Pump upgrade dilemma - peripheral odds and ends

[Mikhailkups]

Long time homebrewer, first time poster. Sorry in advance if this sounds familiar, but I am having trouble getting a good answer on hardware and tubing size for my new Chugger Pump (which has 1/2" connections). My problem is that I hear the preferred connection size for everything related to a pump is 1/2" ID to maximize flow, but haven't heard if 3/8" is will cause problems, or if it's just not as good. Has anyone actually used a 3/8" setup for this?

My reason for asking is that I already have 3/8" ID silicone tubing that I've been using for a while with 1/2" hose barbs that I invested in last year. I'd hate to have this hardware go to waste and spend the $$ to replace everything just to have the larger ID, especially since I'm already spending money on the pump and other related hardware. My fear of using the 3/8" tubing is that I'll have to really throttle the flow on the output valve and/or have to pay extra close attention to the pump to make sure it doesn't run dry while I should be focusing on the rest of the brewing process. So will using 3/8 ID tubing cause problems and/or possible pump damage, or will it just be slow?

Thanks all!

 

[Keith81]

I've never tried it but I'd suspect that 3/8" going to the pump input may have trouble with cavitation unless the output is throttled back significantly. 3/8" on the outlet will result in significantly slower flow than 1/2".

 

[Mikhailkups]

Thanks for the info. After considering that I'll need all new hardware to go to camlocks anyway, I figured it made sense to upgrade my tubing, especially because I was able to find 1/2" ID 3/4" ID silicone tubing on Amazon for $1.40 per foot. Woohoo!

Thanks again! I consider this matter closed.