Using Pumps / Whirlpools

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Amarillo4BRKFST

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Hello fellow brewers and readers - I have just set up my pump system and whirl pool arm w/ my amazing co-brewer and girlfriend - and it rocks.

However - she posed a great question to me that I was incapable of answering:
How do you get the excess wort out of your pump and into your fermenter when you're done recirculating/whirl pooling?

My best guess was to take the outlet hose off of the whirlpool arm, spray it (w/ sanitizer), run it into your fermenter, and plug the pump in. We are slightly concerned that this will in effect be, "dry-running" the pump which is supposed to be pretty freakin bad for it. Does anyone have any insights that they would like to share? We are brewing a series of beers; one a day for three days starting tomorrow so the info would be greatly appreciated.
 
I pump my wort out of my boil kettle and into my fermenter, then lift the pump high enough to drain the rest. But we're really talking about a few ounces - not really worth much effort.
 
You will never get all losses out of your system. There's losses everywhere. You just account for them. You have to consider time and effort vs benefit gained. Running a pump dry to get 3 ounces of beer is a no brainer in my book.
 
Disconnect the hoses from the pump and empty those into the fermenter after spraying the ends, but just leave the pump. It's not worth the effort of getting the last 1/2 cup out of it. Plus you brewed 5.5 gallons to compensate for equipment losses and hop absorption right?? :)
 
I just make my batch size a little larger. Instead of 5 gallons, make a 5.25 gallon batch and adjust your recipe. A few dollars more and no worries about lifting the pump (mine is mounted), and no worries about contamination etc. Just a thought.
 
Mine goes from the kettle, through the pump into a CFC that is a lower than the fermenter, so I took to using a sanitary or filtered air pump (it has two 0.20µm filter on it) to push out what is left in the lines after the pump.
 
Thanks everyone - I have not mounted my pump yet so for now I think I will disconnect the inlet hose and simply lift up to gravity feed the outlet into a container to do gravity readings.

Thanks again! Definitely not going to dry run my pump.... :)
 
Thanks again everyone for responding - however I used said pump tonight for a single hop IPA (centennial) and man was I disappointed. I started out with a powerful flow after I primed it - but the flow would peter out and be incapable of creating a good whirlpool and assisting my immersion chiller. So I would unplug it, wait ~1min and plug it back in with the same results. It also started to give off that smell that says, "Something is wrong with this little motor." I am using the steelhead from NB and I'm guessing the problem was a combination of not oiling it and problems with my hop strainer (5 and half oz of pellet hops in the kettle is a lot? So some may say).

Thoughts? I just spent a lot of $$ all at once to get the pump, hosing, fittings, new immersion chiller, whirlpool arm, etc. and the system not working properly is kind of a bust.

Thanks again brewing community.
 
Are you sure the problem lies in the pump?

I use the plastic QDs that come with a cross piece in the connection end. The spaces between the cross piece used to consistently get filled up with trub and pellet debris, preventing wort from getting to the pump inlet. If you're using the same disconnects, try cutting the cross pieces out with a dremel.
That worked for me, and now I can do IIPA's with 10-12 ounces of pellets, no problem.
 
I think its a combination of the pump and strainer making it difficult to properly feed wort to the inlet. It was my first batch with the strainer and the pump. I also was not using quick disconnects; I was using these
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_131_575&products_id=13412
with a worm/hose clamp keeping the hose attached to the barbed nipple.

Not sure how I'm going to fix this sytem before my next brew day tomorrow.
 
I think its a combination of the pump and strainer making it difficult to properly feed wort to the inlet. It was my first batch with the strainer and the pump. I also was not using quick disconnects; I was using these
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_131_575&products_id=13412
with a worm/hose clamp keeping the hose attached to the barbed nipple.

Not sure how I'm going to fix this sytem before my next brew day tomorrow.

Is your strainer attached to the kettle outlet? Try using a hop bag for the hops and leave the outlet clear.
 
Yeah my gf and I have pondered it all day and are pretty certain the hop strainer is the main culprit. It was intended for whole cones and of course... we didn't use a single cone. ALL PELLETS BABY!

I have been reading about hop bags and there seems to be mixed praise/condemnation for their utilization rates. I believe those in the 'pro' camp claim if the bag is big enough and adequate wort flows through it there is no utilization issue. Can anyone chime in on this thought? I will drive down to H Depot tomorrow to get a 5 gal strainer if I can collect more evidence to support the "big bag = adequate contact w/ hops" theory.

As always, thank you.
 
I made a hop spider out of a 5 gal. paint strainer for my 10 gal. system years ago and it is one of the best additions I've made!
 
Plus one on the spider. I just finished my TopTier brew stand and am using a spider. It holds everything - including most of the trub. Much improved over a kettle screen.

I remove it at flameout and squeeze then manually stir up the whirlpool with my big spoon and give it 45 min to spin down. Open the valve path to flood the pump, shut off a valve on the discharge of the pump and turn it on. Then slowly open the valve until the desired flow is achieved.

Since I run through a Therminator, my desired flow I use will usually drain the 5.5 gallon batch in about 30-45 min.

Don't get in a rush at the end of your brew day; and, starting a FLOODED pump against a closed valve on its outlet is the best way to run it and should, in no way, be confused with dead-heading a pump which is bad.

Sounds like you've been either running your pump dry or with dual phase flow which are both pretty bad things to do to a pump. Try test running water with no chance of entrained air. If its still making noise or smells like smoke, you may need a new one.
 
EDITED - I used said pump tonight for a single hop IPA (centennial) and man was I disappointed. I started out with a powerful flow after I primed it - but the flow would peter out and be incapable of creating a good whirlpool and assisting my immersion chiller. I'm guessing the problem was a combination of not oiling it and problems with my hop strainer (5 and half oz of pellet hops in the kettle is a lot? So some may say).

Thoughts?

An easy way to know would be to pull the pump head apart when you're experiencing the trouble. Four small screws - then look inside and see what is causing the drop. My guess is the hops are plugging it up, but a quick inspection would confirm.
 
Brewed another single hop last night with one change to the setup - half the hops went into a nylon mesh bag and half went straight into the kettle. The strainer didn't get clogged and the pump worked like a charm. I would love to make a spider but my gf is not convinced that those paint strainer bags are non-toxic and food-grade; and neither am I.

I tried to stir wort through the bag to ensure the oils were extracted and the utilization didn't drop so hopefully it will be just as hoppy/bitter as intended.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.
 
What is the whirlpool arm like? On my e-keggle I have a whirlpool return port and no screen on the outlet. I recirc the wort during the last 5 mins of the boil to try and get most of it to collect in the middle, then a couple minutes pumping boiling wort through the plate HEx to sanitise. Then heat off and cooling started. This collects most of the hops in the centre of the keggle. Have not tried using this method with an IPA yet but got a hop burst PA coming this weekend so will let you know (got my old IC to fall back on if the plate plugs - or I will just back flush and go again)
Basically I'm saying that maybe there is no need for the spider/screen for low hop beers.
 
Ok I did the hop burst PA on Saturday, used about 3.5oz of hops in a 8 gallons pale ale, started whirlpooling with 5 minutes left in the boil then hooked up the plate HEx for a couple of minutes to "boil" it. I had no issues with hops plugging and once the kettle was drained a nice pile of hops/trub in the bottom of the kettle.
 
I pump my wort out of my boil kettle and into my fermenter, then lift the pump high enough to drain the rest. But we're really talking about a few ounces - not really worth much effort.

I disconnect the pump from the kettle, but have my plate chiller and pump still attached together. Lift the input hose high over my head, and you'd be surprised how much you can recover - though admittedly mostly from the chiller. I'd say at least a liter if you have a large plate chiller. It's definitely worth doing.
 
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