Got a big manly pump today

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wired247

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In the middle of a hop field in Yakima WA. Serious
Ive been getting parts together for a 3 kettle brewing system with HERMS capability. Ive used a 1/15 HP March pump mostly in my boil kettle before to recirc and whirlpool and run it through the plate chiller but I needed two more pumps for what I plan. The March pump worked OK but wasnt a real gangbuster. Today I Picked up a 1/2 HP Ebara transfer pump . GW Kent had them for $240 or so. Its not on their website but is in their PDF catalog in the filter section .The OEM application was as a wine or beer transfer pump for a plate and frame filter. I plugged it in just to try it out today and WOW. For one my hoses are too small. The hoses were starting to push off the barbs from the pressure. I know when I hard plumb in the whole thing I will have the most vicious whirlpool in the world. Right now its nothing short of amazing. I ran water through it and then disconnected the output hose to drain the kettle and turned the pump on. It shot a 1/2" stream all the way across my back yard.

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Agree that it sounds like a porn thread initially..

Now to the serious questions.. That pump looks bad ass and is definitly going to be powerful; but are you saying that it's too powerful? As in, if you're not hard plumbing your system would it be a useless purchase?
 
Dang, I want one of those. Google searching... 1/2hp stainless pump for 200 and change is a screaming deal.
 
Agree that it sounds like a porn thread initially..

Now to the serious questions.. That pump looks bad ass and is definitly going to be powerful; but are you saying that it's too powerful? As in, if you're not hard plumbing your system would it be a useless purchase?

I don't think its to powerful but I did recrimp my clamps when the hose started to move. Its OK now and I ran an hour cold and an hour hot to make sure. I'll probably double band until I find a better hose option just to make sure. That sucker flat moves some fluid.
 
Im totally beating the hell out of my discover card at that place.
 
What's the temp rating? I'm thinking it's quite low...


No specs on it whatsoever. Can't even find reference to the pump in any Ebara material. Its a European market pump wired for the US. In any case the volute is stainless so I doubt its going to melt and the impeller is stainless too. Ive run it up to boiling for an hour and everything worked fine. Its got the same self priming pump head as one we have at work that has been used for hot duty for years.
 
That is a very nice pump, indeed!

I don't know if I can justify the cost though (I know it is still a good deal, but that is still some cash!).

Keep us updated on your impressions of the pump over time. Since it is self-priming, does that mean yours has a sump where it keeps liquid? If so, what do you do to purge it, clean it, and dry it between batches?
 
That is a very nice pump, indeed!

I don't know if I can justify the cost though (I know it is still a good deal, but that is still some cash!).

Keep us updated on your impressions of the pump over time. Since it is self-priming, does that mean yours has a sump where it keeps liquid? If so, what do you do to purge it, clean it, and dry it between batches?


The inlet of the pump is at the top of the volute so the impeller is submerged all the time. There is a drain plug at at the bottom of the pump housing to drain the pump cavity. Ive got it running right now again with hot water just to make sure its OK before I commit to a batch of beer in it .
 
OK I just got back from running hot water and oxyclean through the pump. Ran it up to boiling and recirculated the stuff for 2 hours then did a few water rinses. No problems. Took the pump apart and looked like pump internals . Nothing weird. I did run the hot sstuff through my plate chiller and was surprised how much crap came out of it after my usual cleaning regimen.

Heres a video of the pump as it is pumping the water out of the kettle.

 
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Have you tried this pump at low flow speeds? Sometimes you don't want high flow.

Good question. If it's a self priming pump, it might not like being throttled back with a valve. Is this a mag drive pump? I would be concerned about sanitation issues if not.
 
I believe there are mag drive pumps that are selfpriming with the sump. I don't know if this pump is one of them.

An option is to use pwm to adjust the flow speed without harming the pump.
 
Good question. If it's a self priming pump, it might not like being throttled back with a valve. Is this a mag drive pump? I would be concerned about sanitation issues if not.


Without buying a PWM controller I wouldnt be able to slow the pump motor. What I could do is plumb in a bypass from high to low pressure sides to control flow rate..

I'm not concerned about sanitation. No one uses mag drive pumps in breweries. Centrifugal pumps with seals are the norm. I have worked in food processing and production including breweries for years and I had never seen a magnetic drive pump before I bought a march pump.
 
What are the voltage requirements (120v,etc)?

I believe that most centrifugal pumps are designed to allow for some throttling of the output via a valve, the issue is the increased temp and pressure can result in "damage" to the liquid. You probably wouldn't want to deadhead the pump but it would be easy enough to turn it off if you had to stop flow for a period of time.
 
While that seems like a very good deal, you really should contact the manufacturer to get the appropriate temp ratings and the material lists for anything that comes in contact with hot wort.

Most centrifugal pumps are not rated for operation anywhere near boiling temps, although they may be able to supply you with upgrades to your pump to allow it:

USA
EBARA International Corporation
Operations
Subsidiaries:

Manufacture and sale of pumps
Cryodynmics Division:
Pumps and Turbines for Liquefied Gasses
Address 350 Salomon Circle
Sparks, NV 89434
Phone (775) 356-2796
Fax (775) 356-2884
E-mail [email protected]
 
What are the voltage requirements (120v,etc)?

I believe that most centrifugal pumps are designed to allow for some throttling of the output via a valve, the issue is the increased temp and pressure can result in "damage" to the liquid. You probably wouldn't want to deadhead the pump but it would be easy enough to turn it off if you had to stop flow for a period of time.


.5 Amps and 120 Volts. It seems to be a pretty high efficiency pump meaning it doesnt seem to like being throttled down that much.
 
While that seems like a very good deal, you really should contact the manufacturer to get the appropriate temp ratings and the material lists for anything that comes in contact with hot wort.

Most centrifugal pumps are not rated for operation anywhere near boiling temps, although they may be able to supply you with upgrades to your pump to allow it:

USA
EBARA International Corporation
Operations
Subsidiaries:

Manufacture and sale of pumps
Cryodynmics Division:
Pumps and Turbines for Liquefied Gasses
Address 350 Salomon Circle
Sparks, NV 89434
Phone (775) 356-2796
Fax (775) 356-2884
E-mail [email protected]

I'll see what i can find out on it but from what I know of pumps it should work at least reasonably well in this application. From an initial teardown after testing with hot water it has Viton seals.
 
I'll see what i can find out on it but from what I know of pumps it should work at least reasonably well in this application. From an initial teardown after testing with hot water it has Viton seals.

In the end it's your beer and your money. Just offering a way to get the real scoop on ratings, safety, and durability issues you may run into running it in conditions that are almost certainly out of spec. Seems to me it is the least you could do before using it and serving the byproduct to your friends and family.
 
In the end it's your beer and your money. Just offering a way to get the real scoop on ratings, safety, and durability issues you may run into running it in conditions that are almost certainly out of spec. Seems to me it is the least you could do before using it and serving the byproduct to your friends and family.


Theres just not a lot of magic with pumps. Stainless volute, stainless impeller and viton rotary seals. Pretty much boilerplate sanitary pump features. Ive worked in breweries and other food processing plants in operations and management and thats about the extent of what you'd call a sanitary centrifugal pump. Ive seen a lot worse run in industry. If anything is going to crap out on the pump it will be the seals and those are replaceable like any pumps seals are.
 
Now for the useless info. I metered the pump flow today. Its not very indicative of what the pump will actually flow since I have not upgraded from the 1/2" lines I am running but it will give a little info. This was metered through a Krohne 6080 C magnetic flowmeter with one foot of head in the tank.

1. The March pump metered 4.8 GPM
2. The Ebara pump metered 11.5 GPM and was quite flow restricted through the 1/2" lines.
3. For comparison a wide open water line at my house flows 7.5 GPM and a city water main runs 220 GPM where I work..
 
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