Got a pump... now what?

[stru]

I finally picked up a Chugger ss pump with the center inlet and now I'm completely baffled.

The port on the center inlet is 3/4 inches, but the ball valve on my 15 gallon kettle is 1/2. What is the easiest way to make this work without putting a 1/2 inch adapter on the pump? My local homebrew shop was baffled, saying I wound need an adapter... it doesn't even carry 3/4 inch accessories. Guess I should have done more research.

Ultimately i'd like to fit my kettle with a 3/4 inch ball valve... Will that require metal working? Sacrifices?? Magic???

 

[JoelMIBrewer]

You could try and find a bell reducer for your kettle, or by the 3/4" ball valve and put a reducer bushing in that. Either way you are restricting the suction side of your pump so you might be better off with 1/2" ball valve cuz they're cheaper.

 

[Ramitt]

You need a 3/4" npt to 1/2 npt female adapter. Seller should have included or offered one. I doubt there is much advantage adapting your kettle to 3/4" since the output is 1/2". I have not had any issue with mine. I don't think you will find a better way. http://www.homebrewing.org/12-FPT-x-34-FPT-Stainless-Steel-Reducer_p_4178.html

 

[stru]

Is this how everyone uses their chugger pump... Downsizing to 1/2 inch? It seems odd that nobody has found a way to take advantage of the actual pump design.

 

[stru]

Even the Chugger website suggests this solution... I was hoping there was another way. Oh well, thanks for the link!

 

[grathan]

The I.D of the pump inlet might be threaded 0.5" female

*edit or not, not sure why I thought this....


You can setup for 3/4. The 3/4 hose seems sold out a lot of places atm though.

 

[mwsenoj]

Is this how everyone uses their chugger pump... Downsizing to 1/2 inch? It seems odd that nobody has found a way to take advantage of the actual pump design.

I'm trying to put an order of a SS Chugger and am trying to decide between the center inlet and the inline version. To answer your question, no. It seems like most people are buying the inline pump head so the lines are not sticking out past the brewsculpture. I was very tempted to get the center inlet since there is a bit of an advantage in the flow since there is one less 90* angle, but I am deciding to go with the inline version so that I have less parts and teflon in my system.

Just FYI, I was recommended brewhardware.com here in the forum and he includes the reducer free of charge when you buy the center inlet pump. You might check them out for future pumping purchases.

 

[grathan]

I think the 1/25hp motor and impeller design are so weak that most people gate back the output with a ball valve. Probably get similar flows with 3/8" inlet/outlet.

 

[Bobby_M]

I think the 1/25hp motor and impeller design are so weak that most people gate back the output with a ball valve. Probably get similar flows with 3/8" inlet/outlet.

I don't know what this statement means. The motor is 1/20th HP. If it were weak, why would you need to gate back the output? The reason people put a valve on the output is to slow the flow down.

 

[grathan]

My thoughts are mainly about head pressure, by gating the output back, the weight of the output does not sit continually on the inefficient impeller. With the design, not only do you have the weakness of the motor, but also the weakness of the magnet. The impeller clearances seem greater than necessary. Shouldn't the output create an equal suction on the inlet?

Don't let me mislead you, I know nothing of pump design. I will just say that the flow is a joke for the price. Feeding it with a 3/4" pipe would seem trivial.

 

[Bobby_M]

What pump do you use?

 

[grathan]

3/4 inlet chugger.

I haven't even used it yet. Are you thinking 3/4 inlet and 1/2 out would pump more GPM than 3/8 in/out?

 

[Bobby_M]

It seems you have a lot of negativity regarding a pump that you haven't tried yet. You don't need 3/4" ID plumbing on the inlet at all. The ID of the inlet casting is just barely .55" so using the bell reducer is fine. Where many people go wrong is using hose barbs and/or quick disconnects that have restrictive IDs and that definitely affects performance. Keep everything 1/2" ID and under 5 ft of vertical rise and you'll get a solid 4 gallons per minute out of it.

 

[stru]

Same forum... New question. I now have a 3/4" ball valve on my kettle! This matches the 3/4" center inlet chugger pump. My problem now is that I can't find and quick disconnects, cam locks, etc... to fit 3/4". I've barely been able to find high temperature for the damn thing. This has been an awful experience...

 

[Minbari]

centrifugal pumps almost always have a larger inlet than outlet, that reduced the posibility of Cavitation. (this is also why you want to throttle the output and NOT the input of a pump)

these guys have about anything you want. up to 2"

http://www.dudadiesel.com/fittings.php

 

[stru]

Thank you!

 

[Indian_villager]

My thoughts are mainly about head pressure, by gating the output back, the weight of the output does not sit continually on the inefficient impeller. With the design, not only do you have the weakness of the motor, but also the weakness of the magnet. The impeller clearances seem greater than necessary. Shouldn't the output create an equal suction on the inlet?

Don't let me mislead you, I know nothing of pump design. I will just say that the flow is a joke for the price. Feeding it with a 3/4" pipe would seem trivial.

Chemical Engineer here with experience in flow dynamics. This is not how a pump works. Putting a ball valve on the outlet of a pump will not increase the potential head that can be generated by the pump. And yes the impeller is not the highest efficiency design because these pumps are built to handle moderate amounts of particulates, a high efficiency pump would probably seize under normal homebrew operations.

In terms of centrifugal pumps feeding the pump with a larger bore tube will help reduce the possibility of cavitation, your risk of cavitation is already on the high end because you are dealing with near boiling or boiling wort.

And OP I don't understand why your kettle fitting has to match your pump inlet fitting. If you are valving off the outlet on the pump your cavitation risk is reduced. Why are you so against using a reducer fitting on the pump inlet to get it to 1/2"? So long as you properly prime the pump you should be fine.

 

[stru]

And OP I don't understand why your kettle fitting has to match your pump inlet fitting. If you are valving off the outlet on the pump your cavitation risk is reduced. Why are you so against using a reducer fitting on the pump inlet to get it to 1/2"? So long as you properly prime the pump you should be fine.

Not having a lot of knowledge about pumps, I just assumed that the pump was designed to use 3/4" fittings for a reason.

After finding out that most people just use a 1/2" adaptor, I checked the ball valve on my boil kettle, (a hand-me-down from an old mustard company), and discovered that it was already 3/4" stainless steel.

Now 3/4" quick disconnects and tubing just make sense.

 

[grathan]

The 3/4 " on a mash tun would be a big plus because it can be tricky to gate the flow to match the output without running dry. It also would alleviate compaction by suction.
It might make priming the pump easier on the kettle side too.

You think 3/4 was hard to procure.. I tried to do 1 1/4 to match the ball valve on my keggle... That is like $100/ft for hose.

Who had the 3/4 hose btw?

 

[stru]

The 3/4 " on a mash tun would be a big plus because it can be tricky to gate the flow to match the output without running dry. It also would alleviate compaction by suction.
It might make priming the pump easier on the kettle side too.

You think 3/4 was hard to procure.. I tried to do 1 1/4 to match the ball valve on my keggle... That is like $100/ft for hose.

Who had the 3/4 hose btw?

I haven't actually purchased the hose yet, I'm still trying to figure out what would work best, but these guys have a huge supply.

http://www.usplastic.com/mobile/category.aspx?categoryid=856