First time pump user-tips?

[chigundo]

Brewing this weekend and need some advice on the pump usage. Going to pump from mash to kettle. I know I'm supposed to control pump flow from the ballvalve on the pump, but how do I open up the mash ballvalve all the way without causing a stick mash?

 

[JustLooking]

Closed valve on MLT side. Closed valve on the output side. Fully open MLT valve then slowly open output side valve until pump self primes. Start pump. Control flow rate from output side to prevent grain bed compaction.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Close the valve at the outlet of the pump, then open the valve on the mash tun fully. Nothing will flow until you open the valve on the pump.

 

[chigundo]

Got it. Sounds obvious now haha. But never used a pump before so just making sure. Thanks.

 

[SnakeRidge]

So, if I might tack on a question:

If you're pumping from the bk through a ball valve do you need a ball valve on the pump to control flow or can you just use the valve on the bk?

 

[Natdavis777]

All input to the pump needs to be open @ 100%. So if you are pumping from the BK or MLT, if they are going to the input side of the pump, that valve should be open all the way. Having a valve on the output side of the pump is the best way for controlling flow. Reducing the flowrate on the input side can cause a loss of prime.

On a side note, its best to use the pump in a vertical fashion. Input at the 0600 position, and output at the 1200 position. This aids in reduction of air pockets and less chance of losing prime.

I went through a lot of headache with my pump before yeilding to others suggestions.

 

[motobrewer]

i would spend some time and run some water through it to get used to using it before you fill it with 170F sticky wort.

 

[lhommedieu]

All input to the pump needs to be open @ 100%. So if you are pumping from the BK or MLT, if they are going to the input side of the pump, that valve should be open all the way. Having a valve on the output side of the pump is the best way for controlling flow. Reducing the flowrate on the input side can cause a loss of prime.

On a side note, its best to use the pump in a vertical fashion. Input at the 0600 position, and output at the 1200 position. This aids in reduction of air pockets and less chance of losing prime.

I went through a lot of headache with my pump before yeilding to others suggestions.

I've heard of the input at 6:00 and the output at 12:00 before and I'm going to reconfigure my pumps today as suggested. Thank you.

 

[brewkinger]

Closed valve on MLT side. Closed valve on the output side. Fully open MLT valve then slowly open output side valve until pump self primes. Start pump. Control flow rate from output side to prevent grain bed compaction.

Close the valve at the outlet of the pump, then open the valve on the mash tun fully. Nothing will flow until you open the valve on the pump.

All input to the pump needs to be open @ 100%. So if you are pumping from the BK or MLT, if they are going to the input side of the pump, that valve should be open all the way. Having a valve on the output side of the pump is the best way for controlling flow. Reducing the flowrate on the input side can cause a loss of prime.

On a side note, its best to use the pump in a vertical fashion. Input at the 0600 position, and output at the 1200 position. This aids in reduction of air pockets and less chance of losing prime.

I went through a lot of headache with my pump before yeilding to others suggestions.

To summarize... all of these are good advice, especially the orientation of the pump. Simplest and most important thing is DON'T RUN THE PUMP DRY.
always make sure it has liquid in.
If you hear a high pitch whine, turn it off!

 

[SnakeRidge]

All input to the pump needs to be open @ 100%. So if you are pumping from the BK or MLT, if they are going to the input side of the pump, that valve should be open all the way. Having a valve on the output side of the pump is the best way for controlling flow. Reducing the flowrate on the input side can cause a loss of prime.

On a side note, its best to use the pump in a vertical fashion. Input at the 0600 position, and output at the 1200 position. This aids in reduction of air pockets and less chance of losing prime.

I went through a lot of headache with my pump before yeilding to others suggestions.

Thankyou. That makes perfect sense

 

[lhommedieu]

Just finished putting my table together and as it's relevant to the thread I thought I'd post.

Following shows my set up Part 1 of a cleaning cycle using PBW with hot water, 2x rinse with cold water, and final rinse with boiling water. Basically a loop from hot water tun, to sparge tun, to boiler, and back again. You can just make out the handle to the outflow valve of the first pump on the left side of the table. Inflow does not have a valve and is wide open; opening and closing the outflow valve controls rate and volume. As you can see from the photos, the inflow is on the bottom and the outflow, with valve, is on the top.

I just through the cycle using water as a test and learned that Pump One's handle cannot be wide open or I risk filling the hot water tun too quickly.

Following shows Part 2 of the cleaning cycle from boil kettle to hop rocket to therminator to pump and back to boil kettle. When this cycle is over, the hoses and equipment are kept attached so I can use them later during the day when I transfer from the boil kettle to the fermenter.

This worked like a charm and the only improvement I can think of at this stage is to add a third pump so that I can combine steps 1 & 2. I'm also going to put a power strip with individual switches under the table on the right side so that I can square the cords away and turn on individual pumps after they've been primed.

 

[SeeMont]

Thanks for the information about the orientation of the pump, I only wish I would have seen this before I built my stand.

 

[schematix]

This thing runs like a CHAMP. The priming valve is clutch. Also makes it easy to take a sample.

 

[lhommedieu]

I like it. With my setup it would be easy to run off wort from the sparge tun and recirculate for vorauf, test end-runnings pH and SG, etc.