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Beer pumps

Berkyjay

Grandmaster Brewer
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Does anyone here have any experience with them?  I am planning on buying one to take care of multiple tasks from transferring hot wort to moving beer through a filter.  I know that I need to have a temp resistant pump but all the ones I am finding are not self-priming.  The issue I have is how do you start a pump that doesn't self-prime?  Does that question make sense?
 
March has one (model 890) that lots of folks like.
It's cheap at about $140 a pop

I got two of the Little Giant  3-MD-HC magnetic drive pumps.
They move more than twice the fluid as does the March pump.
But I learned the day I got 'em that ya gotta disassemble the pump head and take it all apart for a good cleaning  and re lubing with a food  grade - EDIBLE- grease or else you will be consuming the black moly grease the factory lubed their center support shaft with.

I will probably replace the Little Giant center shaft  ( it's ceramic) with a Rulon or Teflon shaft.
The Ceramic is fine but needs to be lubed.  Rulon and Teflon don't need such lube.



 
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10664

that's a common one.  I got it from Austin and it works.  It took the operator a long time to make it work well, but that is on me, not the pump.  It primes by being placed lower than the pot you're trying to empty. 

I've found it works best to be set on the floor, as low as possible, and now with a valve on the outbound side, slightly closed, the back pressure keeps it humming. 
 
MaltLicker said:
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=10664

that's a common one.  I got it from Austin and it works.  It took the operator a long time to make it work well, but that is on me, not the pump.  It primes by being placed lower than the pot you're trying to empty. 

I've found it works best to be set on the floor, as low as possible, and now with a valve on the outbound side, slightly closed, the back pressure keeps it humming. 

I'm curious, do you have to feed liquid into the pump first or is it just good enough to place the tube connected to the pump into the beer while keeping the pump below the carboy?  I have been researching this and it seems like you have to get liquid into the housing before it can start pumping.
 
If you mean hanging over the edge like a siphon, then no.  The liquid must flow down into the pump head:  that is the priming part.  I think they may only work with valved vessels. 
 
MaltLicker said:
If you mean hanging over the edge like a siphon, then no.  The liquid must flow down into the pump head:  that is the priming part.  I think they may only work with valved vessels. 

Hmm, still a little confused.  Let me give more detail of what my possible set up would be.  I am trying to set up a filtering system that doesn't involve kegging.  I would like to filter my beer then repitch with fresh yeast before bottling.  So my envisioned set up would be to have a 5 gallon carboy sitting at about 4 ft above the floor.  I have another 5 gallon carboy sitting on the floor.  I then have the pump sitting just in line with the top of the carboy on the floor.  Now, this isn't a self-priming pump.  So what do I need to do to get the pump started?  Do I have to siphon beer down to the pump first to get it started or can I just place the hose from the pump into the top carboy and it will draw the beer out on its own. 

From everything I have read, it seems like the former is true.  If that is the case then I feel it would be very difficult to get this system to work and I would have to do a keg to keg system then try bottling from the keg.
 
I don't think it would work.  My pump is extremely sensitive to sucking air.  Any gaps and it loses its draw on the liquid, even when properly primed. 

Can I ask why you want to filter and use fresh yeast at bottling? 
 
MaltLicker said:
I don't think it would work.  My pump is extremely sensitive to sucking air.  Any gaps and it loses its draw on the liquid, even when properly primed. 

Can I ask why you want to filter and use fresh yeast at bottling? 

To bottle condition.  The yeast that is left over from fermentation is too weak to add anything more to the beer other than carbonation.  Adding fresh yeast allows for more complexity to be gained in the bottle conditioning process.  After a lot of experimentation I am convinced that certain off flavors that I am getting come from yeast autolysis.

That sux about the pump, I kind of had my hopes up that I wouldn't have to buy 2 pumps.  Morebeer does sell a self priming pump, but it can't be used with liquids over 140F.  Thanks for the info.
 
No guarantees, but I use a $5 siphon starter for all transfers instead of an auto-siphon.  It's possible you could  sanitize this, start a siphon, and then jam it onto the pump nozzle.  Full of leaky risks, but if you know someone with same pump you could try it with water.  WMT has the siphon starter. 

Alternatively, you could use finings in secondary to clarify your beer and add the fresh yeast later. 
 

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MaltLicker said:
No guarantees, but I use a $5 siphon starter for all transfers instead of an auto-siphon.  It's possible you could  sanitize this, start a siphon, and then jam it onto the pump nozzle.  Full of leaky risks, but if you know someone with same pump you could try it with water.  WMT has the siphon starter. 

Alternatively, you could use finings in secondary to clarify your beer and add the fresh yeast later. 

Hmm, I like the siphon starter idea.  I have experimented with the finings.  I don't really like the results I was getting enough for bottle conditioning.  But I love using them for kegging.
 
I use this: http://www.superjiggler.com/

Just be careful it flows really fast and can aerate, I put a clamp on my hose to slow the transfer down. For me it was a simple/elegant solution. and you can buy it without the hoses. I bought a 3 pack for like $20.

Cheers
Preston
 
Just wondering where you got a 3 pack for like $20?
I go to the web site and the price is almost $25.
You get a little break if you buy more.

Looks like quite a handy gizmo!
 
I spent 30 min trying to find where I got the 3 pack from.

http://www.simplesiphon.com/products/
3 pack for $13 +shipping

Looks like they have different sizes now! Maybe the 1/4 inch one would work better.
 
none of them are self priming.
This because of how they are made.  They are magnetically coupled so the "seal" around the rotor is not sufficient to pull fluid up hill.  They gotta be below the pots.

March is an old standby.
I have two of the Little Giant 3-MD-HC  pumps.
They are a multiple of times more powerful than the March and move more fluid at greater head pressure
But that Damn Black Moly Lube.

Like I said earlier I replaced the shaft with 1/4" diameter teflon bar stock I got for cheap on the Flea Bay.  Cutting the little flats on the ends can be done by hand very  easily.
Once the PTFE shaft in in place there's no need to lube it.
 
UselessBrewing said:
I spent 30 min trying to find where I got the 3 pack from.
http://www.simplesiphon.com/products/
3 pack for $13 +shipping

I got one at the BORG.  It was great-  I really liked it - until I tried to pump from the BK with it.  Hops and Trub fouled it up real heavy almost straightaway.  Now, I only use it for clear liquid.
 
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