Cheap compact wort pump

[TripleHopped]

The switch is wired wrong. It should only break the hot side (+ Power) and the - Power should be wired directly to the PC board. You created a short wired that way.

EDIT: Sorry, the picture didn't match your description, I only see 2 connection points on the picture, not 4. I would still meter the switch and see if you created a short.

Thanks for your insight. I checked the wires and found out how things are connected. I just assumed the Brown and Blue wires were on the same side and that the Black wires were joined. It turns out the Brown wire and one of the Black wires on the same side are connected with the switch and and Blue and other Black wire on the same side of the switch are connected together. So I screwed the pooch on this one.

That's why I don't work so much with electricity and run into burning buildings.

 

[Konadog]

Some switches can be tricky, that's why I suggested checking with a meter.

Letting the magic smoke out of electronics is always a bad thing.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks for your insight. I checked the wires and found out how things are connected. I just assumed the Brown and Blue wires were on the same side and that the Black wires were joined. It turns out the Brown wire and one of the Black wires on the same side are connected with the switch and and Blue and other Black wire on the same side of the switch are connected together. So I screwed the pooch on this one.

That's why I don't work so much with electricity and run into burning buildings.

dont feel bad...I made a similiar mistake and burned out my first 24v supply for my 24v pumps and I DO work with electricity everyday... just made a careless mistake..

 

[TripleHopped]

Now the task of trying to find another power supply from one of the online suppliers. Ugh. Any suggestions for a 24V pump?

 

[Wolfairious]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/272073668891?_mwBanner=1

 

[chordwizard]

A couple of quick questions. My apologies if they have been asked before but this thread is long enough now that to wade through it is pretty onerous.
Are these pumps self priming?
Can they be placed in any orientation or do they have to be horizontal with the base down?

 

[augiedoggy]

A couple of quick questions. My apologies if they have been asked before but this thread is long enough now that to wade through it is pretty onerous.
Are these pumps self priming?
Can they be placed in any orientation or do they have to be horizontal with the base down?

They are not self priming so the pump should either be placed directly at the base of the kettle or lower in the system. orientation doesnt matter except your right in thinking they prime easier with one of the ports facing up. it doesnt matter which really you just dont want to encourage an air pocket.

 

[chordwizard]

Awesome, thanks. My hope was to mount it vertically and have the wort drop straight in and pump out the side.

 

[augiedoggy]

Awesome, thanks. My hope was to mount it vertically and have the wort drop straight in and pump out the side.

I had mine oriented that way and you need to have some sort of relief valve or open house so the air doesn't get trapped in the line this way.

 

[chordwizard]

Good to know, thanks. Probably take the KISS route and just position it so that the outlet is pointing up and not have to worry about it.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated!

 

[augiedoggy]

Good to know, thanks. Probably take the KISS route and just position it so that the outlet is pointing up and not have to worry about it.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated!

If it helps I found that slitting the difference so the outlet faced up enough to let ir escape but still off to one side also works... eventually though I decided to just move the pump from the base of my HLT to the inlet of my three way valve on my rims which was mounted further down allowing more pressure for gravity priming.

 

[sillbeer]

Now the task of trying to find another power supply from one of the online suppliers. Ugh. Any suggestions for a 24V pump?

I bought two of these. They work well for my 24v pumps.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LMQ6G2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[BryanG]

I am using an 18v battery from my Ryobi cordless drill. Works great.

 

[augiedoggy]

I am using an 18v battery from my Ryobi cordless drill. Works great.

It just won't power the pump at full speed or strength but 18v is close enough where it would still work OK... But being that a 2 amp 24v power supply can be bought for like $5. Why?
If it's a 12v version you will burn up the motor with 18v over time there actually a couple people here who have found that out already... And a 2 amp 12v power supply is even cheaper so..

 

[nealm]

FYI
I was starting to brew after a hiatus over the holidays and my cheap compact pump did not function. I took it apart assuming that it was clogged with some hop residue but not so, all channels were clear. What I did find out was that the impeller/magnet was not turning on the shaft. Further examination revealed that itself had spots of corrosion on it from where I had put it away wet. I was surprised at this as I thought the shaft was stainless steel. If it is it is potentially subject to corrosion, so check it if your pump stops working. I brought it back on line by polishing the shaft with emory paper.

 

[augiedoggy]

FYI
I was starting to brew after a hiatus over the holidays and my cheap compact pump did not function. I took it apart assuming that it was clogged with some hop residue but not so, all channels were clear. What I did find out was that the impeller/magnet was not turning on the shaft. Further examination revealed that itself had spots of corrosion on it from where I had put it away wet. I was surprised at this as I thought the shaft was stainless steel. If it is it is potentially subject to corrosion, so check it if your pump stops working. I brought it back on line by polishing the shaft with emory paper.

what kind of pump do you have? The tan pumps most of us are using have a white ceramic shaft and everything else is sealed in pps besides a stainless disc under the impeller, It would have to have been some nasty gunk in there to lock it up or if there was corrosion it sounds like your not using a food grade pump. Are you using a solar utility pump like a topsflo?

 

[nealm]

One of the little tan ones that I bought over two years ago. Has worked like a trooper all this time. Did they change from a ss spindle to a ceramic recently?
Perhaps I should upgrade and maybe go to 24v.

 

[augiedoggy]

One of the little tan ones that I bought over two years ago. Has worked like a trooper all this time. Did they change from a ss spindle to a ceramic recently?
Perhaps I should upgrade and maybe go to 24v.

strange? I have 7 of these pumps including a few 12v versions starting 4 years ago and I bought them with all different branding from different seller and all mine are identical with the ceramic shafts. Can you take a pic and post it? im curious. does it have the encapsulated sealed magnet inside the tan plastic?

hers is a pic of one of mine , notice the white shaft.

 

[Weezy]

A quick note on quick disconnects. I use 3/8" thick walled silicone tubing on 1/2" nipples. They stay on without clamp all day long. If you need to swap connections, just pinch the tube and pull.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

This is awesome! Might just have to rethink the design of setup 🤔

 

[Sockmonkey]

I grabbed one of the 24V tan pumps last month and used it on one batch. To my surprise it worked perfectly and it was so much easier to work with (and quieter) than my March pump. I used it to recirculate strike and sparge water, to pump boiling wort through my CFC, to pump wort through CFC into the fermenter, and then to circulate PBW, water, and StarSan through the system during clean-up.

Fast forward to yesterday's batch - I set it up to recirculate strike water as it heated. I noticed after a few minutes of running it started to make noise and noticeably slow down. I disassembled the pump and it was completely clean. It spun freely and quietly, so I reassembled it and gave it another shot. Same deal. I disassembled it again and couldn't find anything wrong, so I reassembled it and put it back to work. After a few minutes, it completely died.

Fortunately I had a spare that I put into service. I'm wondering if I just got a lemon, or if I did something wrong. I really like these little things and they are cheap - but not if they only last one batch .

 

[augiedoggy]

I grabbed one of the 24V tan pumps last month and used it on one batch. To my surprise it worked perfectly and it was so much easier to work with (and quieter) than my March pump. I used it to recirculate strike and sparge water, to pump boiling wort through my CFC, to pump wort through CFC into the fermenter, and then to circulate PBW, water, and StarSan through the system during clean-up.

Fast forward to yesterday's batch - I set it up to recirculate strike water as it heated. I noticed after a few minutes of running it started to make noise and noticeably slow down. I disassembled the pump and it was completely clean. It spun freely and quietly, so I reassembled it and gave it another shot. Same deal. I disassembled it again and couldn't find anything wrong, so I reassembled it and put it back to work. After a few minutes, it completely died.

Fortunately I had a spare that I put into service. I'm wondering if I just got a lemon, or if I did something wrong. I really like these little things and they are cheap - but not if they only last one batch .

I dont believe its the pump Ive got hundreds of hours on my 3 in my setup now...

Can you post the specs of your power supply? 9 out of 10 times its the power supply thats the issue... you really need a 2 amp or larger 24v supply. running them on anything less than 1 amp will make they weak at best and the power supply wont hold up long.

 

[Sockmonkey]

This is the supply I use:
ABI 24V 72W 3A AC Adapter Power Supply

I haven't put it on a meter, but it seems to be a solid supply and even protected itself when the pump died. It ran the 2nd pump with no problem.

 

[augiedoggy]

So I measured the actual amp draw on my new 24v pump today (tan p38i style most used in this thread ) the pump actually draws about 1.6-1.8amps of current at 24v so many sellers advertise them with incorrect specs.

 

[jcorn]

Could someone dummy proof this for me.. I assume most of you are using the 12volt tan pump.
I have no clue on how to supply power to it with an outlet. Could you post me a link to what I need to power it with? Either Amazon or Ebay... Thanks!

Can I just splice a power cord into the wiring of this pump? I have plenty of 12v 2 amp ac/dc wall plugs lying around

 

[TorMag]

Could someone dummy proof this for me.. I assume most of you are using the 12volt tan pump.
I have no clue on how to supply power to it with an outlet. Could you post me a link to what I need to power it with? Either Amazon or Ebay... Thanks!

Can I just splice a power cord into the wiring of this pump? I have plenty of 12v 2 amp ac/dc wall plugs lying around

Just buy this one of amazon, it comes with the power source. It'b been working great for me for months.

http://amzn.to/2mMlpgZ

 

[jcorn]

Not available for purchase at the moment. Thanks though !

 

[augiedoggy]

Could someone dummy proof this for me.. I assume most of you are using the 12volt tan pump.
I have no clue on how to supply power to it with an outlet. Could you post me a link to what I need to power it with? Either Amazon or Ebay... Thanks!

Can I just splice a power cord into the wiring of this pump? I have plenty of 12v 2 amp ac/dc wall plugs lying around

if your going with the lower flow 12v version you need a 12v dc power suplly that puts out as least 1 amp if your going with the 24v version which is a third stronger and pumps more than you need a 24v dc power supply 2 amps or bigger... The 24v is no more costly to buy or power so I am confused why so many go with the weaker 12v?

When on ebay search "12v dc powersupply" (or 24v) and most sellers will sell multiple versions... pick the one that suites the amount of pumps you expect to power at the same time (2 pumps would need at least 2 amps) then you need a regular ac power cord with ground to connect the line in, neutral and ground as well as some lamp cord or 2 wire power cord to make the power cord going from the pump to the power supply. you can also buy the inline power supplies with the cords already attached but they usually have a higher failure rate IMHO..
Wiring that is just like a car or any battery... the + goes to the red and the - negative goes to the black wire on the pump...
if you use a speed controller you just wire that inline (+&- in and + &- ) out to pump...

 

[thekraken]

So I got my 24v pump plumbed up last night for a test run, it recirculated boiling water just fine for about 30 minutes. I noticed immediately a plastic smell from the pump. Is the smell normal, or at least the first time you run it at those temps? Will it go away?

If I can smell it I can't help but wonder what will go into the wort.

(electric kettle so no burner flames burning it from the outside)

 

[augiedoggy]

So I got my 24v pump plumbed up last night for a test run, it recirculated boiling water just fine for about 30 minutes. I noticed immediately a plastic smell from the pump. Is the smell normal, or at least the first time you run it at those temps? Will it go away?

If I can smell it I can't help but wonder what will go into the wort.

(electric kettle so no burner flames burning it from the outside)

I dont know, I never noticed any plastic smell myself... The pump is made from a very dense (and brittle/hard) pps plastic which is almost more like a bakelite material and appears to possibly have glass fiber in it.
Its designed to be stable and safe at boiling temps vs the other plastics like ABS plastic used on most pond pumps and non foodgrade pumps like the plastic topsflo and solar pond pumps many others like brau supply sells for brewing..
Some of those plastics are not safe at temps abouve 170 degrees (like the plastic a cooler liner is made from that sometimes warps due to this)
https://www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Materials/PPS

http://www.cpchem.com/en-us/news/Pa...Chemical-Adds-New-Ryton®-PPS-Grades-for-.aspx (one of the manufacturers claims was these pumps were designed for coffe and tea makers)

I dont generally pump boiling liquids with my pumps myself besides the chiller pump which honestly only pumps boiling temps for a few minutes at a time...