Pump Question

[SeeGeeBee]

Still in the planning stages. My kettle is in route. As soon as it arrives, I am going to fabricate an immersion chiller using a 20-25' copper coil (ribcage design). I also want to incorporate a pump and ice water bucket to recirculate the water.

The question is waht kind of pump will be sufficient to push the water through. Do you think a drill pump will suffice? This one in particular.

If this one is too weak, what would be sufficient to use with a 40 quart pot doing full 5 gallon boils? Also, is that lenght of copper sufficient? Trying to keep costs down.

 

[Catt22]

I would not recommend the drill pump. It will be a hassle to use with a drill and the performance isn't so hot either. A better choice might be a cheap submersible pump from Harbor Freight if you are on a tight budget. You should be OK with that length for the chiller tubing.

 

[SeeGeeBee]

What about pond pumps like this one?

Is there a certain GPH I should look for?

 

[Catt22]

What about pond pumps like this one?

Is there a certain GPH I should look for?

I don't think that one will do the job either. I would look for something with more power like this:

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I think there is an error in the specs for the above pump. It says 1315 GPH which I seriously doubt. Probably more like 315 GPH, but I could be wrong. Either way, it should do the job for you at a reasonable cost.

Just off hand I would thing that something like 3-5 gallons per minute would be a good guess for the flow rate. You will be facing considerable resistance pushing water through that long narrow tubing, so it's better to have too much pump than too little.

IMO, you would be ahead of the game if you held off on the pump purchase for awhile. Go ahead and brew some beer and just use tap water through the IC for now. You might find that it is all you need. The ice might be advantageous in the summer, but most of us only use it at the end of the chilling process to get the wort down to pitching temp after you get it to 110 F or so with the straight tap water. The other way to approach this using ice is with two IC's. One in an ice bath to cool the tap water before it goes to the IC in the wort. This eliminates the need for a pump, but does require a second IC.

 

[ajwillys]

I can personally recommend this one from Northern Tool:

Northern Industrial Submersible Pump — 1326 GPH, 1/8 HP, 1in. | Submersible Utility Pumps | Northern Tool + Equipment

I use it with a 25' garden hose to (2) 25' sections of 3/8" copper tubing where the two coils split apart and then join back together before exiting out another hose. This pump has plenty of juice for that with more to spare.

I'm sure it's very similar to the Harbor Freight one mentioned before but just wanted to give you another option.

 

[illin8]

I use this one...it ROCKS for recirculating my IC ice water.

 

[ajwillys]

I think there is an error in the specs for the above pump. It says 1315 GPH which I seriously doubt. Probably more like 315 GPH, but I could be wrong. Either way, it should do the job for you at a reasonable cost.

Probably not an error. Those specs are given considering absolutely no resistance. If its as powerful as the one I posted, I believe it. It will shoot water 15' straight up when there's not a hose attached.

 

[springer]

Everyone who say's it wont work have you tried it or just assume it wont .From experience the drill pump will work. I have used it on the last three brews the one I have has 275 GPH rating strong enough to pull the slush through the hose.

 

[SeeGeeBee]

Everyone who say's it wont work have you tried it or just assume it wont .From experience the drill pump will work. I have used it on the last three brews the one I have has 275 GPH rating strong enough to pull the slush through the hose.

It pulls slush? I'm just wanting to pull water. Do you just lock the drill in place? Does it damage the drill? I'm hoping it will just need to run for about 10-15 minutes.

For $10 I think I'm going to give it a try.

 

[TeufelBrew]

I recirc my icewater with a powerhead for undergravel filter for fish tanks.

Pumps about the same speed I run the water from garden hose for initial cool down. Then a 10# bag of ice barely covered with water and the pump goes in. I can get it from 110 to 70 in about 10-12 minutes with enough ice and stirring the wort regularly.

 

[springer]

It pulls slush? I'm just wanting to pull water. Do you just lock the drill in place? Does it damage the drill? I'm hoping it will just need to run for about 10-15 minutes.

For $10 I think I'm going to give it a try.

Ya I was using snow to cool the water so it turned to slush. Hey snow is free

I just used a clamp to hold the trigger in the first time but I now use zip ties. It wont hurt the drill lot less strain than drilling or driving screws.