Is this a good pump for HLT recirculation?

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dtfeld

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I have 2 March 809's that I split duty time up by moving hoses around. I'm looking to simplify by going to a 3rd pump for my HLT.

I only need a small amount of movement in my 15g HLT for evening out the heat, but don't really need a $150 pump for that application.

I came across these on Ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pump-IP68-U...-Submersible-WaterPump-DC12V-5M-/132062992843

12V and look acceptable from the outside. I think these have garden hose threads, but not sure. Probably not "food grade" or at least certified as such.

Anybody try one and have any feedback? For $16.99 delivered I might try one.

water pump.PNG
 
I would say no on two accounts. 1. It's not a magnetic drive pump. So, it will have a shaft that runs from the motor to the drive head in the pump. Which can carry all kinds of contaminates with it (ie. oil from motor/ceramic shavings from shaft). 2. If it doesn't say food safe. It's not and even if it does there is no grantee that it is especially coming from an ebay seller. Moving 170*F mash out water will quickly leech bad stuff into your beer.

Run a google search on cheap DC brewing pumps. There's a few out there that people have tested and work well for the price.

On a side note, I don't understand why you would need a third pump. When you're pumping from the HLT to the MLT you need a third pump to circulate the water in the HLT? Wouldn't a "T" fitting and some hose be cheaper? Put the "T" fitting on the output of the pump run one hose to sparge and one to recirculate. Run the pump wide open and control the flow with ball valves. No pump needed.
 
I have a 3 vessle 2 pump HERMS system I control with a BCS setup exactly as you describe. The problem is doing step mashes requires a lot of programming for me.

The easier solution is to add a third pump and separate the HLT, HT and Boil functions...however, its not a $150 problem...$17...sure.

DT
 
I have no experience with the black pump but I doubt its food grade as the black abs plastic ones usually arent... most of the food grade plastic pumps are made from the tan PPS plastic like these which I DO use and have used in my brewery exclusively for 4 years. many pump companies including topsflo and us solar sell variants of these tan PPS plastic pumps, its a hard and brittle plastic.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-DC-12V-...hash=item3f6456a42b:m:muYdVdCCd1gJ2YyzdEHpXnQ

These have a sealed "coated magnet and motor with no oil used only pps plastic stainless and a ceramic shaft.
they were invented for food grade use in water drinking fountains soda and cappuccino machines and such.
and they are save with boiling temps. I strongly recommend the 24v version over the 12v version I have a few of each and the 24v version pumps 3gpm vs 2 with the 12v version.

BTW I pulled one of mine apart after 4 years of use and hundreds of gallons of beer production and the shaft (or pump) shows no signs of wear despite the theory mentioned above. I use 3 of these permanently plumbed into my setup.

The black one you linked looks to be a solar pump like the ones Brau supply sells which I have never disassembled but would bet has an exposed magnet and plastic thats only foodsafe to 170 degrees.

IMG_20170121_140632324[1].jpg
 
I would say no on two accounts. 1. It's not a magnetic drive pump. So, it will have a shaft that runs from the motor to the drive head in the pump. Which can carry all kinds of contaminates with it (ie. oil from motor/ceramic shavings from shaft). 2. If it doesn't say food safe. It's not and even if it does there is no grantee that it is especially coming from an ebay seller. Moving 170*F mash out water will quickly leech bad stuff into your beer.

Run a google search on cheap DC brewing pumps. There's a few out there that people have tested and work well for the price.

On a side note, I don't understand why you would need a third pump. When you're pumping from the HLT to the MLT you need a third pump to circulate the water in the HLT? Wouldn't a "T" fitting and some hose be cheaper? Put the "T" fitting on the output of the pump run one hose to sparge and one to recirculate. Run the pump wide open and control the flow with ball valves. No pump needed.

I have one of these pumps. It was the first pump I bought.

I agree with what LarMoeCur says, plus would add to it.

After 2 or three brewing sessions it would not start when I powered it on. It was not clogged. It appeared that the magnets would stick. If I hit it with something smacked it on the shelf or stuck something into the input to kick start the impeller, it would start and run. It may or may not start the next time I power cycled it.

I do also have one of the tan pumps and they are much better (and only a few bucks more). I may get another one for a spare. You do have to be careful if you are recirculating with it to make sure your wort is clean. Have a good filter, grain bag or false bottom or it will clog and stop.

I also have a chugger pump and it is my workhorse. Since it is magnetic drive I don't worry about the motor so much. It also never clogs. I ran across a deal a couple years back for one with a SS head for $109.
 
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