Question about pumps

[kuenro02]

I am very new to all grain brewing but very interested in making the switch from extract. I am slowly putting together my parts to build my stand. I was in a tool store the other day and I saw these water pumps. Is this something I could use or do I have to go with the specific pumps that are at brew stores for $150?

 

[outside92129]

There are a lot of inexpensive pumps out there, what makes most of them unusable for brewing is usually temperature and/or contamination. Rubber seals will degrade rapidly in hot wort, most pumps at wally world are designed for room temperature. Food grade parts/lubrication is also important, you don't want to have petroleum byproducts in your beer. March pumps use the wort as lubrication, the blades are magnetically coupled (vs shaft driven) to the motor so there's no risk of leaking there as well.

i couldn't find the right information on wayne's site to see if it would be useful in brewing. If you're still interested give them a call monday and ask if it's food grade and what the usable temperature range is.
http://www.waynepumps.com/images/pdf/manuals/321205-001_1108_web.pdf

 

[castermmt]

I use Chugger pumps and liked them enough that I bought 3. They come with the stainless steel head and are rated for 250 degrees, so they'll handle the boil. The other popular pump is a march pump which is pretty much a similar pump. The prices I paid for the chugger has always been below $139 delivered. I don't know what the cost now but I got bought a new one late last year for $139 delivered, my first 2 pumps were a little cheaper. Hope this helps

you can see my pumps mounted if you follow my link below.

 

[kuenro02]

That makes sense. I never thought of temperature as an issue. Thanks guys! Very Helpful

 

[WalterAtMarchPump]

The pictures you posted above have rubber vein impellers inside the pump head. I am familiar with them as i use one just like it for changing the oil on my boat and truck's. The temp will be an issue but i think the bigger issue with a pump like this would be that I'm sure you would get a chemical taste from the pump transferred to you beer. Think of you garden hose if you have ever taken a drink straight from it on a hot day.

Every pump out there will have an Achilles heel to its operation. Any mag-drive centrifical wont make big pressure due tot he design of the pump. There's allot of slop built into it. Once you start making the tolerances tighter internally you start changing to shaft drive units and then you have to deal with shaft seals, and more HP to battle heavier fluids. Then you start moving to the pumps that can do high pressure....but they in turn start doing low volume.

For the most part when i comes to specing out a pump the first thing i would look at if you find a pump that you are interested in would be what temp will you be working at and is the pump rated for it. Then if it meets that first requirement i would then check to see what materials would come in contact with the liquid and is it food safe. From there you would need to see what the week point of the pump would be, is there a shaft seal, does it make enough pressure for what i want to do, does it give enough output in gallons per minute to make me happy...etc etc...

-Walter