Cheap compact wort pump

[mattd2]

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.

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]

Isn't 5 hours a day for 20 years 36,500 hours so not much of an increase over the 30,000 hours claim

Good point.. I should have done the math..

 

[Soulshine2]

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)

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.

 

[augiedoggy]

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.

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?

 

[augiedoggy]

So I asked the seller and they notified me this bayite pump is made of PPS (which is good) http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=824....com/showthread.php?t=375904&page=154&xtz=240
but they also added this pump is not food grade.

 

[VagueSkunk]

Anybody have experience with these pumps from Brausupply? Link: https://brausupply.com/collections/pumps

 

[augiedoggy]

Anybody have experience with these pumps from Brausupply? Link: https://brausupply.com/collections/pumps

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.

 

[Beer-Baron]

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?

 

[Konadog]

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?

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

 

[Beer-Baron]

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

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)

 

[Konadog]

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

Yes, that should be fine. Oven? Have you just tried wrapping a blanket or jacked around your mash tun?

 

[augiedoggy]

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)

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.

 

[wilserbrewer]

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)

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?

 

[thekraken]

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)

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.

 

[wbarber69]

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?

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.

 

[Murphys_Law]

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.

 

[aviator24]

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

 

[augiedoggy]

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.

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..

 

[wbarber69]

My measured efficiency is around 80% as well, and I recirc the whole time, batch Sparge with herms.

 

[chuckyboomboom]

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

 

[TorMag]

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

 

[oujens]

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

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.

 

[TorMag]

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.

Makes me wonder what the inside of my ball valve looks like...

 

[dyqik]

Makes me wonder what the inside of my ball valve looks like...

Something like your profile pic?

 

[TorMag]

Something like your profile pic?

I'll have to bust it apart and see......

 

[augiedoggy]

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

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..

 

[BredStik]

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...

 

[BredStik]

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...

Anyone?

 

[augiedoggy]

Anyone?

yes... I have pic in my build thread below and this thread is actually full of this discussion.

I just start my pumps slowly with my pwm controllers and ramp up the speed... I also use stainless braided hose as a secondary filter under my false bottom.

 

[augiedoggy]

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...

way too little amount of surface area.