Steelhead pump from Northern Brewer

[chemman14]

Does anyone use this pump? They currently have a great deal going right now and I have been thinking about using a pump in my brewery for some time now.
Here is a link to the deal in case anyone else wanted to take advantage.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/promo...content=Take+Your+Brewery+to+the+Next+Level+-

 

[LandoLincoln]

That's kinda pricey. You can find steel head inline Chugger pumps for about $140 and steel head center inlet Chugger pumps for about $135 at Brewhardware.com. I own a March pump and a Chugger pump. Both of them do the job just fine.

A lot of people don't think about what type of pump inlet type they need before they get it. At least I didn't. It largely depends on your rig and where the pump is going to be located. If you're planning on having the pump down low close to the floor, then a center inlet head would be optimal. If you're planning on having the pump up higher away from the floor, then an inline head would be optimal.

I originally bought a plastic inline head pump because it was the cheapest, and I tried to use it close to the floor. What a pain that was. I upgraded to a center inlet head and now brew days are easier.

 

[chemman14]

That's kinda pricey. You can find steel head inline Chugger pumps for about $140 and steel head center inlet Chugger pumps for about $135 at Brewhardware.com. I own a March pump and a Chugger pump. Both of them do the job just fine.

A lot of people don't think about what type of pump inlet type they need before they get it. At least I didn't. It largely depends on your rig and where the pump is going to be located. If you're planning on having the pump down low close to the floor, then a center inlet head would be optimal. If you're planning on having the pump up higher away from the floor, then an inline head would be optimal.

I originally bought a plastic inline head pump because it was the cheapest, and I tried to use it close to the floor. What a pain that was. I upgraded to a center inlet head and now brew days are easier.

Curious why the different inlets matter? I have seen this mentioned but never a hard explanation of what the advantages/disadvantages are. Currently I have a very basic system with a cooler and blichmann burner. Was planning on just having the pump resting on the ground. Eventually I would like to get a more advanced system with temperature controlled mash, etc. but that is a while down the road.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Curious why the different inlets matter? I have seen this mentioned but never a hard explanation of what the advantages/disadvantages are. Currently I have a very basic system with a cooler and blichmann burner. Was planning on just having the pump resting on the ground. Eventually I would like to get a more advanced system with temperature controlled mash, etc. but that is a while down the road.

Inline pumps are designed to be run while oriented straight up and down, even though lots of brewers don't use them that way.

So if the inline pump is oriented correctly, then that means the inlet is at the bottom, and if the pump is close to the ground, then that means you're probably going to have to put a 90° elbow on the inlet to be able to hook up a hose to it. Adding extra elbows adds friction to the flow of the system, and that negatively affects the performance of the pump. Since I had a plastic head on my pump I couldn't ever really tighten the metal elbow too much for fear of snapping the pump head, so it was always a little loose and it waggled from side to side. And it occasionally leaked a little bit. Which was a pain.

So I upgraded to the steel center inlet head and things are much better.

 

[chemman14]

Inline pumps are designed to be run while oriented straight up and down, even though lots of brewers don't use them that way.

So if the inline pump is oriented correctly, then that means the inlet is at the bottom, and if the pump is close to the ground, then that means you're probably going to have to put a 90° elbow on the inlet to be able to hook up a hose to it. Adding extra elbows adds friction to the flow of the system, and that negatively affects the performance of the pump. Since I had a plastic head on my pump I couldn't ever really tighten the metal elbow too much for fear of snapping the pump head, so it was always a little loose and it waggled from side to side. And it occasionally leaked a little bit. Which was a pain.

So I upgraded to the steel center inlet head and things are much better.

Ahhhh it totally makes sense now. The inline should have the inlet/outlet perpendicular to the ground, not parallel. Thanks for the explanation

 

[heckels]

I have two of the Steelhead pumps from NB and have had no problems that weren't my own doing (hop sludge). I run mine horizontal and have has no issues getting it primed.


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