How do you prime your pump?

[old-pasture-brew]

Wondering how folks get their pumps flowing as I ran into a bit of trouble on the last brew session.

All "plumbing" jokes aside here, I am in need of ideas away from what I can get at the pharmacy. Is there some sort of bleeder valve to use or do you hold the end of the return line under the pump and then connect? Something else?

I am using a single tier system with two pumps that are both located below the pots with the inline flow feeding from the top and exiting out the bottom of the pump head then back up to the kettles. Just a 5gal system so no major runs on either line. I had thought gravity would have been enough to get it all going but was not the case. So I am stumped

Help? Thanks!

 

[mattcuso]

Switch the inlet side to the bottom facing down and the out facing up.

 

[mattd2]

If you take a photo of how it is setup on a typical brewday then it would be easier to make suggestions that will help you. Is there a specific time when priming is hard to acheive?
I have always wondered why so many people have issue priming, Without knowing anything more than you have trouble my suggestion would be.
When you first set up your pump to use make sure the hoses do not go up and down, you want the water/wort to flow down to the pump and then back up to the next vessle. try and organise you brew day so that the first pumping is from a full vessle into an empty one, then keep your inlet hose full of water/wort until you have finished with your pump. And what mattcuso said - make sure there is not an air pocket in you pump that can't get out. From what I have seen of mark pumps this means the outlet is at the top horizontal 9more preffered), or pointing upwards.

 

[ColoHox]

+1 to mattcuso
And make sure all your valves are open before you start the pump up.

 

[old-pasture-brew]

Thanks! I will try switching the lines so the input feeds up from the bottom and goes out the top.

Attached below you can see the set up as it was when I was fitting everything together.

 

[day_trippr]

In case you're wondering why you need to orient the pump head with the outlet pointing up (or at least with it pointing at 3 o'clock when observed from the front of the head) it's because with it pointing down or to 9 o'clock the head traps air so the impeller ends up cavitating...

Cheers!

 

[jpalarchio]

Switch the inlet side to the bottom facing down and the out facing up.

^^^ This for sure

Then what I usually do (if you don't have a bleeder/purge valve on the outlet) is I open the valve on whatever is connected to the inlet and let it flood the head, then I open the valve on whatever is connected to the outlet and you'll hear some gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. At that point you have as much liquid as you're going to get in it and I flip the switch.

 

[old-pasture-brew]

^^^ This for sure

... and you'll hear some gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. At that point you have as much liquid as you're going to get in it and I flip the switch.

I assume the gurgle is me drinking beer right? Haha. I think I see what everyone is saying. When the input flows from the top, fluid just falls thru the pump and leaves air space. When put into the the bottom it fills the pump - better result.

Pretty well buried in snow at the moment, so no chance of testing it now.

Looking forward to getting this system fully functioning. Its been a very long build. Cheers everyone!

 

[NathPowe]

I leave my chugger oriented horizontally (outlet to the right). When I want to prime, I open the outlet valve on the liquid source and then open the output valve on the pump (no output hose connected). I drain liquid into a little pan until the inlet line is free of air pockets, close the output valve and connect the output hose. Pump is now primed and ready to go. Then I dump the contents of the little pan wherever it is they need to be (mash tun, kettle, etc.)

This reads MUCH more complicated than it is in practice. Takes about 6 seconds if I had to guess. I'm sure there are better ways to prime, but this works well for me. It's essentially a bleeder valve, without any extra hardware.

Good luck with your setup and enjoy the brew.

 

[krazydave]

For your pic, you look to have the inlet pointing up. Reverse that and your problem will go away. What happens is the air is rising up into your inlet lines and when you turn the pump on it'll just keep getting sucked right back into the pump causing it to cavitate.

 

[edecambra]

Right, if the terminal output of your pump is also under water when you open all the valves the air trapped in the lines does not readily escape (i.e. whirlpooling JZ style) I open my quick disconnects to allow the beer to flow until I see all the lines cleared of air at the impeller end. This has worked well, even though recirc during a boil sends plenty of air bubbles in your pump head anyway. Cavitation is a *****!

 

[GoodDogShelby]

I have added a 3 way valve on the outlet side of my pump. It allows me 'burp' the pump if I happen to get an air bubble in the chamber. It is a whole lot easier than moving hoses full of boiling wort.

 

[rgauthier20420]

I have the pump inlet on the bottom and a cross on the outlet. On the outlet going to the right, is a valve I can open when I'm priming the pump so remove any air inside of the pump head. Once that's done, I close the vent valve, turn the pump on, and open the outlet valve to begin pumping.

 

[old-pasture-brew]

You guys are great. This is what I love about HBT, ask a question and folks line up to help. Awesome! As I read more from the replies, I just realized that after I change the out flow to the top of the pump, I will be able to use the ball valve I normally use throttle the flow from the pump to control the bleed out of any air. Once that's done I just slap on the return line and start pumping. So I already got purge mechanism, just didn't know it! Keeps getting better.

 

[wickman6]

How do I prime my pump? I whisper into my wife's ear and she takes over from there.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I'm glad there were so many helpful folks on here to actually help you.
Cheers!