I hate my march pumps, need alternative or fix for my current setup.

[mashuganabrew]

I have the 815 March pumps and with the poly head, been using them lil over a year now and I hate them. I don't know if these are the HF options or not, but they just don't work well. Part of the problem I'm sure is the 1/4 intake out of my boil kettle, but still they just don't perform well.

I'm thinking about replacing the head with the 350 center inlet, but would like some feedback before I drop $500 for two units.

UNLESS, anyone has a better option, preferably a pump that is self priming?

 

[BallisticGourd]

The biggest part of your problem is your inlet restriction on the pump (aka the 1/4" bk drain). Centrifugal pumps don't like to have their inlets restricted. It may not be the answer you were looking for - but you'll end up having similar issues with center inlet pumps or running with the outlet valve barely cracked using a 1/4" input.

 

[mashuganabrew]

The biggest part of your problem is your inlet restriction on the pump (aka the 1/4" bk drain). Centrifugal pumps don't like to have their inlets restricted. It may not be the answer you were looking for - but you'll end up having similar issues with center inlet pumps or running with the outlet valve barely cracked using a 1/4" input.

Does anyone know if there is a 1/2" option for the intake arm on the Blichmann kettles?

 

[WalterAtMarchPump]

That 1/4" outlet on the kettle is whats killing everything for you....find someone that can open it up for you to 1/2" ID min or since you are already changing it i would open it to a 5/8" ID....And if you have been running the pump restricted like this for a while i would open the pump head up and check out the teflon thrust washer...if you dont feel comfortable doing it you can send it back to us here and we will go through the pump for you, put it on our test tank to make sure it flows properly and send it back no problem

 

[LordUlrich]

One of the biggest things I did to reduce my pump issues was to attach the pump directly to the kettle outlet (No hose). I am not exactly sure why it helps but it does.

 

[Indian_villager]

I'm not familiar with these kettles, care to post a pic of your kettle outlet setup? With hot wort what you are doing is cavitating the pump.

 

[WalterAtMarchPump]

One of the biggest things I did to reduce my pump issues was to attach the pump directly to the kettle outlet (No hose). I am not exactly sure why it helps but it does.

could be that the hose was to small....or could have been too long and getting air trapped in sections....or too many elbows/fittings....there's lots of variables that affect overall performance of pumps...

 

[mashuganabrew]

That 1/4" outlet on the kettle is whats killing everything for you....find someone that can open it up for you to 1/2" ID min or since you are already changing it i would open it to a 5/8" ID....And if you have been running the pump restricted like this for a while i would open the pump head up and check out the teflon thrust washer...if you dont feel comfortable doing it you can send it back to us here and we will go through the pump for you, put it on our test tank to make sure it flows properly and send it back no problem

Walter,

I truly appreciate that! I'm going to try and change some things around and retry this weekend. I have 1/2" hose that is probably too long after reading more. Combined with the 1/4" intake on the Blichmann I believe I have creating huge air pockets. I'm going to shorten the length of the hoses and try 3/8" silicone hose for a more continuous tube volume. I'll post pictures this evening when I get home.

 

[mashuganabrew]

One of the biggest things I did to reduce my pump issues was to attach the pump directly to the kettle outlet (No hose). I am not exactly sure why it helps but it does.

Do you have pictures of this? Is it on a rolling platform? I am intrigued.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, not sure what a kettle "intake" is, but all Blichmann kettles use 1/2" stainless steel thin wall tubing for the dip tubes with an ID of 7/16" - not 1/4"...

Cheers!

 

[LordUlrich]

Do you have pictures of this? Is it on a rolling platform? I am intrigued.

I can show you my pump, although most of my equipment is in the garage and it is WAY too cold this week to dig get my kettles out.

I do brew electric so my gear just gets set on a table, and the pump sets on the table for my HLT, for the kettle I set the pump on a piece of 2x4 to get the pump about to the same height as the outlet (I use a keg for my boil kettle).

My tanks have a weldless fitting, a ball valve and a camlock male fitting on them. The female camlock connects to the kettle, and then the hose goes on the male fitting on my pump. I do purge any air from the pump a little using the little bleeder valve on my ball valve.