Problem with new Riptide Pump

[Mad Scientist]

I purchased two from MoreBeer.com on Sunday and they shipped Monday. I'm out of town but my wife said they were delivered yesterday. I can't wait to get them hooked up.

YOU ORDERED LAST WEEK AND GOT DELIVERY LAST WEEK????

I pre-ordered on July 13th and I am STILL waiting.

 

[sillbeer]

YOU ORDERED LAST WEEK AND GOT DELIVERY LAST WEEK????

I pre-ordered on July 13th and I am STILL waiting.

Yep. Unboxed them Saturday and did a test run yesterday.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Yep. Unboxed them Saturday and did a test run yesterday.

Ugh. Dislike.

 

[sillbeer]

If you ordered through MoreBeer I would call them. I sent them an email two weeks ago with a question and haven't received a response back....

 

[Mad Scientist]

I ordered through Adventures in Homebrewing...closest out of state supplier to me, so no sales tax.

Maybe Mr. Blichmann stop by and shed some light on the situation.

 

[hukdizzle]

Glad to hear I am not the only one who has run into this issue... I've run march 809's for years without any issues recirculating boiling wort for 15 minutes. My riptide has seized twice so far both during a 2 minute end of boil recirculation to sanitize and also during a sparge pump over. The only thing I have found that helps is to ensure that the tri-clamp is JUST tight enough. 1/10th of a turn too tight and it is basically guaranteed to seize. 1/10th of a turn too loose and it leaks from the TC clamp... It certainly seems like a tolerance issue and the high heat is causing the tolerances to tighten up too much.

Here is a video of the first time that it happened. I for sure thought the pump was dead but internal inspection after tearing the thing apart showed no visual damage to any of the components.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsDnGl3mZog[/ame]

I will be emailing Blichmann as instructed in this thread and hoping that they get this sorted soon.

 

[Mr_McGibblets]

I bought mine in person at MoreBeer Riverside on July 22. They didn't have any in-store, so they shipped it instead. Got it about 2 days later.

On my first test, I hand-tightened the clamp (this is my first experience with a TC clamp, so don't know how tight they need to be). Needless to say, the pump leaked a LOT. I contacted Blichmann support. They sent me a new flange (that the impeller sits in, see attached image below), o-ring, and washer. That's when I noticed my original flange had a defect (flat spot) and could be why it leaked.

Tried the new flange, o-ring, and washer. Same thing -- heavy leaking. Then I decided to tighten the clamp further using a long screwdriver as leverage. After 3 full turns, the leaking stopped. I just informed Blichmann Support of this moments ago and asked if this was "normal".

Anyway, here's a video I made showing my pump test with the Brew Hardware Spin Cycle Whirlpool return. You can hear how quiet the pump is and I was impressed that the whirlpool was still able to do its thing with 13 gallons of water (I only do 5-gallon batches)! I then spent the majority of my time yesterday afternoon etching fill lines and numbers into the kettle's side.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBHIEwmqRA[/ame]

 

[The_Bishop]

A few questions:

Why are your hoses so long?

Are you trying to recirculate *while* boiling?

Looks like you have hose jammed onto barbs. Are you sure they're not pulling air?

You need to realize that the blichmann pump moves a larger volume of wort than the march/chugger pumps do. That means the pressure drop at the pump inlet will be greater which will cause issues if you're trying to pump boiling wort.

That being said there is no reason to pump boiling wort.

 

[hukdizzle]

FYI Blichmann appears to have the new impeller design in hand and will be shipping me one soon. I would email them and get them your shipping address if you are having issues.

 

[hukdizzle]

Answers inline

A few questions:

Why are your hoses so long?

-Because I move the pump around and use it to sparge and fill my mash tun as well. Since this video I've shorted the inlet hose by 1.5ft and the issue still happens. Any shorter and the lines will kink while filling my mash tun.

Are you trying to recirculate *while* boiling?

-Yes, i've done it for the past 7 years with a march 809 with zero issues.

Looks like you have hose jammed onto barbs. Are you sure they're not pulling air?

Positive, they are very large barbs that fit extremely snug on the 1/2" silicone thickwall hose even under temp. I use these which have a larger ID than most barbed fittings to promote better flow.

https://www.brewershardware.com/1-2-Threaded-Hose-Barb-TFF12B58.html

You need to realize that the blichmann pump moves a larger volume of wort than the march/chugger pumps do. That means the pressure drop at the pump inlet will be greater which will cause issues if you're trying to pump boiling wort.

-Very familiar with this, I throttle the pump back during recirculation to the point where it's barely throwing a whirlpool. At the time of the video the pump had already been successfully pumping the boiling wort for 3 or so minutes at which point it started to show signs of seizing.

That being said there is no reason to pump boiling wort.

-I would agree to an extent regarding sanitation but saying there is no reason isn't necessarily true. DMS production while most likely minimal will happen at high but sub boiling temperatures and will not off gas as readily.

-The fact is that 212'F boiling wort and 210'F non-boiling wort are still hot enough to cause the pump internals to potentially seize and that's the issue at hand for me, not cavitation or running the pump dry.

 

[brick_haus]

{just thinking out loud}
I wonder if the seizing impeller issue is an effect of the closer tolerance required between the impeller and shaft to keep the pump as quiet as it is? Then, will increasing the side
play as required to keep the impeller moving make the pump louder?

 

[Mirilis]

All I can say is my impeller seized because the magnet (barrel mounted to shaft) was not concentric to the motor shaft. Because of that it would j up and not spin sometimes. I have a video snippit of before and after their customer service (which is great) solved my issue

 

[mbg]

I haven't tried my pump yet (waiting on fittings). I waited about 2-1/2 months so hope it's the new design. I didn't look at it close but think the impeller is dark brown. It had holes between the vanes probably to help with cavitation but two of the holes were blind holes I had to use a nail to clean the flash out. Again, I'm like others, use to Blichmann superior quality and this should not have been missed.

From this description does it sound like I have the new design?

Thanks
Mike

 

[sillbeer]

I haven't tried my pump yet (waiting on fittings). I waited about 2-1/2 months so hope it's the new design. I didn't look at it close but think the impeller is dark brown. It had holes between the vanes probably to help with cavitation but two of the holes were blind holes I had to use a nail to clean the flash out. Again, I'm like others, use to Blichmann superior quality and this should not have been missed.

From this description does it sound like I have the new design?

Thanks
Mike

The impellers on both of my pumps are black and do not have the holes drilled in them. The QC sticker on the bottom of my pumps both say 2017-02-03. I plan on brewing next Sunday and will run boiling wort through my CFC to sanitize and will report back.

 

[mbg]

The impellers on both of my pumps are black and do not have the holes drilled in them. The QC sticker on the bottom of my pumps both say 2017-02-03. I plan on brewing next Sunday and will run boiling wort through my CFC to sanitize and will report back.

My impeller is definitely dark brown. Looks like the one on the Blichmann web page. The date is 2017-02-08. Maybe I'll call them - didn't want to think I waited for 2-1/2 months to get the old impeller design.

Mike

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I used my Rip Tide first time yesterday. It worked ok during the mash. But when I tried to recirculate the boil it took four times to get it where I thought it was pumping. Then I went back to cleaning kegs. Went back to check on the pump and it wasn't pumping any thing. Took it apart and the impeller was stuck to the shaft. The part of the impeller that has the stainless around it had swelled up and locked it to the shaft. It didn't swell up any where else so I found a drill bit that fit the hole on the impeller end and drilled out the hole until it spun free. By the time I got it fixed the boil had cooled down to 165. I didn't feel like heating it back up so did my whirlpool from there. The pump worked ok the rest of the day. I will have to boil some water and see if it is going to swell up some more before brewing again.
tracer Tom

You just voided your warranty

 

[Brewbuzzard]

My new riptide did same think. Squeal and stop pumping during boil. Took head off... impeller was stuck to shaft from the heat expanding everything.

I've had problems with Blickmann products in the past and didn't receive any help from them, just excuses.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Well, my experience has been the complete opposite. I recirculate through my counterflow chiller right at flameout (or element off, as I brew with electric) and have never run into this.

What I think may be happening is people are trying to recirculate *while still boiling*. Not only is there no need for this at all, when the wort is on the verge of boiling any reduction in pressure will result in steam bubbles and cavitation. I'm thinking the pump head is full of steam bubbles, which leads to a lack of lubrication (the wort/water) around the impeller and shaft, which leads to stuck impellers.

They advertise 250 degrees. However, I always stop the boil and let the wort calm down before I Whirlpool. I don't have a riptide just the chugger and a steelhead. I don't buy Blickmann products anymore.

 

[Smellyglove]

I had a lid where the handle came off. They sent me a new lid around half the globe right away.. No excuses just great customer care.

 

[caseyodell]

Blichmann should jump on this issue. I was going to purchase a Riptide but will not hold off. thank you for the information.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Blichmann should jump on this issue. I was going to purchase a Riptide but will not hold off. thank you for the information.

Blichmann is on it....John Blichmann responded early in this thread, but that doesn't help the fact that I have been waiting on a new pump for more than a month and a half.

 

[mikej55]

Ordered my riptide 7/21/2017 and it arrived days later.
The first thing I noticed when I disassembled to clean it was a a metal shaving attached at the end of the bleed valve.
I was able to bend it back and forth till it broke off.

I've used it once to recirculate my mash (up to 170 degrees f) and it cavitated a couple times. Nowhere close to boiling. The stamp at the bottom of the pump says QC Passed 2015-07-09, which makes no sense.

Sent a note to Blichmann and they quickly sent me the new impeller and bleed valve.
Haven't had a chance to use the pump yet with the new parts.

 

[Smellyglove]

Where are these pumps produced?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Where are these pumps produced?

USA according to Blichamann. No other info given.

 

[tracer]

You just voided your warranty

John has already sent me a modified version of the original impeller, and when they get one worked out that will stand the heat I'm Shure he will have one sent to me.
tracer Tom

 

[marjen]

I have had my riptide since they first came out. Had some issues getting it to run but this weekend it seized up and would not work anymore. When i took the head off the whole propeller and other metal housing was in the head almost like it was more attached to that than the base unit. I got it to run for a few seconds then nothing more. Now if I turn it on it just makes slight noise but the propeller is not spinning. Very disappointed. This is my first pump and I thought I was getting one of the best. I emailed support yesterday but have not heard back yet.

 

[mbg]

My impeller is definitely dark brown. Looks like the one on the Blichmann web page. The date is 2017-02-08. Maybe I'll call them - didn't want to think I waited for 2-1/2 months to get the old impeller design.

Mike

FYI - I was told the dark brown impeller is the new design.

 

[Mad Scientist]

John has already sent me a modified version of the original impeller, and when they get one worked out that will stand the heat I'm Shure he will have one sent to me.
tracer Tom

I sent John a PM and he did not respond.

 

[DarkNoonBrewer]

I sent John a PM and he did not respond.

Better to contact them through email at the support email. At least thats what I hear when I contact them through the facebook page. I found the page: http://www.blichmannengineering.com/contact-us but you can use [email protected]

 

[Mad Scientist]

I know, just frustrating....especially with people ordering and receiving pumps now