Any experience with US Solar Pumps? Only $50.

Anyone have any experience with these US Solar Pumps. This 5 Watt one says it moves 2.2 GPM up to 4.5 ft and is only $50. Food safe and up to 100*C. Is there something that I'm missing here or is this a great deal?

http://www.ussolarpumps.com/pages/pumpsHot.html

I personally don't see anything wrong with it other than it being a 12v pump. It would probably be for a RIMS pump.

Similar to this one:

http://greatbreweh.com/Beer_Pump.html

I have one of the ones linked here. It has stainless fittings instead of brass. I have it on my HLT to recirc and move strike and sparge water. I works well, very quiet, and much cheaper than another March pump.

BigJim_inFLA said:

Similar to this one:

http://greatbreweh.com/Beer_Pump.html

I have one of the ones linked here. It has stainless fittings instead of brass. I have it on my HLT to recirc and move strike and sparge water. I works well, very quiet, and much cheaper than another March pump.

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I also have one of those. I have not used it yet since it has weird threads on it. But I did wrap it with teflon tape and screw on a camlock fitting. I was going to use it as a whirlpool pump or something similar.

Yeah I was thinking about eventually setting up a recirculating eBIAB system so this would be used to continuously pump the mash to maintain temperature. And maybe pump through a plate chiller at the end.

I also have the great brew eh pump it works fine but the BPS/NPT threads are actually BPS so NPT fittings don't really thread on fully they will be leak free but it just makes me a little shaky (these us solar pumps list the same threads) I would wait for great brew eh to get the new ones in with stainless true NPT threads

Well I just purchased 3 of the ss models from ussolarpumps.com for my new 15-20 gallon batch build after seeing this post. We will see how they perform but for the price it seems like it would be bad not to try them out. Basically 3 for the price of a march or chugger.

Those are pretty cheap pumps. Less than half the flow rate of a march 809 and about a third less head pressure. But, if you're not moving a huge amount of liquid and you don't have much veritcal lift, they would be economical alternatives.

BBL_Brewer said:

Those are pretty cheap pumps. Less than half the flow rate of a march 809 and about a third less head pressure. But, if you're not moving a huge amount of liquid and you don't have much veritcal lift, they would be economical alternatives.

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The ones I bought say they can move 3gpm and max of 10 feet of head. I sure don't need to move 3gpm nor at 10 feet, probably like 2-3 ft. Hopefully they do what I need them to do. We will see...

I have one of the topsflow solar pumps. Works great to recirculate, with plate chiller, and for cleaning.

Just wonder what the plan would be to power it....being it is 12v, you just can't plug it into the wall?? Right?

http://www.ussolarpumps.com/onlinestore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_22&products_id=32

I emailed the guy over there and he sent a link back to this one which has the stainless steel fittings made more specifically for brewers who apparently are one of their biggest audiences. They run $61. Free delivery also. I might have to pick one up.

New_Climber said:

Just wonder what the plan would be to power it....being it is 12v, you just can't plug it into the wall?? Right?

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All you need is an old wall wart from a cell phone or anything else that is 12v. I found several in my office that are no longer used. My Great BrewEh pump came with one pre-wired.

limulus said:

All you need is an old wall wart from a cell phone or anything else that is 12v. I found several in my office that are no longer used. My Great BrewEh pump came with one pre-wired.

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You'll need to make sure the wall wart has a high enough amperage rating.

Well they already shipped my order after placing it late last night so that's a good thing. My plans on powering it are not thought out yet buy I'll probably just buy a power supply to reduce the power down to what I need.

Face Eater said:

Well they already shipped my order after placing it late last night so that's a good thing. My plans on powering it are not thought out yet buy I'll probably just buy a power supply to reduce the power down to what I need.

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I've used one of these to power two 12v fans on a saltwater reef tank for years and it's adjustable.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=120-536

limulus said:

I've used one of these to power two 12v fans on a saltwater reef tank for years and it's adjustable.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=120-536

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So using that for a pump, would that slow the flow rate if you're adjusting the voltage? Could that be a cheaper alternative to attaching a ballvalve going out of the pump?

You could also go to radioshack and a get 12v transformer to powerer them. They're only like 12 bucks. If you want to vary the voltage get an LM317. And like mentioned above, you need to make sure you power supply is rater for the required amps.

inhousebrew said:

So using that for a pump, would that slow the flow rate if you're adjusting the voltage? Could that be a cheaper alternative to attaching a ballvalve going out of the pump?

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I've never used mine that way, but I know the lower voltage will make a DC fan run slower. So logic says it would do the same for a 12v pump. Mine is now about 7yrs old.

limulus said:

I've used one of these to power two 12v fans on a saltwater reef tank for years and it's adjustable.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=120-536

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Thanks, I might just pick that up.

I just bought the stainless steel NPT fittings version. I couldn't find an spec sheets on their website. Anyone know the current it draws at 12V? This thing is so cheap that I figured I'd just consider this money wasted, and if it works I got a good deal. I'm going to use it to recirculate a direct fire MLT for step mashes. I'll report back with my experience.

It's 12V I'm pretty sure.

Damn, they should put me on payroll, how many of these things have I practically sold???

slarkin712 said:

Anyone know the current it draws at 12V?

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That website kinda sucks, can't find anything.

While looking through it I remember seeing that the 3 gpm pump used 15 watts, but I can't find this again so don't hold me to it. 15 watts at 12 v is 1.25 amps.

Here are the specs for the GreatBrewEh pump:
Specifications

Voltage: 12V~24V DC
Max Flow Rate: 12 L/Min
Max Water Head: 3M
Brass 1/2" BSP / NPT male Inlet/Outlet *Mine is the stainless model
Max system pressure: 10Bar
Max working temperature: 110°C (230° F)
Low noise: =45dB from 1m distance


On the US Solar site it says
8-24v DC standard 12v DC
Min power start-up power consumption <2watts

These are probably the same pump. I said this earlier: I have a GreatBrewEh pump somewhere in my brewing stuff. I have not used it yet and it did come with a wall wart already connected and those things draw less than an amp...I think.

limulus said:

These are probably the same pump. I said this earlier: I have a GreatBrewEh pump somewhere in my brewing stuff. I have not used it yet and it did come with a wall wart already connected and those things draw less than an amp...I think.

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The wall wart will have it's amperage rating stamped on it. There are some that produce more than 1 amp.

I dug out my GreatBrewEh pump and the wall wart is rated at 12 VDC 1.25amps. So it is a little more than I thought.

Just got my pumps today... Pretty fast shipping I would say for free. Looks good so far but I'm on lunch at work so I'll have to check them out later.

Damn, price went up to $75.97 since I bought mine 2 days ago. Still a decent price. I guess the demand we created caused the price increase.

I was looking at these YESTERDAY and they were $61. Now they're $75??? They started out around $50. How can you have a $14 increase in 24 hours? Looks like someone wants to capitalize on demand from us brewers. I thought at $50-60, these were a pretty good alternative to the more expensive pumps and still probably are. But now, for a little more, you can get a chuggar (witout the SS head, which these do not have) for $99.

Yeah, kinda lame on the price increase.... Stupid economics...

Anyways, just to point out the original $50 price I listed was for the one with brass fittings which was before I saw the stainless steal version.

Did these guys get their fittings straightened out? Can I attach a 1/2" NPT fittings on them?

I haven't checked the threads but if I remember right they looked like npt. I'll check it out and let you know.

Mine takes 1/2" NPT no problems, no leaks.

What's a good way to mount these? They don't have any kind of bracket.

Well I found this:

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/prod...d=713&osCsid=57b95f0e5bea08130d6bc145195687b9

Don't know if that is the correct size. Just need to measure the diameter and choose the right size. They have a range of diameters available.

Well, just got mine in the mail. Don't know what I was expecting but this thing is tiny. I dug up a couple old wall warts from cell phones and other miscellaneous items but no 12v.... Looks like it's time to hit up the store so I can rig this up and see how it works.

Looks like the BreatBrewEh pump is exactly the same as the US Solar pump. They're even using the same picture. It's also cheaper to buy from BreatBrewEh, even with shipping. They also include the power supply.

Max working temperature: 110°C (230° F)

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So could we use these off the BK into a chiller?

Using one of these pumps from a BK to a chiller was my original intention, though I'm upgrading to a HERMS system and will likely use one to recirculate my wort.

Haven't had a chance to test either yet.

I'm curious to hear how well these pumps work before I buy another one for my setup.

I hesitate giving these guys anymore business since they are terrible at customer service.

This pump is very small and light so you can mount it directly to the kettle outlet valve using other cam locks or similar quick connection. On the fittings, my US Solar version is labeled NPT but some have reported BSP fittings from other suppliers.

Mounting it directly on a valve isn't a bad idea at all!