Please Confirm Minimum Requirements to Pump Water from BK to Mash Tun

I am building a wooden, gravity-based, 2-tier system to mash and sparge to my boil kettle, which will sit on the ground on its Bayou Classic metal stand. The tops of the mash tun and hot water tun will be, respectively, approximately 4 feet and 6 feet from the ground.

While putting 2-3 gallons of hot water into the mash tun and stirring mash from a step stool should not be a problem, I am a little leery of climbing even a few short steps further to put hot water into my hot water container for the sparge.

Is there a bare-bones system available to pump hot water from the boil kettle to the hot water container? I am envisioning an electric pump and about 6-8 feet of silicon tubing running from the boil kettle spout to the pump, and then up to the top of the hot water container.

Am I on track here?

Best,

Steve

Your head pressure is going to be the only problem. But I think a 809HS (March Pump) gives a 12 ft head. Not sure how much flow your going to have. I'm sure some body that is actually pumping that high will post shortly.....

Hammy71 said:

Your head pressure is going to be the only problem. But I think a 809HS (March Pump) gives a 12 ft head. Not sure how much flow your going to have. I'm sure some body that is actually pumping that high will post shortly.....

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Thanks for the response. I guess I could put the hot water in the container at ground level, and then lift it up to higher tier for gravity to do the work...

In that case I could do the same for the transfer of hot water from the boil kettle to the mash tun, i.e., lift the boil kettle to the higher tier, and let gravity pull the water to the mash tun.

What I don't want to do is have to get up on a step ladder to pour 3 gallons of hot water from the boil kettle to the hot water container when I sparge.

A pump just seems easier, all the way around...

Best,

Steve

Best thing I ever did was buy a pump and a RV water hose/carbon filter for water from the house. My back thanks me everyday. Buckets of water, weather hot or cold, are heavy.

There are cheaper pumps if you aren't concerned with flow rate. A Topsflo 15pv pump can handle the head pressure you mentioned, it will just pump slower than a march pump.

Thank you for your recommendations and responses. (HDIr0n, I like your Brutus build: something to think about for the future after I take my next step, below. One question: what are you using to insulate your mash tun? I have been thinking of something similar for my Home Depot water cooler.)

I found a couple of threads about March pumps, this one in particular, which would seem a good start for me:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/questions-about-march-pumps-answered-factory-210199/

I'm using Home Depot 5 gallon water coolers for my mash tun and hot water tun, and will pump water directly from my boil kettle. As the pump appears to work very quickly, I doubt that I will loose much temperature during a 2-3 gallon transfer, but I guess I could bump the temperature of the water in the boil kettle up a degree or two to compensate for any heat loss - or discharge some slightly cooled water and replace it with hotter water to reach the correct temperature.

Either way I will have to figure out a weigh to monitor the temperatures in my mash tun and hot water tun. I'll probably avoid drilling through the sides of the coolers and will opt for a thermowell on the top, instead.

Best,

Steve

I am using Reflectix and hot water heater fiberglass insulation. My MLT is a rubber coated keggle, even with all that I do loose some heat over the course of an hour if I don't use my HERMS setup in my HLT/BK. One thing to remember when you are using coolers or really any vessel without active heating (either direct or indirect) is to pre-heat them and you will have much less heat loss.

-G

HDIr0n said:

I am using Reflectix and hot water heater fiberglass insulation. My MLT is a rubber coated keggle, even with all that I do loose some heat over the course of an hour if I don't use my HERMS setup in my HLT/BK. One thing to remember when you are using coolers or really any vessel without active heating (either direct or indirect) is to pre-heat them and you will have much less heat loss.

-G

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Thanks - I was looking for an alternative to the "cover with sleeping bag" route. Preheating makes sense as well as you are effectively creating a heat barrier.

Hot water heater fiberglass insulation on the inside covered with Reflectix?

Steve

lhommedieu said:

Hot water heater fiberglass insulation on the inside covered with Reflectix?

Steve

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Reversed, the reflectix on the inside as it can be wrapped tighter, and the fiberglass on the outisde. I also have the top and bottom done in reflectix.

-G

Thanks!

Steve