Pump ideas

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I have two center inlet ss chugger pumps in route from stainless brewing. Two of them was about $290. I like the stainless pump head because it is more durable than the plastic. I like to disassemble pumps heads after use to clean them.

I should add that I have a march pump too and it was a fine pump, I just wanted the stainless pump head and it is way more money from march. Maybe I will regret it later, I don't know.
 
I've got this little guy and it works perfect. I use to re-circulate throughout my 60 minutes mash and than into the BK. I also used it to run through my plate chiller and back to the BK with no issues. It's not a strong as the Chugger/March, but it certainly gets the job done.
 
I've got this little guy and it works perfect. I use to re-circulate throughout my 60 minutes mash and than into the BK. I also used it to run through my plate chiller and back to the BK with no issues. It's not a strong as the Chugger/March, but it certainly gets the job done.

That's cheap! Did you just splice a 12V DC adapter to run it? Or a car battery, I suppose.
 
That's cheap! Did you just splice a 12V DC adapter to run it? Or a car battery, I suppose.

Yep. I spliced a tablet charger and connected it. Just like doing a fan for a stir plate. The charger needs to be a little bigger than a wall charger though usually cause it needs a bit more power. I've read that old laptop chargers will work too. The specs are somewhere around here.
 
I have both a March and Chugger. They are rated for 250 degrees and food grade which is what you should use. I'm sure the hot water recirc pump is food grade but I would be concerned if I were to use it to transfer boiling wort..but hey, if it works...
 
rgauthier did you throw a valve on there or just let it go?

It is food grade and rated up to boiling temps. I think the listing notes 100C or above. I just screwed my quick disconnects into it directly. I run it at 100% for my RIMS mash and I re-circulate back to the BK while chilling. My needs don't dictate a valve on it. I like the way I did it because all of my connections have female QD's on them. So the pump is plug and play for me. I can move it to wherever I want and it fits.
 
I have both a March and Chugger. They are rated for 250 degrees and food grade which is what you should use. I'm sure the hot water recirc pump is food grade but I would be concerned if I were to use it to transfer boiling wort..but hey, if it works...

I've used it once from BK to chiller and back. It worked perfect then. We'll see if it stands up for a long time. But, at $20, I don't mind picking up a couple extra really.
 
I've got this little guy and it works perfect. I use to re-circulate throughout my 60 minutes mash and than into the BK. I also used it to run through my plate chiller and back to the BK with no issues. It's not a strong as the Chugger/March, but it certainly gets the job done.

X3

I got my newest one from amazon. Did not have to wait the 2 weeks being shipped from Hong Kong like my first ones.
The original ones I purchased has lasted a year and about a dozen brews with no problems. I now have one for each kettle and mash tun.
 
The 4 pumps you usually read about on here are the March pumps, the chugger, the topsflo, and the tan pump. I've used them all to recirculate hot wort. A lot of people have had luck with the tan pump, but two have either broken or died on me. My topsflo makes weird noises when throttled, so that concerns me. My first chugger died on me, but the warranty replacement has survived though it can be a tad finicky at times. Overall, if you're serious about brewing a whole lot, I think the march pumps are worth the money.
 
Yep. I spliced a tablet charger and connected it. Just like doing a fan for a stir plate. The charger needs to be a little bigger than a wall charger though usually cause it needs a bit more power. I've read that old laptop chargers will work too. The specs are somewhere around here.

needs a 1 amp or bigger ac adapter.... old pc powersupply or adapters at the goodwill work too...
 
The 4 pumps you usually read about on here are the March pumps, the chugger, the topsflo, and the tan pump. I've used them all to recirculate hot wort. A lot of people have had luck with the tan pump, but two have either broken or died on me. My topsflo makes weird noises when throttled, so that concerns me. My first chugger died on me, but the warranty replacement has survived though it can be a tad finicky at times. Overall, if you're serious about brewing a whole lot, I think the march pumps are worth the money.

I hope this doesnt come out wrong but I'd be wondering if theres something you might be doing wrong or different to strain them to have such bad luck with all those different pumps. Or your using them a hell of a lot.

I use the tan and topsflo and so far so good with about 20-25hrs of continuous runtime on each now....
$5 pwm speed controllers can be used with the dc mini pumps and work well too... thats what I've been using.
 
Leaning towards the tan pump since this is my first tier build and i have a tight budget. Anyone have a link for an american seller i can get it from. I hate waiting a month for **** from overseas. Also, 12V or 24V model?
 
I've used it once from BK to chiller and back. It worked perfect then. We'll see if it stands up for a long time. But, at $20, I don't mind picking up a couple extra really.
I bought two tan ones back in december along with a topsflo before the price jusmped to $70 and havent even opened the one tan one up yet because I've had no issues.
 
Leaning towards the tan pump since this is my first tier build and i have a tight budget. Anyone have a link for an american seller i can get it from. I hate waiting a month for **** from overseas. Also, 12V or 24V model?
just search for the p38 or solar pump on ebay and select "us sellers only" I bought mine from a seller in California. amazon has them too
 
how high have you guys been able to pump with tan pump?

? planning on making a waterfall? JK
I use mine to pump to and from mash ,bk and hlt which is a single tier but I also pump through a herms coil and its been more than strong enough mine pumps like 30" up in one configuration .... They do have the height listed in the specs I think. in the "cheap wort pump" thread there you tube videos.
 
I hope this doesnt come out wrong but I'd be wondering if theres something you might be doing wrong or different to strain them to have such bad luck with all those different pumps. Or your using them a hell of a lot.

I use the tan and topsflo and so far so good with about 20-25hrs of continuous runtime on each now....
$5 pwm speed controllers can be used with the dc mini pumps and work well too... thats what I've been using.

One of the tan pumps I broke the output thread off, so that's completely my bad, but be aware they are pretty fragile. The other tan pump just stopped working mid recirculating for my rims tube. From previous brew days I had gotten at least 20-30 hours out of it before it died. It was throttled back, but the false bottom wasn't stuck (used vacuum gauge) or anything so not sure how that one could possibly be my fault. If I were to do that again I would use a PWM because I suspect throttling damaged it since it's not magnetic.

The chugger was just defective, so that definitely wasn't my fault. Second one works.

And for the loud sounding topsflo while throttled, I'm not sure if mines defective, if I bought it damaged used, or if that's the way they all sound. I'm putting a PWM on it because I don't trust it throttled.
 
One of the tan pumps I broke the output thread off, so that's completely my bad, but be aware they are pretty fragile. The other tan pump just stopped working mid recirculating for my rims tube. From previous brew days I had gotten at least 20-30 hours out of it before it died. It was throttled back, but the false bottom wasn't stuck (used vacuum gauge) or anything so not sure how that one could possibly be my fault. If I were to do that again I would use a PWM because I suspect throttling damaged it since it's not magnetic.

The chugger was just defective, so that definitely wasn't my fault. Second one works.

And for the loud sounding topsflo while throttled, I'm not sure if mines defective, if I bought it damaged used, or if that's the way they all sound. I'm putting a PWM on it because I don't trust it throttled.
My topsflo makes more noise when turned down on the pwm too... so its got to be the nature of the beast...I agree that throttling them back may be aiding in the failure rate.
 
Thats what i was thinking you did. I saw a cheap way of doing with just using brass barbs and a nut. Might do that for the time being.

If there's anything I'd say put a few more bucks to now, it would be connections. You are GOING to change them later. I promise. The cams aren't all that expensive. I use brass QD's that I get from my dad for relatively cheap. I can get a male/female set up for around $13. I just remember when I was screwing and unscrewing hoses when I using barbs and such. Was a real PITA.
 
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