Wort Chiller Pump Choice

Hello all, after a lot of lurking and watching my brother begin homebrewing, I've joined up.

I just ordered most of my equipement from Northern Brewer, including a Wort Chiller with 3/8th copper and garden hose adaptors.

I live in south florida with a well for water supply, so my water comes out of the tap often "warm" (I'd guess in the 80's)

I'm considering using a "closed" water chiller system; a igloo cooler filled with ice and water, a submersible pump in it, a hose from the pump to the wort chiller in the hot wort, and a return hose from the wort chiller to the igloo cooler.

My question is:
1. Risk forcing too much water through the chiller with this:
Little Giant Submersible Sump Pump

or

2. Risk melting an aquarium pump like this:
Little Giant Aquarium Pump

Any input is appreciated,
Thanks,
steve

I have a pump with the same specs as #1 and it works well. I got it at lowes on clearance for around $30.

Regardless of what pump you get, you will want to use tap water to remove the bulk of the heat. Switch over to recirculating ice water after you've knocked the first 100ºF or so out.

944play said:

Regardless of what pump you get, you will want to use tap water to remove the bulk of the heat. Switch over to recirculating ice water after you've knocked the first 100ºF or so out.

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I agree!

You can get an aquarium sump pump that would work for $20-30. Just go to a good aquarium store and tell them what you need to do. This is what I did and I met two homebrewers that worked there.

Just make sure you go to an aquarium store and not a regular pet store.

The Link to the aquarium pump took me to the home page of Sears, so I am not sure what that was. I am assuming it is a small fish tank pump.

I think #1 is a bit extreme for what you want. I went to Home Depot and got three small submersible pumps, like what would go in those water fountains, for $30.00 each and used one for that use. The other two went to fermentation temperature control for both ales and lagers as described in the Basic Brewing video "Low Tech Lagering and Decoction Mashing", which has worked extremely well by the way. To do what you are wanting to do a table top water fountain pump would work fine. I use mine with just a foam block cooler and swap water for ice water as I chill.

Here is what I use and it works great, and it's on sale

pump

and here is where you could find it, call them first sometimes out of stock took me a couple of weeks to get one.

SARASOTA FL #144
3532 CLARK ROAD
SARASOTA, FL 34231
Phone: 941-929-9464

Store hours:
M-F 8:00AM-8:00PM
SAT 8:30AM-7:00PM
SUN 9:00AM-5:00PM
Manager: IVAN LOZANO

That is exactly what you're looking for there.

944play said:

Regardless of what pump you get, you will want to use tap water to remove the bulk of the heat. Switch over to recirculating ice water after you've knocked the first 100ºF or so out.

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what if you didn't recirculate? I was thinking of this last night. what if he ( I ) put the pump in a big bucket of ice water and drop in a garden hose. run the water through the chiller but let it empty into the yard ( or sink if inside) but keep the bucket full by running fresh water into it from the hose. That way you aren't running the hot return water into your ice. Wouldn't that cut the chiling time significantly?

OHIOSTEVE said:

what if you didn't recirculate? I was thinking of this last night. what if he ( I ) put the pump in a big bucket of ice water and drop in a garden hose. run the water through the chiller but let it empty into the yard ( or sink if inside) but keep the bucket full by running fresh water into it from the hose. That way you aren't running the hot return water into your ice. Wouldn't that cut the chiling time significantly?

Click to expand...

Well, down here in SC, the ground water is 80F, so his might be just as warm - or warmer, and that will melt his ice pretty fast too, although not as fast as returning hot water...

I use 944play's method - chill with ground water first - knock that 212F down, without using up my ice resources, then switch over.

Thanks everyone. I'm heading to harbor freight after work today, and then it's just fix up the fittings.

I know this is an old thread, but I'm bumping it because these are currently on sale for 19.99 at Harbor Freight. If you need one now would be a good time to get it.

I ran across this thread as I was searching for information on pumps. I'm just getting started (equiment collection phase - hope to brew my first batch at the end of the month) and was going to get or build a pre-chiller (I live in Texas and the tap water isn't cold) but I like this idea of recirulating icewater a lot better than the pre-chiller. Some of the links are dead - notably the one from bad67z that I think billtheslink seconded as a good piece of equipment. Is this what I'm looking for http://www.harborfreight.com/264-gph-submersible-fountain-pump-68395.html ? They also have a 620gph for $35 and a 200 gph for $10. Thanks.

walrusbt said:

I ran across this thread as I was searching for information on pumps. I'm just getting started (equiment collection phase - hope to brew my first batch at the end of the month) and was going to get or build a pre-chiller (I live in Texas and the tap water isn't cold) but I like this idea of recirulating icewater a lot better than the pre-chiller. Some of the links are dead - notably the one from bad67z that I think billtheslink seconded as a good piece of equipment. Is this what I'm looking for http://www.harborfreight.com/264-gph-submersible-fountain-pump-68395.html ? They also have a 620gph for $35 and a 200 gph for $10. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I need a pump for this application, too. I would think that the amount of pressure the pump could deliver would be at least as important as the gpm rating - if a pump can't maintain enough pressure to force the water through 50 feet of 3/8 inch tubing at anywhere near its rated gpm, the gpm rating doesn't mean much. I'd look at the lift rating for an indication of how much pressure the pump can deliver, and the one linked in the quote only has a lift rating of 4.6 ft - that seems awfully low to me. I'm not sure what lift rating I'm looking for - would like to hear comments from people who are pumping through their chiller and what kind of pump they use with lift rating and gpm if they know them.

DeafSmith said:

I need a pump for this application, too. I would think that the amount of pressure the pump could deliver would be at least as important as the gpm rating - if a pump can't maintain enough pressure to force the water through 50 feet of 3/8 inch tubing at anywhere near its rated gpm, the gpm rating doesn't mean much. I'd look at the lift rating for an indication of how much pressure the pump can deliver, and the one linked in the quote only has a lift rating of 4.6 ft - that seems awfully low to me. I'm not sure what lift rating I'm looking for - would like to hear comments from people who are pumping through their chiller and what kind of pump they use with lift rating and gpm if they know them.

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Good point.

I've also read some threads on people using this later in the cooling process and using just the IC first. What is the rationale? The whole reason I was looking at pre-chillers (then pumps) is more than just speeding up the process - I need something to cool my tap water or I won't reach the correct temp anyway.

A bilge pump is cheap and easy. All you need is a 12volt battery or at worst a battery charger. You can but little gel 12volt batteries used for food plot spreaders or up here in the north ice fishing flashers. Any sporting goods store should have them. Cabelas, Bass Pro etc...

ozzy1038 said:

A bilge pump is cheap and easy. All you need is a 12volt battery or at worst a battery charger. You can but little gel 12volt batteries used for food plot spreaders or up here in the north ice fishing flashers. Any sporting goods store should have them. Cabelas, Bass Pro etc...

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I like the power of the bilge pump, having to deal with the battery makes it seem like a hassle though and an extra expense.

walrusbt said:

I ran across this thread as I was searching for information on pumps. I'm just getting started (equiment collection phase - hope to brew my first batch at the end of the month) and was going to get or build a pre-chiller (I live in Texas and the tap water isn't cold) but I like this idea of recirulating icewater a lot better than the pre-chiller. Some of the links are dead - notably the one from bad67z that I think billtheslink seconded as a good piece of equipment. Is this what I'm looking for http://www.harborfreight.com/264-gph-submersible-fountain-pump-68395.html ? They also have a 620gph for $35 and a 200 gph for $10. Thanks.

Click to expand...

i bought that pump for $8 at harbor freight and it is now running my wife's garden fountain, it can't push water through 50' of 1/2 copper at a decent rate. works great in the fountain.

eastoak said:

i bought that pump for $8 at harbor freight and it is now running my wife's garden fountain, it can't push water through 50' of 1/2 copper at a decent rate. works great in the fountain.

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Do you think one that's three times the power would work (and work for 30 ft of 3/8" coil)? I'm looking at one that is 800gph and 12.5' lift compared to the one I linked to that was 264gph/4.5'. It's a bit more than I was hoping to spend at $40, but probably about the same I'd drop on a pre-chiller so if it will do the job better I guess it's worth it.

I have the HF 264 GPH pump and it works adequately with my 25' 3/8" chiller.

944play said:

I have the HF 264 GPH pump and it works adequately with my 25' 3/8" chiller.

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Thanks for the info on your 264gph pump working. I think I'll go with that one since I can get it for about $12 + shipping right now. I was looking at the bigger one, but there's a lot of stuff to buy initially so that extra $20 may be better spent elsewhere.

944play said:

Regardless of what pump you get, you will want to use tap water to remove the bulk of the heat. Switch over to recirculating ice water after you've knocked the first 100ºF or so out.

Click to expand...

Regarding this earlier post, is the rationale for this simply that it will be too hard to keep the ice water cold if you use it throughout the whole cooling process, or is it there another reason? I'm in Texas and guessing my tap temperature is 75-80 degrees so initially I figured I was going to be using this the entire time.

walrusbt said:

Regarding this earlier post, is the rationale for this simply that it will be too hard to keep the ice water cold if you use it throughout the whole cooling process, or is it there another reason?

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You just don't want to waste ice. Going from boiling to room temp is a huge heat delta. Room temp to lager temp is a relatively small one.

I buy at least 20lbs of ice to bring ~6gal wort from tap water temp to lager pitch temp. Any extra is ready to go (with the pump in place) for the Water Fermentation Chiller.

When you do bring the wort below ambient, it helps to put a blanket around the kettle so you can do a nice, patient whirlpool and get a trub cone like this:
[ame]http://youtu.be/3xSJgbE3hEw[/ame]

Got the HF 264 GPH barely get a trickle out the other end, waste of cash... going to try and return or exchange it.

Edit: Dangit, ancient thread.

OHIOSTEVE said:

...That way you aren't running the hot return water into your ice. Wouldn't that cut the chilling time significantly?

Click to expand...

For a recirculating chiller, the more your ice melts, the more heat you are removing from the wort.

I use a small-ish submersible aquarium pump, copper tubing, and 8 pounds of ice to cool my 2.5 gallon batches. Not only do I let the hot return water hit the ice, but I will deliberately move the hose around like I'm watering plants, aiming it at the ice to melt as much as possible. Remember that ice doesn't cool things by "making them cold." Ice cools by absorbing heat in the process of melting.

For a 2.5 gallon batch I go from boiling to 80 degrees F in about ten minutes. For this size batch with my equipment, I think I'm better off recirculating through ice rather than using cold tap water that doesn't recirculate.

Ya super old post but sparing people from trying to use this crap pump. I wasted a good 30 mins to get another pump and still a piece of junk. Maybe if you have the pot and your buck on the floor would it work ok but testing it by putting my IC on the washing machine and the bucket on the floor I was only able to get a slight, very slight, trickle. Sucks cuz there's a re-stocking fee... blah.

I know it's an old thread, but if anyone is looking, I use this pump.
Flotec 1/6 hp sump pump

Definitely more pricey, but I had it because I used to use it to drain the pool cover in the spring. Definitely no flow issues with this.

Clonefan94 said:

I know it's an old thread, but if anyone is looking, I use this pump.
Flotec 1/6 hp sump pump

Definitely more pricey, but I had it because I used to use it to drain the pool cover in the spring. Definitely no flow issues with this.

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Thanks for this information! I just purchased this make/model pump from Amazon. Would you mind telling me more information about your set-up, i.e. what tubing you use to connect the pump to the immersion chiller, adapters (if needed), etc.? Thanks again.

I was thinking of ordering this. Is it enough? http://www.amazon.com/Grech-CHJ-6000-Aquarium-Submersible-Fountain/dp/B00H6TN8JI

Hang Glider said:

Well, down here in SC, the ground water is 80F, so his might be just as warm - or warmer, and that will melt his ice pretty fast too, although not as fast as returning hot water...

I use 944play's method - chill with ground water first - knock that 212F down, without using up my ice resources, then switch over.

Click to expand...

I recirc my pool water to drop it from 212 to about 130, then I start recirculating my ice water. I use about 1.5 lbs of ice and get it chilled to 60 degrees. Takes about 12-15 min from 212 to 60.

Chris_Primavera said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/wort-chiller-pump-515766/

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This is the one I use and works great

I use this and it works great
http://m.homedepot.com/p/Total-Pond-300-GPH-Fountain-Pump-MD11300/202017049/

I use a marine 12V bilge pump that I spliced to an old AC converter from a battery charger. The pump (Rule 360 GPH) was $15 and the converter was lying around the house. I put my BK in a sink full of ice water with the submerged bilge pump and run the hose to the inlet of the IC. The IC outlet hose dumps back into the sink.