Chugger pump head alignment?

I replaced my March 815 pump head with a Chugger inline SS head.

When I tried to pump noting happened so I loosened the pump head turned on the pump power and tightened the screws while it was pumping.

Then during clean up it did not work again. I did the same realignment and retighten and it worked again.

So, on next brew day it may work or not.

Has anyone else ever had this problem with a Chugger or March pump head?

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

Bobby_M said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdwfzxblL_U

Click to expand...

Thanks! I do have a coffee can shroud splash guard! I'll remove that.

If the problem persists then it could be an alignment when hot issue.

Is it possible to use a March drive magnet with a chugger pump and chugger impeller? i am worried my chugger magnet is weak and causing decoupling at high temps.

@Bobby_M, thanks for the excellent video. I had trouble with my pump during this weekend's brewing. It ran fine while recirculating Starsan, but promptly stopped not long after I tried to recirculate the mash. I did have a very fine grind on my grains and had grains stuck in the pump head, which led me to dismantle it a couple of times...

Turns out, the cup magnet had become misaligned to the mounting bracket and was binding against the impeller casing. I wish I'd found your video on the brew day as I ended up without its use. Ended up also losing much wort from hose runoff during the dismantling, etc.

Thanks again!

Just wanted to report back... the Chugger head is working flawlessly on my March 815 motor.

I removed the coffee can shield and no more issues. (not sure if that was all of my problem but I'm not going to try it again!)

m1k3 said:

Just wanted to report back... the Chugger head is working flawlessly on my March 815 motor.

I removed the coffee can shield and no more issues. (not sure if that was all of my problem but I'm not going to try it again!)

Click to expand...

And then on the very next brew day, the pump would not run... fortunately it only failed during clean up (after the fermenters were filled).

I back-flushed the plate chiller and pump and then tried to recirculate StarSan.... no pump. I could see the fan in the pump motor flicker but not spin.

Is my pump motor the issue?

From past experience, I bet when I disassemble and reassemble it, it will work again.

If you take the head off and the motor runs, it's not the motor. It's either in the head or a cup magnet alignment issue. Watch the video again.

Does the March have same plastic washers as a Chugger pumps?

Bobby_M said:

If you take the head off and the motor runs, it's not the motor. It's either in the head or a cup magnet alignment issue. Watch the video again.

Click to expand...

Yeh, its not the motor.

The Chugger head almost ruined brew day yesterday.

Yes, motor runs without the head on. Motor stops when head is on (trying to pump hot wort).

I gave up and put the March 815 head back on and it pumps flawlessly.

I get what you are saying Bobby. Its magnetic drive and the motor should keep running even if the head locked up... But it doesn't.

It was frustating, I should just stick with the March 815 head.

m1k3 said:

Yeh, its not the motor.

The Chugger head almost ruined brew day yesterday.

Yes, motor runs without the head on. Motor stops when head is on (trying to pump hot wort).

I gave up and put the March 815 head back on and it pumps flawlessly.

I get what you are saying Bobby. Its magnetic drive and the motor should keep running even if the head locked up... But it doesn't.

It was frustating, I should just stick with the March 815 head.

Click to expand...

Sooooo.....what are you going to do with your ss chugger head?

joebob296 said:

Sooooo.....what are you going to do with your ss chugger head?

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I think I'll disassemble it on camera.
There must be something wrong with it.

Why do you want to make me an offer?
I wouldn't wish these troubles on anyone... For less than $40

I disassembled the chugger head and found the impeller hard to turn. After cleaning it and putting it back together I think it may be fixed.

In my previous trouble shooting, I was under the impression that a stuck impeller would not stop the motor... I guess this is not true.

Going to test it now, but I think a tiny amount of debris is what stopped the impeller. Never had that problem with the March 815 head... but I guess it could happen to any head... even a brand new chugger.

It seems fixed. Seems to pump better than ever. It pumped 2 gallons of StarSan in 25 seconds.

I used the chugger pump head again on the last brew day. It failed once and would not pump for about a minute... I started to panic with 15 gallons of hot hoppy wort just sitting there.

This time the motor kept running but would not pump. (previously the motor would stop and just hum)

Not sure what stopped it or how it started working again. I turned it off/on several times and opened and closed the output ball valve several time to possible clear debris.

The March pump head never did this.

Check for debris in the head.

Mine run a lot better after getting replacement impellers. Adjusting the depth of the magnet and position of the head may also help

Walter at March commented a while ago that the Chugger head magnet may have a different number of poles than the March. I'm running Chugger heads (sooo much cheaper) but swapped the impeller back to the March one and performance improved.

Clarification because of a question below:

So I now have:
March motors
March impellers
Chugger stainless center inlet

jddevinn said:

Walter at March commented a while ago that the Chugger head magnet may have a different number of poles than the March. I'm running Chugger heads (sooo much cheaper) but swapped the impeller back to the March one and performance improved.

Click to expand...

Wait, to be clear, you have Chugger pumps, and you replaced only the impellers in the heads with March impellers? You use the Chugger head and magnets?

stickyfinger said:

Wait, to be clear, you have Chugger pumps, and you replaced only the impellers in the heads with March impellers? You use the Chugger head and magnets?

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Sticky, I suppose I should add a clarification to the original post.

I originally purchased (2) March pumps with plastic heads after reviewing many of the discussion threads here. I had issues with threading my connections onto both plastic heads and issues priming the pumps during my test run. I then purchased the Chugger stainless center inlet heads and swapped them. After reading the question and answer thread with Walter I swapped the impellers in the head.

So I now have:
March motors
March impellers
Chugger stainless center inlet

OK, that makes sense. Glad to hear the combination is working well.