Question about priming a Chugger pump

Hey guys,

I'm planning my new brewstand build and was wondering...if my kettles are positioned so that the bottom of the kettles are 1.5" above the top of the pump and 5" above the bottom, will that be enough to prime the pump, or do I need more height between the two?
The ball valves are about 1.25" above the bottom of the kettles, if that's relevant at all.

Cheers!

Nick

Two critical factors (i think) to pump priming is 1) head at pump inlet, which is created by volume in tank and distance pump is from tank outlet. 2) gas voiding (air in the line), which really is a function of 1). If you have a lot of head pressure at pump inlet then gas voids can be pushed out when the pump outlet valves are opened, this allows pressure to equalize to atmosphere on the outlet side, leaving positive pressure(head) on the inlet side. A good prime can be seen when the pump supply line has no voids (air) and a little fluid on the outlet side.

So to answer your question in short, your setup should work. However you may have some struggles getting gas voids out if using small volumes (reduced head). If you can afford to increase the distance from the tank outlet to the pump inlet, that is a safe way to go.