country is almost as bad as getting stuff in from the states, but all good ;)
 

NO MORE BSP...
.We are in final production stages with Stainless Steel NPT fittings NOT BSP, We had them custom cut. Our new inventory is 750 units so should have plenty to go around. As we have always strive to do.... listen to you guys our valued customers and make the changes you ask for.

On another note I have partnered with another guy who brings a vast wealth of manufacturing to the table and we plan to improve on a number of products to help us home brewers do it easier, faster and more consistently, we promise to innovate this industry...

He will also improve our customer service as we continue to expand, we are moving this from a part time business to a full time gig with this partnership.

Would you be able to offer exchanges for the NPT version. I have two BSP versions I have yet to use. I'd be willing to cover shipping if I could exchange them. As I think all of us were originally expecting NPT, and became surprised after receiving the first run.

Squeeky
 
As for an ETA we will not have them for best guess another month but I will have to keep an eye on that timing, start to finish it takes 90 days to manufacture these and we are about 60 days in.

As for an exchange i am going to think that is a can of worms we won't want to open in all honesty but.... we will likely offer replacement heads as there will be a natural request for parts in time.

Other updates, I have partnered with another fellow who is a small manufacturer but brings a wealth of experience to developing and or improving on products for this industry, he in fact is whom assisted in the modifications to the beer pump. We have some great innovations we are working on.

Finally, our longggggg awaited release of our tanks will begin in the next week or two at most so keep an eye on that for those who have inquired..

Scott
GreatBrewEh
 
Scott,

I just ordered two of these last week to be shipped to Japan.

Can you confirm they will be the stainless NPT versions as advertised on the website?
Are you saying these wont be shipped for at least another month? should probably inform people of that when they buy them!

Cheers

Jamie
 
Scott,

I just ordered two of these last week to be shipped to Japan.

Can you confirm they will be the stainless NPT versions as advertised on the website?
Are you saying these wont be shipped for at least another month? should probably inform people of that when they buy them!

Cheers

Jamie

Well it does say BSP/NPT which is bsp and will thread as far as NPT taper allows, surprised you wound not actually want BSP in Japan? In any event we have bsp/npt in stock no wait for them.
 
I meant its going to be the stainless rather than brass version?

Great to hear you have them in stock and I don't need to wait!

Thanks
 
We have had a number of people request extra o-ring seals which we had not stocked. Now we are stocking them, not that anyone has needed them yet.
 
I just ordered a pair of these today!!! 2 for the price of 1 chugger shipped, caint beat the price might not flow as fast but it will do just fint for my 5-10 gallon system.
 
Hello, I'm [email protected]. I've read through this thread & maybe have a few answers.
The magnets are supposed to be food safe, they were certified as such by an Australian testing lab. To what standards I have no idea. Keep in mind these pumps are manufactured in China, where adulterating infant formula with melamine is OK if it turns a better profit.
The fittings are brass and are 1/2 NPT.
As far as restricting the flow, a valve after the pump would be the preferred method. The pump is not self priming, it needs to be below the level of the liquid to fill. I test each pump before I shipping with a wall wart from an old electric razor. Just about any 1 amp wart will work, or you can buy 12V power supplies on ebay cheaply. The suppliers in Hong Kong ship very quickly if you find a cheap one there.
I don't have the stainless type fittings nor do I intend to due to the quantity required to purchase & the very limited demand. The price has recently gone up at the manufacturer's insistence so you won't find them for $60 any more.
Not soliciting sales, just some information. I know zero about brewing, pretty good at the drinking end of the process though.
Joe Hennessey [email protected] - if this is not permitted on your forum please delete.
 
I just got one of these little guys from Great Breweh with the new stainless NPT threads. It is a pretty cool little pump. I tested it last night with tap water and it pumped very well through my chillzilla. I hooked it up in line right at the ball valve. I plan to use it to recirculate wort during chilling and whirlpool in the kettle. It should work well for that. I wish these pumps existed a few years ago before I bought my march pumps. My march pumps are a pain to prime. This one primes easily because I have it right next to my ball valve. And man, these are tiny and so quiet.
 
There is no such thing as a food safe magnet! We are dealing with Ferrite metals here..definitely not food safe. No HI- Jack intending here ..I just cant stand it when false statements are made about food safe materials . On all other brands of brew pumps the magnets are encased in either SS or Polysulfone FDA grade plastic ....this is for a reason! Dont be mislead

My 2 cents ..maybe we both should be deleted? Joe ...call me would love to discuss further
MIKE 800-810-1053


Hello, I'm [email protected]. I've read through this thread & maybe have a few answers.
The magnets are supposed to be food safe, they were certified as such by an Australian testing lab. To what standards I have no idea. Keep in mind these pumps are manufactured in China, where adulterating infant formula with melamine is OK if it turns a better profit.
The fittings are brass and are 1/2 NPT.
As far as restricting the flow, a valve after the pump would be the preferred method. The pump is not self priming, it needs to be below the level of the liquid to fill. I test each pump before I shipping with a wall wart from an old electric razor. Just about any 1 amp wart will work, or you can buy 12V power supplies on ebay cheaply. The suppliers in Hong Kong ship very quickly if you find a cheap one there.
I don't have the stainless type fittings nor do I intend to due to the quantity required to purchase & the very limited demand. The price has recently gone up at the manufacturer's insistence so you won't find them for $60 any more.
Not soliciting sales, just some information. I know zero about brewing, pretty good at the drinking end of the process though.
Joe Hennessey [email protected] - if this is not permitted on your forum please delete.
 
I don't want to jump into the fray but the Great Breweh pump magnet is coated with food grade high temp coating. For whatever that is worth.
 
High temp food grade coating?? We have been selling FDA grade pumps for 20 years...never heard of it? Please forward what this is ..we could spray all of aour cast iron pumps with it and make them food grade?

The point here is it does not exist!


Hello, I'm [email protected]. I've read through this thread & maybe have a few answers.
The magnets are supposed to be food safe, they were certified as such by an Australian testing lab. To what standards I have no idea. Keep in mind these pumps are manufactured in China, where adulterating infant formula with melamine is OK if it turns a better profit.
The fittings are brass and are 1/2 NPT.
As far as restricting the flow, a valve after the pump would be the preferred method. The pump is not self priming, it needs to be below the level of the liquid to fill. I test each pump before I shipping with a wall wart from an old electric razor. Just about any 1 amp wart will work, or you can buy 12V power supplies on ebay cheaply. The suppliers in Hong Kong ship very quickly if you find a cheap one there.
I don't have the stainless type fittings nor do I intend to due to the quantity required to purchase & the very limited demand. The price has recently gone up at the manufacturer's insistence so you won't find them for $60 any more.
Not soliciting sales, just some information. I know zero about brewing, pretty good at the drinking end of the process though.
Joe Hennessey [email protected] - if this is not permitted on your forum please delete.

I don't want to jump into the fray but the Great Breweh pump magnet is coated with food grade high temp coating. For whatever that is worth.
 
Like I said, I don't want to jump into the fray. You can read about it on the website:

http://greatbreweh.com/Beer_Pump.html

I have no dog in this fight. I wanted to report that I like the little pump. People can make their own decisions on what pump, if any, they want to use.
 
Not looking for anything either just want people to be properly informed...isn't that the purpose of forums?.....You can't believe everyhting you read nad i believe in honesty with all customers

No ill intentions or upsells here ....
 
http://tmpaint.en.alibaba.com/produ...temperature_food_grade_metal_paint_color.html

not saying they use this but often times a quick internet search might be the best thing. Also are stir bars not magnetic also? where as I thank you chugger for your input it does seem like you wish to sway business in your direction. Why are your pumps so expensive?(relitave term I know) would it be possible for you to design a small low cost "safe" pump? I use these tiny pumps in my boat as well water circulators, mine are not coated they are just ebay cheap ones but same design. I was out fishing with these pumps running for hours when done I placed the old horseshoe magnet in the well at the dock, after 30 minutes I pulled it out of the water there was nothing on the magnent not even a smudge with a clean white rag......I suspect it will work just fine. Any way if you could address the possibility of a low cost food safe pump lets say in the 1-2 gpm range @$50-$60.
Thankyou for your time.
 
Hello, I'm [email protected]. I've read through this thread & maybe have a few answers.
The magnets are supposed to be food safe, they were certified as such by an Australian testing lab. To what standards I have no idea. Keep in mind these pumps are manufactured in China, where adulterating infant formula with melamine is OK if it turns a better profit.
The fittings are brass and are 1/2 NPT.
As far as restricting the flow, a valve after the pump would be the preferred method. The pump is not self priming, it needs to be below the level of the liquid to fill. I test each pump before I shipping with a wall wart from an old electric razor. Just about any 1 amp wart will work, or you can buy 12V power supplies on ebay cheaply. The suppliers in Hong Kong ship very quickly if you find a cheap one there.
I don't have the stainless type fittings nor do I intend to due to the quantity required to purchase & the very limited demand. The price has recently gone up at the manufacturer's insistence so you won't find them for $60 any more.
Not soliciting sales, just some information. I know zero about brewing, pretty good at the drinking end of the process though.
Joe Hennessey [email protected] - if this is not permitted on your forum please delete.

Good info. I'll let it go, but Joe please contact our admin TxBrew if you want to further market your products to our homebrew community; you need a Vendor membership to do so. I'm not sure about the suitability for brewing; I'll let our ever-vigilant brewing community vet it out.
 
Good info. I'll let it go, but Joe please contact our admin TxBrew if you want to further market your products to our homebrew community; you need a Vendor membership to do so. I'm not sure about the suitability for brewing;
-----------------------------------------
I'm not looking to market the pumps here, my target audience is solar water heating applications. The stainless fittings are not necessary for that purpose, and as there are brewer suppliers already selling them I'm not going to try to compete with them.

My website tells me where the hits come from and a few are from here, that's why I posted.

Joe Hennessey
 
Not looking for anything either just want people to be properly informed...isn't that the purpose of forums?.....You can't believe everyhting you read nad i believe in honesty with all customers

No ill intentions or upsells here ....

Just spreading a little FUD? I wonder what possible motives you could have for that.

As has been pointed out there are plenty of food safe magnets including the PTFE coated ones use to stir yeast cultures.
 
Why would I have any fear? HBT is not an instrument for us to sell anything. It actually benefits the HBT member when we offer promotions. As for the yeast culture this may be true but in the pump world there are no Food Grade Magnets pumping fluids at 212F. 3600 rpm. They just don't exist..As always I would love to discuss further anytime
Mike 800-810-1053
 
There is a fairly simple answer to this 'debate'. What is the coating on the magnets? To date, not one of the manufacturers or retailers has been able or willing to answer this. GreatBrewEh didn't even answer my email when I asked. And when asked earlier on HBT they responded with a generic answer again. No details have been offered as to what the temperature limits of the coating are, what it's made of, etc. To further my concern, the 'FDA food rating' would only apply under certain temperatures and circumstances and those have not been disclosed either. For example, the March pump heads are rated FDA food compliant with the disclosure of "can handle liquids of 250F intermittently."

I'm not an employee of March or Chugger and have no vested interest in either operation, but I remain skeptical of these cheap little pumps in our application until someone can give me a full 'ingredient list'. March and Chugger both do so willingly, and if the pump is legit there is no reason someone shouldn't be able to do it for these as well.

And for the record, I've had great experiences with both March and Chugger. I have not used one of these, and will not do so until I know what my product will contact during brewing.
 
I just got both of my new "little" pumps today, both run just fine and I will be placing them inservice this weekend. As for magnents and coatings and all this other stuff, I DONT CARE. I have done research and there are several high temp food safe/grade coatings out there. If I were a business selling to the public(which I am and do)I would not sell anything that would risk my economic future, I feel these guys are selling a quality product. It was as stated never ment for brewing but has been adopted for susc, much like water coolers which were also never ment for brewing, it is in a home brewers nature to be inovative and inventive in any way that can make things better and/or faster.
 
They use the little pumps a lot in England and Australia and have been for quite awhile and I haven't heard of anyone getting sick, or complaints of bad tasting beer. What exactly is "food safe"? In brewing forums that term is like "healthy" and "low fat" elsewhere in discussions. Are the big name pumps we use for brewing made for home brewing? Not actually, they are adaptations of chemicals pumps hence why they can withstand high temp and being magnetically coupled keeps high temps and chemicals away from motor seals.
Many homes have galvanized water pipes but we won't use them in brewing. Most of frown on aluminum but go into any commercial kitchen and they are used for everything including acidic foods. Most brass contains some lead but we use it in home brewing without saying a word. PVC pipe has chemicals that can leach into water/beer at higher than rated temps but we use it in mash tun manifolds without a huge debate. The last time you ordered a beer did you ask if the tap and faucet shank were stainless or chrome plated brass? Our food comes in coated tin cans but God we won't use anything like that in brewing. There is silicone sealant that is "FDA approved" but don't think I'd put it on my breakfast cereal. How safe is styrofoam? We drink hot coffee out of cups made of it. It's a debate that will go on forever but is stupid if you ask me. How many home brewers use nothing but 304 or 316 stainless throughout the brewing process including hard piped with no hoses? Food safe means it won't make you sick under normal use and or contact plain and simple. Does it mean it won't add off flavors? Nope. Does it mean it won't cause cancer at some point, who knows. Only true pump that is truly food safe, high temp resistant is a lab style peristaltic pump. Wort never touches anything but inside the silicone or tygon hose.

March and Chugger pumps are great, I use one myself but they can be out of reach for some financially and if these 12V pumps work and don't affect the taste of your beer then why not? Just recirculating from drain to top of kettle then do you really need a $160 pump plus fittings? One thing these little 12V pumps do have over any other pump is they are actually quiet!!! I'm considering trying one just for that reason as I brew in an apartment and I'm sure my neighbors would appreciate a quieter wort recirculating pump during a 90 minute mash.
 
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