Pump questions

[sictransit701]

I am planning to add a pump to my setup. I have a 3 tier brew stand. I have one burner. I would like to be able to transfer liquids without picking it up. I would like to pump water from my boil kettle to mash tun and hot liquor tank. I would also like to pump a whirlpool after a boil.
My questions are:
1. How much difference in height do I need between the ball valve on my boil kettle and the pump? I would like to mount the pump to my brew stand.
2. How high can I pump liquid? The bottom of my hot liquor tank is 6ft from the ground. Can I pump it through the ball valve or does it need to to the top?
3. Is there any way I can plumb everything so that I won’t have to move hoses? I’d need one hose from the boil kettle to the pump and three hoses from the pump to either the mash tun, hot liquor tank, or back to the boil kettle. Or, would it be easier to make everything on 1 level and use 2 pumps like all the newer systems?
Thanks!

 

[RPh_Guy]

1. The entirety of the pump head should be at least a couple inches below the expected level of liquid in the kettle.
2. Look at the pump specs for the actual number. Most brew pumps can pump 10+ feet vertically.
3. You could certainly do permanent plumbing if you want. Personally I move hoses around with ball lock quick disconnects (on my 2-vessel 2-pump single-tier counterflow HERMS) because hard plumbing my complex setup would be kind of extreme.

 

[sictransit701]

Quick disconnects sounds like something I could do. I just don’t want to be unscrewing, screwing, and spilling stuff.

 

[Deadalus]

The nice thing about a pump or two is getting the vessels on the same level. Less vertical distance is easier on the pump too.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, here's purported pump head vs max flow rates for Blichmann's RipTide, with some comparison data from unknown competitor(s).
At 6-7 feet there should still be a respectable flow capacity. I expect the HLT could be filled via its drain port...

Cheers!

 

[sictransit701]

The nice thing about a pump or two is getting the vessels on the same level. Less vertical distance is easier on the pump too.

I would love this idea. Is it difficult to pump from mash tun to boil kettle? Would continuous sparging or batch sparge be best?

 

[Stand]

+1 on pump allowing same level vessels.

I only have one pump, and I switch things around. I still use gravity from my HLT to mash, but pump for everything else.

Really a great upgrade.

 

[sictransit701]

+1 on pump allowing same level vessels.

I only have one pump, and I switch things around. I still use gravity from my HLT to mash, but pump for everything else.

Really a great upgrade.

Can you show your setup? So you pump from mash to boil? I might alter my brew stand. I need brew buddies.

 

[Stand]

You can do one burner and 2 levels (HLT above Mash) if you want to fly sparge. I only NEED 3 hoses to make the whole system work.

QDs and fittings can get expensive if you go wild with them.

I have things hooked up to my RIMs tube in that picture, but it's unnecessary.

 

[Stand]

You can reverse it like a Tippydump as well: BrewBuilt Tippy Dump BrewSculpture™ V4 | MoreBeer

 

[Deadalus]

I would love this idea. Is it difficult to pump from mash tun to boil kettle? Would continuous sparging or batch sparge be best?

I have two pumps, both March pumps, all one level. I fly sparge with a rotating sparge arm but it depends on what is optimal for you there. No issue going from the mash tun to the boil kettle. I have a stainless steel table and then a rack on the shelf underneath to keep the pumps a little higher. Getting the recirculation going through the Herms coil is the spot where I need to make sure the tubing is fully primed and no air pockets in the pump head. A dump valve would solve this but at most I just need to turn the pump back off and tap it a few times to get the air bubble out. It doesn't bug me enough to change it.

Whirlpooling is also easy with a pump if that is something you might be interested in.

 

[Stand]

I use my pump on whirlpool as well. I bought an immersion chiller with a built in recirculation arm, because moving it the entire time you recirculate is the worst.

People who think it's not so bad don't live in the south.

Pump opens up a lot of options.