Whirlpool IC (with new stainless fittings) and Toolbox March Pump (pics)

I hope you don't have dialup or a small screen, because these are kinda big.

So about a month and a half ago, I built my whirlpool IC using stuff from Lowes and a few things from NB. Brewed three batches with it, and really like it.

Well, an awesome mf'er from the other forum sent me all this beautiful stainless stuff for free. Thing was, it was coming from Canadia, which meant it took a whole month to arrive. A MONTH! But for free, it was worth the wait. So, here's what he sent:



I also ordered 3 sets of 90 degree QD's from McM-C, two for the march pump, one for the valve:



I also took an idea from, I believe, ryanpa, and modded my brewing toolbox with the march pump:

Last night, I got the couplings to attach the QD's to the pump, and was able to finalize everything (including swapping out the stainless stuff for the brass). Tested the pump install out, and it works perfectly:

Here's the inside of the kettle:



Which would normally be connected to the IC's recirc arm:





So there she is. I'm really happy with this setup so far, and I really like the toolbox mod---it's perfect for people, like me, who like to be mobile, rather than have a big sculpture. And the whirlpool IC got 11 gallons of wort from boiling to 65f in 13 minutes on its inaugural run. The only thing I'll need to do differently in the summer is break out my sump pump so I can pump icewater through the chiller coil. Oh, and yeah, I need one of those switched GFCI power strips from Lowes, so as to not shock the sh*t outta myself.

It looks great Evan! I like the idea of protecting the motor from spillage. I would suggest drilling lots of holes in the sides of the toolbox or perhaps mounting a small fan in there. Cooling the motor is very important, just look at the size fan that is in the motor. The pump heads are not that expensive which means its the motors that are so pricey.

Looking good, and I now have SS envy, you bastard.

I'll be running a CFC with the same toolbox pump mod, once the pump arrives next week. Looking at the CFC, I may need to pick up a few more parts from Lowe's and McM-C to finish this ***** up.

Yeah, I'm thinking about drilling some speed holes in it. A fan...well...given all the liquid splashing around, I'd like to keep electric components to a minimum.

You have plenty of room in the box. I was thinking a small box fan mounted to the inside blowing out. That way heat would be vented and any incidental drops of water that came in through the intake holes would drip to the bottom instead of being spun around inside by the fan. I think I understand what speedholes are but the link didn't work.

beerthirty said:

You have plenty of room in the box. I was thinking a small box fan mounted to the inside blowing out. That way heat would be vented and any incidental drops of water that came in through the intake holes would drip to the bottom instead of being spun around inside by the fan. I think I understand what speedholes are but the link didn't work.

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Odd, do you have urbandictionary.com blocked at your office or something? The link works for me. Speed holes are from the Simpsons---Homer used a pickaxe to put a bunch of holes in the hood of his car to make it go faster. Speed holes.

As for the fan, what I meant was that it's just another electric component that will be around water. And I'd have to have some kind of power converter, and it just seems like a lot of crap to go through. I'm not running that motor for that long at a time. 15 minutes maybe. I ran it for 10 minutes last night, and when I opened the toolbox, there wasn't any residual heat, and the unit wasn't that hot.

UD was very slow loading for some reason. I recirc during the entire mash and my pump gets hot enough you don't want to pick it up. The first 150* is from wort heat transfer. I do like your design and will probably copy it (with the fan addition). I will power the fan with a $10 plugin transformer coming off the pump pigtail. Thanks for the inspiration.

beerthirty said:

UD was very slow loading for some reason. I recirc during the entire mash and my pump gets hot enough you don't want to pick it up. The first 150* is from wort heat transfer. I do like your design and will probably copy it (with the fan addition). I will power the fan with a $10 plugin transformer coming off the pump pigtail. Thanks for the inspiration.

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If you do that extra step, please let me know. If it's not too bulky or complicated, I'm game.

Looks good. I would not worry about the heat. I have been running my setup in the same fashion for almost 2 years, no problem.

It was because of your advice that I wasn't worrying about it in the first place. Thanks, btw, I love this mod!!!

Thanks. One other thing, if you can invert your pump head so the wort comes in the bottom and out the top, you will more efficiently purge air from the pump and prime better.

Ryan_PA said:

Thanks. One other thing, if you can invert your pump head so the wort comes in the bottom and out the top, you will more efficiently purge air from the pump and prime better.

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no dice, I don't think...I mounted it so that the housing mount was resting on the bottom of the inside of the toolbox (to avoid stress on the toolbox wall)...so I don't have a lot of clearance down there. I think if I rotated it 90 degrees, the QD would be hitting the floor.

Or are you suggesting that I rotate it 180?

Ah, okay. I was afraid of the same, so I mounted the pump on a piece of 2X4 in the box, and drilled from there. Here is what I meant:

Yeah, I can't do that. Oh well.

It is still the most efficient way to mount a pump in a non structured environment that I have seen to date. Good job dood.

Edit, wow in re-reading this, I can be misunderstood above. I doubt you'll have any issues with the way you mounted. I was trying to say the toolbox approach is the most efficient way to mount a pump. My kid has discovered nightmares this week, so I am very sleep deprived and making little sense.

Hey if you're happy with the way it primes in the current layout, fark it all.

I haven't decided on my final design yet, so I'm open to some experimentation.

Is the pump head poking out a hole big enough for the whole OD, or is there no hole in the toolbox wall, except for screw holes?

Henry Hill said:

Is the pump head poking out a hole big enough for the whole OD, or is there no hole in the toolbox wall, except for screw holes?

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I drilled a 2-1/8" hole, which allows for the magnetic "axle" (which engages the pump head magnets) to poke through the hole from the inside out. So, before you screw the pump head back on, all you have is the magnetic axle, which is about 2" in diameter, poking through. Then you put the head on there, the magnet in the axle engage the magnets in the pump head, and you screw everything back together.

Evan! said:

If you do that extra step, please let me know. If it's not too bulky or complicated, I'm game.

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You shouldn't have a problem with heat since you run the pump for much shorter periods than I do. After my current projects I may have a go at this and I will keep you updated. I fly sparge so I will need 2 pumps in the same space, but I still think it can be done fairly easily.

Nice, Evan!.
I want to do something similar, but I am cheap and lazy. Do you think I would get comparable results if I mounted a drill over the brew kettle with an attached paint stirrer or mixer?

iamjonsharp said:

Nice, Evan!.
I want to do something similar, but I am cheap and lazy. Do you think I would get comparable results if I mounted a drill over the brew kettle with an attached paint stirrer or mixer?

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Hmm, as much as HSA is a myth, that might be asking for trouble.

Evan! said:

Hmm, as much as HSA is a myth, that might be asking for trouble.

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Yeah, I was thinking keeping the speed on low, with just enough movement to keep the wort moving. It would be similar to stirring the wort with a spoon.

Could work, depending on how you designed it. First step would be finding a drill that you could set on a very low speed, and hold it there somehow.

what size copper are you using for the whirlpool? 3/8 of 1/2? is that 1/2 hose?

It's 3/8" copper TUBING (not piping). The white tubing is 1/2" ID thermoplastic tubing from NB. It's awesome.

Evan! said:

It's 3/8" copper TUBING (not piping). The white tubing is 1/2" ID thermoplastic tubing from NB. It's awesome.

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yeah it is, i have the same 1/2" ID tubing. i have a IC already and was going to rig up a similar whirlpool tube, just wanted to check on the size of the pipe. you dont need to use a hose clamp? no problems with leaking?

So I'm a little confused about operation here. You're using an IC and pumping the wort out the kettle through the IC? or over the IC? or what the crap?

look here:

Whirlpool Chiller

IrregularPulse said:

So I'm a little confused about operation here. You're using an IC and pumping the wort out the kettle through the IC? or over the IC? or what the crap?

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The IC part runs normally- cold water in, warmish water out. But there is a recirculating arm that pushes the wort back into the kettle. The path runs out the bulkhead ball-valve, through the March pump, back into the kettle entering at an angle to encourage a vortex/whirlpool to form.

IrregularPulse said:

So I'm a little confused about operation here. You're using an IC and pumping the wort out the kettle through the IC? or over the IC? or what the crap?

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it goes like this: the IC still has hose water pumping through it. None of that is disturbed. What I did was to take a piece of copper tubing, bend it to a specific shape, then attach it to the IC with a couple zipties. Then, there's a small length of hose attached to the "in" of the recirc arm, with a CPC QD on it. So, I put the IC into the wort 15 mins before flameout, as usual. When the burner goes off, I turn on the garden hose and the IC starts to chill the wort. I let it go for a minute or so because I don't want pure boiling wort in my march pump. Then, I attach the "in" line of the march pump to my kettle valve, open the kettle valve and gravity pulls the first bit of wort down to the pump. I hook up the "out" line from the pump to the recirc arm. Then, I turn the pump on. What this does is pump wort from the bottom of the kettle, up through the recirc arm, and then back into the kettle, against the IC, and starts a whirlpool action in the kettle wort. This increases the efficiency of the IC. When I'm at my pitching temps, I turn the pump off, unhook the CPC QD from the recirc arm and place it into the mouth of the carboy, and turn the pump back on...voila, it pumps the wort into the fermenter for me.

I was going to start a new post after searching but figured I would piggy back on this one if thats ok...

I want to build a whirlpool for my brew kettle too... that would be the ONLY use for the pump as I am happy with my gravity fed system and I am POOR (read single father of 2 boys REALLY POOR ) what pump solutions to we have for that besides the fullblown march pump??? is there any cheaper foodgrade pumps I could use to recirculate my wort that can be kept clean and no worries of contamination?? especially considering hot liquids would not be an issue??

michaelm said:

what pump solutions to we have for that besides the fullblown march pump??? is there any cheaper foodgrade pumps I could use to recirculate my wort that can be kept clean and no worries of contamination?? especially considering hot liquids would not be an issue??

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If there was any everyone would be using them. When you consider all of the requirements you have, a March pump is really very reasonably priced. They have them for under $130 at Midwest with a cord.

I was about to say you could get them from ebay from a seller named Tate, but it looks like his prices went up to $130. I would go with a reputable HBS.