March Pump Q

[Frogger42]

Just got my first pump and so far i love it. I am deathly afraid of burning it out.

How long (if at all) is it okay for the pump to run dry after it has sucked all of the liquid out of my HLT?

Is the answer none?

Is five seconds okay?

 

[Dan]

Frogger, I have no experience with the subject but have read they are not suppose to be allowed to run dry. Why don't you contact the people at March Pump. Here's their website
http://www.marchpump.com/contact/

 

[Frogger42]

Thanks Dan, I figured I'd ask those in the field first.

 

[passedpawn]

Just got my first pump and so far i love it. I am deathly afraid of burning it out.

How long (if at all) is it okay for the pump to run dry after it has sucked all of the liquid out of my HLT?

Is the answer none?

Is five seconds okay?

I ran my yesterday for about 45 minutes before I realized my valve was closed. There was wort in there, but it was churning.

I've run it dry many, many times, but probably not for more than 30 seconds.

It's been splashed, dropped (broke one head), and lived outdoors for 3 years. No problem.

 

[Dan]

Thanks Dan, I figured I'd ask those in the field first.

Yep, good idea. Experience is often times more accurate. A manufacturer will stick to the specs which in an operational environment are not always correct for better or worse.

 

[WalterAtMarchPump]

If you run it bone dry you will get a screetching noise out of it and you will turn it off right away. If you still have liquid in the pump head from pumping the pot dry then you can run it for a few minutes no problem....theres anough liquid on there that it wont cause any damage to the pump head. I wont say a specific time for running it bone dry cause it varies from pump to pump....these guys are small and most times they can go for more then 5min without issues...just alot of noise...

 

[Frogger42]

Super helpful, thanks for the info, so far I have been paranoid about letting it run if the hlt is close to emptying out, at least now I can relax a bit.