Cheap compact wort pump

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I got one of the beige pumps in the mail via eBay and it seems to be DOA.

I've contacted the seller but it's been less than successful. I don't think I have any recourse as it took me while to test the thing out.

Anyway, any tips on how I can get this thing running? I've tried a couple 12v 1amp plugs with no success.
 
Swab said:
I got one of the beige pumps in the mail via eBay and it seems to be DOA.

I've contacted the seller but it's been less than successful. I don't think I have any recourse as it took me while to test the thing out.

Anyway, any tips on how I can get this thing running? I've tried a couple 12v 1amp plugs with no success.
Click to expand...

What do you mean 12v plugs?
The pump comes with a plug to plug the pump into an electrical board jack. You have to cut that off and wire the red wire to the positive and black to negative... The 1 amp cheapy wall jack power supplies usually are rated higher than they can actually deliver. You really want a 2 amp or higher supply or the pump will struggle from the tests I've done.
You can always try touching the red to the red post on a car battery and the black to the black to test it.
 
augiedoggy said:
What do you mean 12v plugs?
The pump comes with a plug to plug the pump into an electrical board jack. You have to cut that off and wire the red wire to the positive and black to negative... The 1 amp cheapy wall jack power supplies usually are rated higher than they can actually deliver. You really want a 2 amp or higher supply or the pump will struggle from the tests I've done.
You can always try touching the red to the red post on a car battery and the black to the black to test it.
Click to expand...

Yep, I did that with a wall jack power supply from an old router (actually 2 to make sure). Perhaps it's just underpowered, I'll try to find a higher amp plug to hack up. What do people usually use?
 
Swab said:
I got one of the beige pumps in the mail via eBay and it seems to be DOA.

I've contacted the seller but it's been less than successful. I don't think I have any recourse as it took me while to test the thing out.

Anyway, any tips on how I can get this thing running? I've tried a couple 12v 1amp plugs with no success.
Click to expand...

Are you certain you got a 12v version? Many sellers also sell 24v pumps that look exactly the same.
 
Swab said:
I ordered 12v, but perhaps they shipped a 24v. Other than hooking up a power supply, how can I tell?
Click to expand...
by looking at them you really cant... unless theres a sloppy "24" written in marker on the side which there sometimes is... you can take two 12v batteries and with them in a series to make 24v to test them if you have that laying around... or buy a 24v 2 amp or bigger power supply and buy a 24v model pump if yours is actually doa... another thing to check is if the magnet/impeller assy is not stuck. you have to remove the 4 screws to pop the face off to check this. Theres pics buried in this thread showing it pulled apart.

ALSO you probably know this but if you have the polarity backward the pump wont do anything so you may want to try swapping the wires around to the pump... it wont burn it out. it just wont do anything if its backwards.
 
Just got my little pump from China yesterday in the mail. Its a 12 v but comes with a power pack converter. Came with fittings and teflon tape too. I'll put it in the brew system once I get settled after the move. Its small. the whole thing is smaller than the size of my fist . Its a solar heat water pump designed to withstand a constant 212*F should be fine for 170* wort.
 
Soulshine2 said:
Just got my little pump from China yesterday in the mail. Its a 12 v but comes with a power pack converter. Came with fittings and teflon tape too. I'll put it in the brew system once I get settled after the move. Its small. the whole thing is smaller than the size of my fist . Its a solar heat water pump designed to withstand a constant 212*F should be fine for 170* wort.
Click to expand...

Which model is it?
If its the little tan one its not really a solar heat water pump. (those are designed for water tea and coffee fountains/makers).. The solar heat water pumps are usually 17v and have the mppt circuitry to allow them to run on 12-24v as well as overtemp protection in them and they dont have encapsulated magnets since they aren't truly designed for food grade use. either way if your not using it with pwm speed control it should work great as a wort pump, although im curious to know the model because the plastic topsflo and the clones wont work at 212 degrees for more than a couple minutes before the thermal safety protection built in shuts them off... I had a clone and thats why I stopped using it. (before contacting the manufacturer who told me its not food grade). Some of the clones are made of ABS which is almost always only foodsafe up to 170degrees.
The topsflo TS5 is not made of abs and according to the manufacturer its foodgrade now but it still shuts off when recirculating boiling wort which is fine unless you want to whirlpool or use it the sterilize your plate or counterflow chiller.
 
Soulshine2 said:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FXDUQR0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

I have no experience with this one... I dont believe that pump has any mppt or overheat circuitry to worry about. it has a stainless shaft so depending on what the bushings are made of it might last a long time..(if they are rubber not so much as I have found with my aquarium pumps).
The service life is only 30,000 hrs compared to the tan ones which are advertised to last 20 years at 5 hours a day run time due to the ceramic shaft. if you open it up and pull the impeller shaft /magnet assy out for cleaning (which isnt needed really) you will see if the magnet is encapsulated or not..
It doesnt state what its made of that I can find but even if it is a plastic thats leeches into the wort at high temps it probably wont be enough to do any harm and you likely wont taste it.. I didnt when I used the abs plastic pump I had before switching to the PPS food grade ones for piece of mind (and because it kept shutting off at boiling temps)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
augiedoggy said:
The service life is only 30,000 hrs compared to the tan ones which are advertised to last 20 years at 5 hours a day run time due to the ceramic shaft.
Click to expand...

Isn't 5 hours a day for 20 years 36,500 hours so not much of an increase over the 30,000 hours claim :)
 
augiedoggy said:
I have no experience with this one... I dont believe that pump has any mppt or overheat circuitry to worry about. it has a stainless shaft so depending on what the bushings are made of it might last a long time..(if they are rubber not so much as I have found with my aquarium pumps).
The service life is only 30,000 hrs compared to the tan ones which are advertised to last 20 years at 5 hours a day run time due to the ceramic shaft. if you open it up and pull the impeller shaft /magnet assy out for cleaning (which isnt needed really) you will see if the magnet is encapsulated or not..
It doesnt state what its made of that I can find but even if it is a plastic thats leeches into the wort at high temps it probably wont be enough to do any harm and you likely wont taste it.. I didnt when I used the abs plastic pump I had before switching to the PPS food grade ones for piece of mind (and because it kept shutting off at boiling temps)
Click to expand...

ok for one thing, I don't plan on running it 5 hours a day everyday , might be one day or two a month . Temperatures going through it shouldn't be more than sparge temps(155-170*F). Its rated to run constantly pumping 212* F. I'm planning to drop the wort to the mash tun by gravity to mash .Then run the sparge and then pump back (up)to the BK . By then the wort will have cooled . And then once its all done, I'll pump star san through everything. I'm not at all worried about it. It was cheap and designed for temps way above what I'll be using it for. If you notice in the description it also has a no return replacement .I may buy another one to have as a spare just in case.
 
Soulshine2 said:
ok for one thing, I don't plan on running it 5 hours a day everyday , might be one day or two a month . Temperatures going through it shouldn't be more than sparge temps(155-170*F). Its rated to run constantly pumping 212* F. I'm planning to drop the wort to the mash tun by gravity to mash .Then run the sparge and then pump back (up)to the BK . By then the wort will have cooled . And then once its all done, I'll pump star san through everything. I'm not at all worried about it. It was cheap and designed for temps way above what I'll be using it for. If you notice in the description it also has a no return replacement .I may buy another one to have as a spare just in case.
Click to expand...
Point made on the pump life.. I was only comparing it to the other comparably priced pumps which has kinda become the point of this thread since its ran its course over and over otherwise. all the other popular DC brewing pumps like the topsflo and tan p38i seem to use ta ceramic shaft so I assume it has some advantage here so I mentioned it
I also see that its "rated" to 212 degrees but nowhere is it rated or even stated to be foodgrade or foodsafe at any temp... Thats the thing.. without knowing what its made of its a complete guess whether the plastic is stable at high temps, In your case since you apparently use an immersion chiller you wont be pumping anything over 170 degrees you are most likely going to be fine but many plastics become unstable and leach chemicals at high temps. Again to a lot of people this kind of stuff is important.

Its worth mentioning for others reading this thread and looking, that at this time this pump an unknown and therefore not as good of a choice as others on the market that cost the same or less, also come with power supplies and pump just as much and are actually foodgrade (like the tan ones this thread was started to discuss). We know those are sold with powersupplies for around $25 shipped and we know those are designed for foodgrade use with sealed magnets, for boiling temps and that they are made of foodgrade PPS. Discussion of this stuff was one of the reasons for this thread.. Maybe someone can find out what your pump is made of and share it? Who knows, maybe its made of the same high temp stable PPS?
 
VagueSkunk said:
Anybody have experience with these pumps from Brausupply? Link: https://brausupply.com/collections/pumps
Click to expand...

The dc pumps he sells are actually pond pumps and you can buy the very same pump on ebay and aliexpress for about $20 with shipping... They come in 12 and 24v vesions and the flow is impressive but again they are not designed for food grade use and I am not sure what the temp rating is on them or what they are made of since when I checkeds the manufacturers website I stopped reading when isaw they were designed for ponds. I see he drastically cut the price on theseon his website, I wonderif he is going to discontinue them.
 
Can anyone tell me if these cheap pumps can actually produce enough suction that they can be placed higher than the kettle?

Can I place the pump above the wort level and have it actually suck the wort from a ball valve on the bottom of the kettle and then push it somewhere else?
 
Beer-Baron said:
Can anyone tell me if these cheap pumps can actually produce enough suction that they can be placed higher than the kettle?

Can I place the pump above the wort level and have it actually suck the wort from a ball valve on the bottom of the kettle and then push it somewhere else?
Click to expand...

These pumps are not self priming, so no. Once they start pumping liquid, they can be above the liquid level, but not to start.
 
Konadog said:
These pumps are not self priming, so no. Once they start pumping liquid, they can be above the liquid level, but not to start.
Click to expand...

So essentially, start pumping below the kettle and then raise it up and should be okay?

I want to use my oven to help hold mash temperatures, thinking about running the pump outside the oven and then pumping it back in (just closing the oven door on the hoses)
 
Beer-Baron said:
So essentially, start pumping below the kettle and then raise it up and should be okay?

I want to use my oven to help hold mash temperatures, thinking about running the pump outside the oven and then pumping it back in (just closing the oven door on the hoses)
Click to expand...

Yes.. the same method needs to be used on a larger March or chugger pump since they are also not self priming... My plate chiller pump is about 4-5 ft below the Conicals I pump the wort into with it and I still usually decrease the pump power to slow it down.
 
Beer-Baron said:
I want to use my oven to help hold mash temperatures, thinking about running the pump outside the oven and then pumping it back in (just closing the oven door on the hoses)
Click to expand...


Just my unsolicited opinion? But I think you're turning to make this much harder than need be. With a little practice the oven should work quite well....not sure what benefit you think adding a pump will bring?
 
Beer-Baron said:
So essentially, start pumping below the kettle and then raise it up and should be okay?

I want to use my oven to help hold mash temperatures, thinking about running the pump outside the oven and then pumping it back in (just closing the oven door on the hoses)
Click to expand...

I assume your wanting to still recirculate to improve efficiency?? If that's the case in my experience recirculation does not improve efficiency. Several others around the forum have expressed that opinion as well.
 
wilserbrewer said:
Just my unsolicited opinion? But I think you're turning to make this much harder than need be. With a little practice the oven should work quite well....not sure what benefit you think adding a pump will bring?
Click to expand...


Many people overlook the critical step of pre-heating the mash tun so it doesn't leech heat off the grain. if you want to stay at like 156 or something you'd heat up some water to 180 or so and put a couple gallons into the mash tun before you intend to brew, getting the tun up to a much higher temp. then when you get your temps on point the pot won't be leeching heat off the grain as fast, cover with a blanket or something and you shouldn't lose more than a degree or 2 over an hour. just keep it out of the wind and well insulated. if you intend to recirculate without a herms or rims, then you'd have to insulate the hoses as well.
 
I think you're way overthinking! I don't recirculate and keep temps within a degree or two. I brew outside and wrap my kettle in reflextic or whatever it's called.

Personally, a pump AND oven is overkill IMO. Your oven should be just fine alone. Maybe give a good stir about half way through the mash.
 
so this arrived today and used it in a 20 gallon mash recirc and also to transfer to my carboys. Worked like a charm...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...95-20&linkId=d63fa96e676f8c19196402a73a7631e1

20170422_121152.jpg
 
thekraken said:
I assume your wanting to still recirculate to improve efficiency?? If that's the case in my experience recirculation does not improve efficiency. Several others around the forum have expressed that opinion as well.
Click to expand...

I'm going to express my opinion that I believe it can depending on what its being compared to and how well the recirculation is actually working without channeling. I dont really sparge other than giving my grainbed a rinse at about 1 gallon per minute and I still net 86% overall average efficiency. I dont believe it would be that high if I didnt recirculate. my mash efficiency is always in the 90s..
 
My measured efficiency is around 80% as well, and I recirc the whole time, batch Sparge with herms.
 
Hi All,

I just wanted to share my experiences with the little tan wonder pump. I bought it from Amazon for $22.00 about 2 years ago, and it worked great for use as a sparge water pump. I have used it as a wort recirculation and post-boil chiller pump on about 9 5-gallon brews and 3-4 10-gallon brews. I posted a review on Amazon earlier this month. I hope it helps anyone interested. You can find my review here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PXXJEHE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So yesterday, during my brew, I set my little pump up and it did not work. I unscrewed the four screws, manually turned it a few time, it became unstuck and worked like a champ again. The interesting thing about taking it apart, it was moldy inside. I run boiling BPW through my system after every brew, through the pump and counter flow chiller. I highly recommend you take yours apart occasionally and clean it..

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1505244802.467191.jpg
 
TorMag said:
So yesterday, during my brew, I set my little pump up and it did not work. I unscrewed the four screws, manually turned it a few time, it became unstuck and worked like a champ again. The interesting thing about taking it apart, it was moldy inside. I run boiling BPW through my system after every brew, through the pump and counter flow chiller. I highly recommend you take yours apart occasionally and clean it..

View attachment 413826
Click to expand...

I know others have a difference of opinion and maybe different cleaning techniques but I break down my weldless fittings and pump for this reason. Only took me one time to discover a nasty growing for me to do this after ever use. It doesn't seem like too much effort to disassemble, but others may have a more complex setup. I like to visually see the guts clean before use.
 
oujens said:
I know others have a difference of opinion and maybe different cleaning techniques but I break down my weldless fittings and pump for this reason. Only took me one time to discover a nasty growing for me to do this after ever use. It doesn't seem like too much effort to disassemble, but others may have a more complex setup. I like to visually see the guts clean before use.
Click to expand...

Makes me wonder what the inside of my ball valve looks like...
 
TorMag said:
So yesterday, during my brew, I set my little pump up and it did not work. I unscrewed the four screws, manually turned it a few time, it became unstuck and worked like a champ again. The interesting thing about taking it apart, it was moldy inside. I run boiling BPW through my system after every brew, through the pump and counter flow chiller. I highly recommend you take yours apart occasionally and clean it..

View attachment 413826
Click to expand...

I have pulled mine apart more than a few times over the 4-5 years Ive been using them now... They have never looked like that. I do not run boiling pbw through my system every brew but I do run hot water through IMMEDIATLY after every brew session and I do use multiple layers of filtering to keep as much solids out of the pumps as possible... I do run pbw through every few brews or so...

Just imagine what the inside of your chiller looks like!

From the evidence it looks like the nasty liquid came back down into the pump cavity from the exit port causing that growth..
 
Hi,

I plan on using the tan pump for eHERMS recirculation. I've read that it's recommended to vorlauf manually a few times and wait for the grain bed to compact a little before starting the pump to avoid getting bits of malt going through the pump. Besides that, is there any way to have an inline filter that would prevent that as well? What are you guys doing?

I saw something like this, but I'm pretty sure it would not support 170F wort...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BredStik said:
Hi,

I plan on using the tan pump for eHERMS recirculation. I've read that it's recommended to vorlauf manually a few times and wait for the grain bed to compact a little before starting the pump to avoid getting bits of malt going through the pump. Besides that, is there any way to have an inline filter that would prevent that as well? What are you guys doing?

I saw something like this, but I'm pretty sure it would not support 170F wort...
Click to expand...

Anyone?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BredStik said:
Hi,

I plan on using the tan pump for eHERMS recirculation. I've read that it's recommended to vorlauf manually a few times and wait for the grain bed to compact a little before starting the pump to avoid getting bits of malt going through the pump. Besides that, is there any way to have an inline filter that would prevent that as well? What are you guys doing?

I saw something like this, but I'm pretty sure it would not support 170F wort...
Click to expand...
way too little amount of surface area.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

h22lude
My BruControl UniFlex review
Replies
3
Views
2K
h22lude
h22lude
R
RIMS tube as a tankless water heater for a sink?
Replies
8
Views
1K
fragged
F
J
Recirculating Pump
Replies
17
Views
2K
day_trippr
day_trippr
RPh_Guy
Selecting a Brew Pump 101
Replies
11
Views
2K
augiedoggy
augiedoggy
1
Anyone using a diaphragm pump for glycol?
Replies
2
Views
1K
Vale71
V
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top