Equalizing Pump Flow

[postalbunny]

hm... for $8, i think i'm going to order one of these and see how well it works. Would be nice to not have to watch the water level, if it can be easily adjusted and snap on with a camlock that'd be an easy win.

 

[ae4853t]

You need a grant. I use a grant to gravity feed from the math tunnel without pulling on the grain bed with a pump. In the grant is a double float. The bottom float shuts the pump off for 30 sec, the top float shuts the valve to the mach tun. I turn it on and walk away.

 

[postalbunny]

Don't get me wrong, a grant with a float switch is great but i'd like the $8 setup with a manual valve and float that doesn't require any wiring or anymore hardware. That is, if it doesn't leak like mentioned earlier.

I had toyed with a grant a while back to prevent compacting the grain bed, and even wired up a echo sensor from a car bumper with an arduino and relay to toggle the pumps on/off as the grant got full/empty as well as one watching the grainbed to maintain an inch of water. But I don't think those chugger pumps really like being toggled that much. Flipping them on/off every 15-30 seconds seemed like it was going to shorten the life.

I also used one of these jobs as a float switch, seemed to work easy enough if you don't mind cleaning it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FLL6BVN/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[postalbunny]

[QUOTE="Smellyglove, post: 8406695, member: 158903"

Only thing with the links posted above is that I can't see any simple way to attach a hose to them.

a barbed fitting would thread into or onto both ends.[/QUOTE]

We'll see...i ordered one to see how hard it would be to setup. If i can pop a cam-lock fitting on one side and a silicon hose with a float on the other and it doesn't leak then it'll be worth keeping around imo.

 

[gnef]

As a dream solution (by far the most expensive), a dual head peristaltic pump is perfect for this kind of use. I've seen some brewers that found used ones, because new they are atrociously expensive.

The dual head means that the flow rates are perfectly in sync though, and they are self-priming!

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I did a batch today and observed the Blichmann autosparge valve through a few cycles where it was closed against max pump pressure and it really doesn't even drip when closed. I'm using the optional long arm on a 20 gallon kettle as the valve is as high as the kettle rim allowed and I'm betting the extra length provides the leverage to fully close the valve...

Cheers!