Are 2 march pumps better than 1

[Douglefish]

If I ran 2 march pumps in sequence, would I get more / double the pressure? I would like to do CIP for my conical, but apparently a single March 809 doesn't provide enough pressure.

Would this help?

 

[augiedoggy]

it will increase power yes, I did this with 2 dc pumps and it worked well until it somehow caused one of my pumps to overheat and seize up.. In my case I am not sure if it had something to do with the pwm pulses fighting each other since both pumps were being controlled with a pwm speed control knob. This shouldnt be a factor for an ac pump.

 

[IslandLizard]

Or get a $65 1/3 HP sump pump instead?

 

[augiedoggy]

for CIP I use a 3/4" sanitary pump to clean the vessels and kegs, but then again I only use and would only consider it at the nano brewery since if I was cleaning 1/2 barrel or less equipment its more effective and easier to just wipe the damn things out but thats my opinion.. I know it makes more sense for some equipment and configurations and some brite tanks dont have good access to the inside to do it with a brush or rag.

I bought a 17gpm march clone pumps and while it spins the sprayball fine it does not clean our conicals because the spray pattern is so weak... in the home brewing world I honestly believe many people use smaller pumps than werer designed for these sprayballs and just let the ball spray gently for very long periods of time hoping it will eventually dissolve the krausen. I think many of these people have never seen a sprayball work with the correct operating pressure and dont know what they are missing..

We only use that 17gpm pump now to recirculate saniclean in our conicals right before filling them.
the 3/4hpo pump is more than powerful enough and I would say a 1/2hp or even 1/3hp pump would still be more than enough to operate the ball correctly. since our conicals are plastic and semitransparent you can really see the difference in performance between the 2 pumps.

 

[IslandLizard]

in the home brewing world I honestly believe many people use smaller pumps than werer designed for these sprayballs [...] I think many of these people have never seen a sprayball work with the correct operating pressure and dont know what they are missing..

Ain't that the truth!

I mentioned the 1/3 HP sump pump as I had 2 of those in one of my previous homes. I had a small river coming in at times, like during thaws or heavy rain. They were staggered, but running both was the only way to prevent my basement from flooding perpetually. They pushed a lot of water!

if I was cleaning 1/2 barrel or less equipment its more effective and easier to just wipe the damn things out

My thoughts exactly.

Although it's more 'stuff,' I do want to build that (corny) keg washer with above mentioned 1/3 HP sump pump.
Or just stick with hand cleaning them, usually 3-5 at a time, rotating them during the various stages of cleaning. I can do about 3-4 an hour that way, but it's a workout.

 

[augiedoggy]

I totally see the value in a keg cleaner personally, if your cleaning more than one at a time.. After thinking about it if a person is using internal stainless coils inside the fermenters, they can be a POA to clean but unless you have a strong sprayball setup you have to manually remove and clean them anyways from what I found.

 

[Homergah]

A more thorough answer to OP's question: If you run two pumps in series you will double(ish) pressure at the outlet of the second pump, but not necessarily see much of a change in spray ball action. Running the pumps in parallel will not increase pressure at pump heads, but it will increase flow at spray head, which can in turn give you more line pressure by default due to the spray ball now becoming a restriction because of the increase flow. But pressure will not increase over what a single pump can do on its own, just flow.

With two pumps, at least you always have a spare. If you go with two pumps, I suggest getting the exact model that you already have.