air bleed before pump

[sabo38]

I'm brewing with a Colorado Brewing system. I'm having issues where the pump will not pump because there is air trapped right before the pump. Does anybody know of an air bleed valve that I could put in front of the pump so I can bleed the air without taking the tri clamp loose and let the air escape. It's fine when its wort out of the mash, but when its 200 degrees it kinda stinks to have to take that connection loose

 

[Golddiggie]

What kind of pump is this? If a March (or that style) pump, you shouldn't have an issue if you simply open up the valves in that line. If the pump head is an inline version, that could be the source of the issue. Or the pump isn't low enough to get a good priming feed going. I originally had my pumps right under the top of the brew stand (a few inches below the kettle valves) and had issues with them working. I moved them to the lowest point possible and that went away.

 

[sabo38]

Its an inline chugger pump. it sits about 10-12 inches lower than fitting on my kettle. the hose from the kettle to chugger pump is not extra long where it lays on the ground either. Just seeing if anybody else has made a fitting for that purpose. Otherwise i think ill just by a 1.5 tri clamp 3 way fitting and rig something out of that

 

[PCABrewing]

Its an inline chugger pump. it sits about 10-12 inches lower than fitting on my kettle. the hose from the kettle to chugger pump is not extra long where it lays on the ground either. Just seeing if anybody else has made a fitting for that purpose. Otherwise i think ill just by a 1.5 tri clamp 3 way fitting and rig something out of that

You won't get any suction if the head still contains air.
I usually vent on the discharge side (chuggers with center inlet but that shouldn't matter) and let gravity fill the pump chamber then activate the pump.
I am able to prime with the pumps at the level of the bottom of the kettle or vessel.
Been working for me for five years now.

 

[Golddiggie]

Are the ports on the inline head with the inlet facing the ground, or are they parallel to the ground? I also have the center inlet (TC) Chugger heads on both of my pumps. I also have manifolds on both pumps so I only have to open/close valves to direct liquid in the setup. I simply open the valves for the run (from start to end) and have zero issues with things running. At most, if the flow isn't 100%, I turn off the pump, wait a couple of seconds, and turn it back on. Full flow at that point. IMO, that's not an issue. Especially when it takes seconds to get past it.

Picture from after building up the manifold system:

 

[PCABrewing]

... I only have to open/close valves to direct liquid in the setup. I simply open the valves for the run (from start to end) and have zero issues with things running.

Right, my experience too.
When I say vent, in most cases that is simply opening the valve(s) downstream of the pump.
But if a valve on the downstream side is closed, the air bubble cannot work it's way out.
Once a pump is primed you can dead-head it and it will hold pressure and prime.
You also want to do any throttling (flow rate) on the discharge side.

 

[ITV]

Otherwise i think ill just by a 1.5 tri clamp 3 way fitting and rig something out of that

That's what I have done except I use camlocks. The 3 way valve has another advantage, I can drain the downstream tubing of hot water/wort when I need to change connections.

 

[Bobby_M]

Priming a pump is super easy without purge valves. Lower the pump output hose down into a bucket so that the liquid in that output hose starts flowing downward out of the hose. That pulls the air bubble through the head and it will prime immediately. Shut the pump outflow valve as soon as it starts pumping and then hook up that hose to where you need it to go.

 

[Golddiggie]

No buckets needed if you have things setup well. I've not had to worry about priming the March/Chugger pumps. Especially once I had enough height between the pumps and the kettles.

 

[Bobby_M]

If you have any process during the brew day where you pump all the liquid out of the donor vessel, you inevitably get air in the head. If you have liquid in the output hose at that time, there is no way to get the pump started again.

 

[Golddiggie]

If you have any process during the brew day where you pump all the liquid out of the donor vessel, you inevitably get air in the head. If you have liquid in the output hose at that time, there is no way to get the pump started again.

Not had that issue, at all, with my setup. I drain (via pump) from the MT to the BK and then sparge (from the HLT). The feed to the BK is empty when that gets changed over. With the valves open in that path, it simply flows (via the pump). Same thing for when I whirlpool and then change to send the wort to the plate chiller (another valve change). Simply opening the valves in that path makes things 'just work'. IME, as long as there's a way for things to flow without something being hard blocked, it will flow.

I don't drain the lines during brew day, at any stage, until the batch is in fermenter. It's part of the reason for a manifold setup. I don't disconnect anything once I get it all set for the batch. Open/close valves as needed to direct the flows and it's all good.