Problem with new Riptide Pump

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I picked up a riptide pump a few months back, went to use it on my brew day, but it leaked so bad that I couldn't use it. I contacted blichmann and they sent me a new cup, claiming that they have had some that aren't flat and don't seal. The pump still leaked after installing the new cup, I contacted blichmann again, so they sent me another cup, same issue. They ended up sending me a complete new pump head assembly that did fix the leaking issue.

It was over a month's time before I was able to use the pump, every time they sent replacement parts it took a week to get them (they used slow ground shipping everytime). Blichmann's customer service sucked, this will be my first and last blichmann purchase.

With all that being said, the pump does work great now, and it's awesome that it's so quick to disassemble and clean. However, it is much louder than I expected it to be.
 
So, my brew day went okay with the pumps. But, there definitely seems like the newer pump has something out of balance. I hope Blichmann makes good.
 
I talked to Blichmann about this issue and after a few simple tests they determined that the impeller was at fault. They sent me a replacement along with a extra washer and O-ring for free. I am impressed with their customer service. Kudos!

It works great now!

I also got a beer cozy!
 
Just going to mention that any quality issues with these pumps would ultimately be marches problem to correct but Blichmanns to address with the customer as Ive read March is the actual manufacturers of the riptide.. (you can even buy the riptide style head for some model march pumps now)
 
Tested my brand new pump last night, just to make sure today would go through w/o any problems. Used it to clean the new foundry, and give the pump itself a cleaning w/some warm water and PBW.

Brew day..ready to recirculate...and...bzzzzzz. Disconnected, took it apart, reconnected, same. Hooked it up to the water house out front, hooked up the tubing, opened up the valve and water was pretty flowing right through it. Throw the switch...bzzzzz..

Great big W T F...submitted a ticket this morning. Looks like I'll have to wait until Monday to get a response, which is fine..but....just...argh...
 
Will the motor run with the head off?

I thought you weren’t supposed to run it dry? I was trying to find troubleshooting steps anywhere in the web and I did come across your troubleshooting vid on YouTube. Thought since it was a different pump, different config, it wasn’t applicable.
 
I thought you weren’t supposed to run it dry? I was trying to find troubleshooting steps anywhere in the web and I did come across your troubleshooting vid on YouTube. Thought since it was a different pump, different config, it wasn’t applicable.
He means take the magnetic impeller out of the pump.

Did you take the pump apart after your cleaning? I have heard some have inadvertently lost the thrust washer.

Look at post #7 here: Blichmann Riptide Pump Washer
 
If you lost the washer I was able to find nylon replacements at my local hardware store, apparently they are a commonly carried size.
 
I have accidently run mine dry more than once. They make a gawd-awful noise when they do. Had to take the pump apart once when the impeller stopped spinning and make sure everythingt was clean. Put it back together and it runs fine. Just keep an eye on your liquid level when cleaning with the pump so that it doesn't run dry. I never have that problem when tansferring wort from the b oil kettle to the fermenter since there is always some wort that stays in the line ahead of the pum to keep it from running dry. Fortunately, I have never lost the impeller washer!
 
Ah, thanks for the input everyone.
  • The impeller spins freely with the pump head off.
  • I did not lose the washer, although I have been extremely paranoid about doing so
  • The o ring is placed correctly
  • I haven’t over tightened the TC clamp, although I know I did with the first run
  • I haven’t removed the motor bracket to test yet. I’ll do that shortly?
 
Removed the “Motor Bracket” and it runs smooth and quiet. Put it back on, same level noise runs smooth.

Maybe i did over tighten? Sanity check, while I’m thinking a lot clearer today. I’ll only tighten the TC just enough to where the pump head can’t rotate any more.
 
When I think about all the manual work and heavy lifting I could have avoided, and the REALLY boneheaded mistake that I might have avoided had I not been so frustrated about the pump “not working” yesterday...yeesh. Painful.

I’ve had of fear of not tightening stuff down enough due to a potentially catastrophic motorcycle incident many years ago. In the absence of torque specs, the happy medium must be found.
 
I thought you weren’t supposed to run it dry? I was trying to find troubleshooting steps anywhere in the web and I did come across your troubleshooting vid on YouTube. Thought since it was a different pump, different config, it wasn’t applicable.
If you remove the head it's no longer a pump, it's a motor. If the motor runs it's the head.
 
I know these just hit the market, so not too many have used this pump yet. I bought one to replace one of my Chugger pumps because I loved the features, especially the quiet operation and ease of cleaning. The main problem I am having is the pump will start to scream if I run boiling wort through it (this is how i sanitize my chiller and pump in the last ten minutes of the boil). My chugger would tend to cavitate at higher temps too, but if I throttled it back a little it was fine. It seems to make no difference how much I throttle this one back, it will start screaming in a matter of seconds. this is a huge problem if I can't solve it. I also thought this would control flow easier than a ball valve, but it is very hard to dial in a slow flow for sparging. Over all I LOVE the pump, but if I can't use it to pump boiling wort, it really knocks down the value to me. I will contact Blichmann about it, but was just wondering if others had had this issue.

Thanks
I had the same problem when using the riptide in my boil tank. I have an electric system and needed the pump to keep circulation over the heating coils before and during boiling. I contacted Blichman and they told me once the wort begins to boil, the circulation pump is not required.
because the boil process keeps curculation over the heating coils. That issue was solved but at the end of the boil, i need to wait until the wort cools down a few degrees to start the centrifuge process otherwise the pump starts "Screaming." Other cheaper pumps do not have this issue
 
No surprise over the advise you received. There's a fundamental problem with pumping at near boiling temperature as the pressure at the input to the pump can drop enough to cause the wort to "flash boil" which creates localized steam causing the pump to cavitate. Any good pump will be subject to this phenomenon.

I shut down my boil kettle pump (815pl) when the temperature rises above 200°F as there isn't much point in recirculating a boil kettle at an actual boil as thermal convection is more than enough to keep wort in motion. And if I do a post-boil whirlpool I do wait until the kettle temp drops below ~205°F then start the spin at reduced flow and sneak up as the wort cools a bit more...

Cheers!
 
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