Comparing the new Topsflo TD5 to the Chugger Pump

I've had these Topsflo pumps for about 3 months now and it was time to perform some real testing and give everyone the answers they've been asking.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of other similar DC pumps out there with plastic heads and they are NOT this one. Even the Topsflo brand had another stainless head pump out about a year ago and that was completely redesigned. I can ONLY vouch for the accuracy of the results in the video if it's the current TD5 model.


The real world pumping tests we did in the video resulted in the following data. Note that we cut the 84" head test from the video just to save run time.

40" of head:
Chugger 6 GPM
Topsflow 5 GPM

84" of Head:
Chugger 4.6 GPM
Topsflo: 3.3 GPM

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgm7MVyWQYM[/ame]

Thanks for the video Bobby. The sound comparison was great! One thing I think most people don't think about when selecting a pump is how noisy it is. I am an indoor, electric brewer; having two pumps running simultaneously in a small room can get a bit loud. For a loss of 1 gpm, but hardly any noise, the Topsflow looks like a good option.

Well done. Thanks for doing this. Planning out a basement eBrew system. TD5 may simply win out by sheer quietness for when I plan on stating brew days at 5am.

Fantastic video, I am constantly irritated by the noise from my chugger.

Now I have to decide if it bothers me enough to upgrade...

Very cool review and comparision. This version of the TD5 pump has been out a while though, at least 2 years... @AnOldUR uses one and has been happy with it from what hes stated. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=515918&highlight=topsflo+pump

With this sealed stainless head and 24v motor. There is a comparision thread from about two years ago that dove pretty deep into it and the similiar dc pumps Yes theres another brand thats similiar thats been out a while too but I believe it does not have the sealed magnetically coupled impeller making this one superior. many of the Topsflo pumps like the plastic versions and also this pump if its advertised to run on 6-24v still has an mppt controller which means you cant control the speed automatically with a pwm controller Yhis can be a useful thing for those who may want to control the speed with inexpensive pwm controllers especially those looking to go automated on a budget.

One thing this pump hopefully doesnt have that most of the topsflo and my old clone had was an overtemp protection sensor which would turn the pump off when it got hot making it useless for pumping boiling or close to boiling wort.. I would imagine this one does not have that.

One good thing to mention from the thread above is the US solar version like You sell? is not the same as the regular topsflo and appears to have a different plastic impeller possibly made of a more foodsafe material.

Very nice and thorough review. Thanks!

augiedoggy said:

Very cool review and comparision. This version of the TD5 pump has been out a while though, at least 2 years... @AnOldUR uses one and has been happy with it from what hes stated. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=515918&highlight=topsflo+pump

With this sealed stainless head and 24v motor. There is a comparision thread from about two years ago that dove pretty deep into it and the similiar dc pumps Yes theres another brand thats similiar thats been out a while too but I believe it does not have the sealed magnetically coupled impeller making this one superior. many of the Topsflo pumps like the plastic versions and also this pump if its advertised to run on 6-24v still has an mppt controller which means you cant control the speed automatically with a pwm controller Yhis can be a useful thing for those who may want to control the speed with inexpensive pwm controllers especially those looking to go automated on a budget.

One thing this pump hopefully doesnt have that most of the topsflo and my old clone had was an overtemp protection sensor which would turn the pump off when it got hot making it useless for pumping boiling or close to boiling wort.. I would imagine this one does not have that.

One good thing to mention from the thread above is the US solar version like You sell? is not the same as the regular topsflo and appears to have a different plastic impeller possibly made of a more foodsafe material.

Click to expand...

It's hard to know how many changes have been made but there are a few that are obvious. It looks like the mold for the head has been somewhat refined, the impeller is a little different, they added the DC adapter and rubber mount at the very least. I pump boiling wort into my plate chiller with it and it never stopped. Seeing the pic in that thread, I also noticed the newer pump's stator has at least twice as many, smaller coils. Efficiency affecting perhaps? I don't know.

Does the DC pull the same amount of amps as AC?

Wagon_6 said:

Does the DC pull the same amount of amps as AC?

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The dc pumps I use barely use anything according to my amp meter... this is one of the resons I use dc pumps.. I have a 30a circuit and often have a 4500w element running with a 2000w rims element and 2 24v dc pumps off of my control panel on that circuit at the same time... all of this uses under 27 amps.

Awesome - so a 2250w boil coil and one of the TD5 pumps on a dedicated 20 amp line would work with a little cushion?

Bobby I pulled my topsflo pump out of storage and played with it the other night. I noticed that when I adjusted the voltage to the pump from 24v down to 12v slowly and watched my flow meter I got the best performance (which was audibly noticeabe) when I lowered the voltage to around 17-18 volts. Even though it worked fine at 24v... Something you might want to check since your pumps might not be driven to thier full potential at 24v. If I remember right performance increased 3/4 of a gallon per minute. (Or 3 quarts more per minute)

Can you use a valve on its output to regulate flow, like you can with the chuggger?

Toadies said:

Can you use a valve on its output to regulate flow, like you can with the chuggger?

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Yes, that's how I use it. I also have a little PWM control box I can use to dial down the flow electrically but I haven't decided which I like better yet.

Do any of you use the cheaper topsflo pumps with plastic heads?

Bobby_M said:

Yes, that's how I use it. I also have a little PWM control box I can use to dial down the flow electrically but I haven't decided which I like better yet.

Click to expand...

PWM control box store bought or diy?

bionut said:

Do any of you use the cheaper topsflo pumps with plastic heads?

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I have one but I dont use it anymore because unlike this head with the sealed magnetic head the plastic ones have exposed magnets which are lubricated by the liquid its pumping...
The mppt circuitry also makes the pwm not work very well either. The jury is still out if these pumps have the same tech in the pump motor I think.
Now I use the actual food grade plastic tan pumps which are smaller and only pump 3gpm vs the 5 that these pumps will do.

Toadies said:

PWM control box store bought or diy?

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Ive yet to see a pwm "box" that uses the right frequency range for motors myself. The little plastic boxes they sell on amazon or ebay are for leds the motor would be very loud using one of those

Regardless theres two wires going in and 2 wires going out to wire up a pwm controller board... its not complicated at all.

Bobby_M said:

I pump boiling wort into my plate chiller with it and it never stopped.

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Hi,
I joined these forums so I could ask you a little about this Topsflo pump. My usage is a little different, but I am looking for a DC pump and this one seems to fit the bill.
You mentioned that you use it to pump boiling wort into a plate chiller. Am I right to assume, you are talking about a plate heat exchanger.
I am looking to rapidly cool down milk from room temp to 4°C using a plate heat exchanger. I was wondering if this little pump would be powerful enough to route the liquid through the PHE to the other side. If it is working for you in similar circumstances with beer, maybe it can work for me as well.
TIA

rdst_1 said:

Hi,
I joined these forums so I could ask you a little about this Topsflo pump. My usage is a little different, but I am looking for a DC pump and this one seems to fit the bill.
You mentioned that you use it to pump boiling wort into a plate chiller. Am I right to assume, you are talking about a plate heat exchanger.
I am looking to rapidly cool down milk from room temp to 4°C using a plate heat exchanger. I was wondering if this little pump would be powerful enough to route the liquid through the PHE to the other side. If it is working for you in similar circumstances with beer, maybe it can work for me as well.
TIA

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Yes, correct. It has no problem pushing through a plate heat exchanger.

Bobby_M said:

Yes, correct. It has no problem pushing through a plate heat exchanger.

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Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, what is the size of your plate heat exchanger. I am currently aiming for 1000Lph or roughly 4GPM. Also what pump are you using to run your coolant through the same PHE. I am looking for DC options because we face a lot of voltage fluctuations at my place and I'd rather just run these off some batteries.

rdst_1 said:

Thanks. If you don't mind me asking, what is the size of your plate heat exchanger. I am currently aiming for 1000Lph or roughly 4GPM. Also what pump are you using to run your coolant through the same PHE. I am looking for DC options because we face a lot of voltage fluctuations at my place and I'd rather just run these off some batteries.

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I use a couple td5 pumps at my brewpub, I have the larger sabco pro plate chiller there and I do use the td5 to push both beer and while cleaning I flush it with pbw, I use the newer model TD5 with the speed control wire built in thats designed for pwm speed control. Not a lot of vendors carry it for some reason (I got mine from brewpi)

Anyway It works well but I dont get 4gpm flow when pushing through a plate chiller. I would say more like 3ish but its possible its 4gpm
they are strong pumps though. I use one to transfer water from my 3bbl HLT to my mash tun and one to transfer beer from the conical to the brites in the walkin cooler... the speed control is helpful here since we like to "beat up" the beer as little as possible when doing this.

I'd love to understand the application that requires on-demand cooling off 3-4 gallons per minute of milk. Seems too fast for a self serve in a glass, but I guess you could refill jugs.

If power is an issue what's the plan for keeping the glycol at 0c?

This project sounds so cool I just can't figure out what it is [emoji16]

double post

BeardedBrews said:

I'd love to understand the application that requires on-demand cooling off 3-4 gallons per minute of milk. Seems too fast for a self serve in a glass, but I guess you could refill jugs.

If power is an issue what's the plan for keeping the glycol at 0c?

This project sounds so cool I just can't figure out what it is [emoji16]

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This is for a small dairy farm. Milk starts souring the more time it stays at room temperature. A normal bulk milk cooler takes around 3-4 hours to cool down the milk to 4°C.
You are correct that a PHE based system with a glycol chiller is usually used by a big dairy farm which has to quickly chill milk upwards of 1000L.

However, in India, where I am based, everyone boils the milk at home before using for various reasons. Hence we are looking to quickly chill our milk to 4°C and then pack it raw without pasteurization. This milk will usually get delivered direct to the customer within 3-4 hrs of the milking and hence the need of fast chilling.

As for the chiller, we are going to delpoy an Ice Bank Tank which stores thermal energy in the form of ice. Basically just insulated tanks which are full of ice with copper tubing inside through which we circulate water which then acts as the coolant in the PHE. The compressor that will make the ice need not be as large as one needed in a normal chiller as it has the whole day to make the ice. So instead of a 5TR compressor we can get away with using a 2TR one instead. We get electricity 24x7 apart from when there are storms but there is voltage fluctuation as my home is last on the line and also the electricity company aren't too keen to provide me with enough capacity to install a 5TR compressor as their transformer is already overloaded. I will be installing a servo stabilizer for all the compressor loads at my end to keep the voltage stable and hence want lower rated compressors which would be just enough to get the work done.

rdst_1 said:

This is for a small dairy farm.

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That is fascinating, thanks so much for taking the time to explain the process and the planning and design considerations!

Good luck on the build, hopefully the pump works out well.