Hot water pump

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plotto

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Hi everyone,

In the process of acquiring all the parts for my Brutus style beer Brewery.
Very hard to get a March pump here in NZ at a reasonable price. I was thinking of using a Hot water Booster Pump as they are rated for 110C
http://tempercon.co.nz/Auto_Booster_Pumps.php The smaller of the 2.
The Auto sensor can be by passed so can be operated manually.

Any thoughts would be muchly appreciated.
 
The question is, is it food safe for hot wort (presuming that is what it will be used for).

Have you considered the 'little brown pump' from the UK - see http://www.solarproject.co.uk/page2.html. Similar pumps available on ebay but not the more powerful models.

Very popular here in Australia and in the UK. And cheap.

These pumps have food grade materials in contact with the liquid being pumped, and magnetic drive (just like a March pump).

They are 12 volt DC and draw about 1 amp (depending on what model you choose) so you can power it from an old mobile phone (sorry, cell phone) charger or a car battery charger, or a multi voltage power supply.

Instead of controlling flow by throttling the output like with a March pump, you can just drop the voltage to 9V or 6V and the flow reduces. Nice.

Tiny pump that sits in the palm of your hand, but quite a powerful little beast.

Magical Snap - 2012.04.28 23.42 - 003.jpg
 
Two things that I see:

1) If you are going to use it post boil is it rated to 200 degrees
2) The web site does not say that it is food grade.

Those are the two benefits of a March pump, high temp 200+ degrees and food grade.

Hope this helps.

Cheers :mug:
 
Two things that I see:

1) If you are going to use it post boil is it rated to 200 degrees
2) The web site does not say that it is food grade.

Those are the two benefits of a March pump, high temp 200+ degrees and food grade.

Hope this helps.

Cheers :mug:

110C = 230F so #1 isn't an issue. Re #2, it should be food safe based on the materials listed, but it might be worth contacting them to confirm. One other thing to consider, March pumps are magnetic drive but this one doesn't appear to be. You usually need that so you can adjust the output without damaging the pump.
 
The pump head is copper and the impeller is stainless, so from a "food grade" perspective you should be ok. The only issue I see is that the pump does not appear to be magnetic drive. You want to be able to adjust the flow rate during recirculation. With a direct drive, you will likely damage the pump motor by cutting back the flow.
 
Hi guys and thanks for the replies.
The pump is designed for residential hot water, so food grade shouldn't be a problem.
I notice the site says Sanitary.

If its not Magnetic and is direct drive, could I adjust the voltage input to adjust the flow rate?

I would buy a March pump, but purchasing this at $59NZD $48USD, and the store is down the road, is a huge saving compared to $400NZD
 
Chugger pumps are another alternative for a lower priced high quality pump. Maybe a local bloke could get one and send it to you. I sent a dive computer to Australia for 52.05 USD and the computers are 735 USD compared to 429 USD here in the states. Quite a savings for exactly what I wanted. Just a thought from the dark side.

Wheelchair Bob
 
Use 2 barbed tee's to make a bypass for flow control.
Valve or other means of restriction on the bypass hose should give you plenty control
 
...The only issue I see is that the pump does not appear to be magnetic drive. ... With a direct drive, you will likely damage the pump motor by cutting back the flow.

Not to pick on lonetexan but is is a common misconception that is not necessarily true. The above statement is only true with positive displacement pumps. You can restrict the outlet with a valve for centrifugal pumps all you want providing that i is not shut tight. Issue being that eventual the liquid in the pump head will eventual boil into steam and over heat the seals. (in non mag drive pump)

plotto said:
... could I adjust the voltage input to adjust the flow rate?
Also dosn't work that way. what you would need is called a variable frequency drive or VFD.
 
Being a pressure pump it should handle restriction well
My motor(from a bench grinder) will slow down when restricted and get a bit hot for comfort
 
The main reason magnetic drive pumps are used for brewing (and other sanitary applications) isn't the flow control but rather the fact that they're seal-less. With a standard pump design such as this one, the beer is in contact with the drive seals, and there is a possibility of the lubricant from the seals as well as tiny bits of metal from normal wear and friction getting into your beer. The seals also theoretically provide a place for nasties to hide, potentially infecting later batches if the beer is pumped through post boil. Anytime the fluid is in contact with the drive seals, it's not considered sanitary. Whether or not this is a concern is up to the individual.
 
JuanMoore said:
The main reason magnetic drive pumps are used for brewing (and other sanitary applications) isn't the flow control but rather the fact that they're seal-less. With a standard pump design such as this one, the beer is in contact with the drive seals, and there is a possibility of the lubricant from the seals as well as tiny bits of metal from normal wear and friction getting into your beer. The seals also theoretically provide a place for nasties to hide, potentially infecting later batches if the beer is pumped through post boil. Anytime the fluid is in contact with the drive seals, it's not considered sanitary. Whether or not this is a concern is up to the individual.

Not true. For example, see:

http://www.gowcb.com/products/pumps/san200.asp

I work in dairy processing, and everything we use has to be sanitary - the pumps referenced above have a 3A rating, which is pretty much the standard for food and beverage manufacturing. Exactly 0 of the hundreds of pumps we have at the plant use magnetic drives. Depending on the design of the pump, some require water to lubricate/cool the seals.
 
Just curious, but if your using a plate chiller why not put the pump inline after the chiller and not have to worry about a high temp pump?
 
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