Chugger pump issues.

[WarmBeer]

Its looking the goods the longer I go, water up to 50c and rising steadily. Talking about the shroud, is it possible (or safe) to leave the pump unshrouded? Or will a sizeable spill fry the pump? Either way I think I'll keep a cooling fan somewhere in the mix at all times.

Man I feel like a hypochondriac now, so quick to assume the worst.

How long are your hoses?

My understanding is that the Chugger has plenty of grunt, so no reason why you need to locate it anywhere near where water/wort could easily spill? Pretty easy to have the pump 1+ metres away from your kettle or MT.

 

[fishy]

Spoke too soon gents. Got up to mash temps, took about 45 mins to get there and was running the autotune for my PID when it stopped again. No shroud, nothing next to it or on top of it. Ahhh mannnn thought I had it dusted. Looks like it might be getting replaced after all.

Hoses could be made longer, have bit of leftover silicone, but now looks like I'll wait until I've sorted it out...arghhhhh.

Looks like I'll be speaking to the retailer tomorrow and seeing what the deal will be.

 

[Cocko]

Are you sure it is the 230v version?

Mine has a massive sticker on it say '230 VOLT'

 

[fishy]

Haha yeh that's why I said before do you reckon its possible that that mis labeled it as 230v coming out of the factory.

Thinking maybe to chuck a few fans around it and see how it goes. Arghhh

 

[fishy]

Just a little update for anyone interested.

Chugger Pumps in the US has authorised Andrew from Chugger pumps Oz to sort this out which is good for everyone involved. Sent him the pump this morning and he should be getting next week and seeing if he can replicate the issue etc and then either sending out a new pump or fixing the current one and sending it back.

Hopefully have this all sorted by the end of next week and finally get to brew on the brand new rig!

Been some great communication from Mike at Chugger in the states, along with Bobby from BrewHardware and now Andrew from Chugger in Australia to get this sorted out, the guys are really committed to standing behind their products!

 

[Yob]

Good stuff, glad to see the issue is able to be sorted out locally, will be much more time efficient than dealing with O/S suppliers... probably quite a bit cheaper to get locally now with the dollar taking the tumble as it has

:icon_cheers:

 

[Spiesy]

bigups local distro... there's more reasons than a plunging Aussie dollar to shop locally.

 

[Cocko]

I am looking at a second chugger to bring my 2 tier to a single...

Staying tuned.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I am looking at a second chugger to bring my 2 tier to a single...

Staying tuned.

Gravity is your friend, so say Newtonians. Newton's law has since been superseded by Einstein's theory of general relativity, but it continues to be used as an excellent approximation of the effects of gravity.
Yes a quite night for me.
Nev

 

[pk.sax]

Those kiwis sure have strong selective muscles for cyclical work

 

[fishy]

Blokes last update about my pump.

I shipped it last Friday, Andrew from Chugger had it by Monday and had tested the overheating fault, sent out a replacement pump on Tuesday and I received it on Wednesday. Got it wired up and have decided to have a cooling fan (little 12cm PC fan) taking some heat off the pump just as a precaution (as well as ensuring a long and prosperous operating life).

Ran a couple of long mashes, as well as recirculating boiling water through the plate chiller and it's been sweet as.

So long story short , some kind of cooling probably isn't necessary but can't be a bad idea and I'm ready to brew this weekend on the new rig...Yewwww

Cheers

Fishy

 

[angus_grant]

Great news on the product support Fishy. Good luck with the brew. :super:

I will be working on my system this weekend, but doubt I'll get to the point of plumbing in my pump. Lack of $$$'s and jobs to do.

 

[Grainer]

wasnt htere a chugger rep here now?

maybe see if this fella can help out >LINKY<


:icon_cheers:

Yes there is...

 

[matthew.finkbeiner]

Just wanted to let people know that I have had the same exact problem as fishy. Two pumps from Bobby at Brew Hardware (ordered before I knew about chugger.com.au) and both overheat and cut out after about 15 minutes. They both have a big "230V" sticker on 'em and I've checked to make sure they are getting enough volts through my control panel -- they are. So there must have been a bad batch. Anyway, have been in contact with Andrew at chugger.com.au and he's agreed to contact Mike at Chugger USA to see if they can sort it out. Fingers crossed and will post again once I hear back.

Matthew

 

[angus_grant]

Hmm, I got my pump plumbed in on Tuesday so ran it for an hour with ambient-temp water (still building system so heating element offline).

The pump chassis was too hot to touch (pump head was normal temp) but it kept running for about an hour. Should the chassis get that hot? I wasn't really choking down the flow with the ball-valve that much. Maybe 70% open on the ball-valve.

Perhaps a different story with hot water/mash adding to the heat on the pump. I'll finish off the leak test tonight (have one small leak I have to sort out) and hopefully wire up the element again So sometime over the weekend I will do a mash-temp recirc with the chugger pump and see if it runs ok for the hour I normally mash for. Perhaps do a 90 minutes test for the hell of it.

I purchased my pump from chugger.com.au in July.

 

[macca05]

Hey guys,
Unfortunately I too have had the same problem with this pump. First ran the pump with 70C water and it cut out after about 20-30min. Thought it was broken so left it and sure enough the next morning it was working so I put on my first brew. While recirculating I think I got about 20min before it cut out again. Throughout the day it cut out 3 times. After emails to Liquide Friction and Andrew at Chugger Aus Ive sent the pump back today. Hopefully with any luck I will hopefully have a new pump by friday so I can get onto my second brew session. As Matthew said there may have been a faulty batch Still very happy with the product and the service so cant wait to have one in my hands again
Macca

 

[matthew.finkbeiner]

OK, as promised, here is my update. Both Bobby from Brewhardware and Andrew from Liquide Friction worked together and I now have two new Chuggers in my possession. I cannot say enough good things about the service and how Chugger is trying to stand behind their product. Unfortunately, the product just isn't very good. The original two pumps from Bobby were built in Dec. 2012 and the two new ones from Andrew were built in June, 2013, but otherwise the 2 sets of pumps are identical. As I said before, the original two were not usable as they cut out every ~15mins. One of the new ones works OK, but not quite as expected. The other new one is the same as the first two that I got. So, 1 out of 4 works OK; 3 out of 4 are not really usable. I've attached a pic of the on/off schedule for the two newer pumps from Andrew. As you'll see, my wort pump is OK, but the water pump just isn't up to the challenge.

I have a single-tier, 3V system and was hoping to, for example, fly sparge with both pumps running continuously for ~60mins with the valves just cracked. But that isn't an option with these pumps. So I guess I'll batch sparge.

Again, the Chugger reps that I have dealt with have been fantastic. But I feel for them trying to make a profit with this product.

 

[matthew.finkbeiner]

I also meant to say that I've re-positioned the pumps 3 different times. The pic I posted was from my 3rd (and best) test. For this one, I have the pumps suspended in mid air with no shrouds and a large house fan blowing on them.

 

[razz]

Good morning Matt. It's disappointing for me to read your second last post and see that you are prepared to work with these pumps. If you want to batch sparge, that's fine and dandy, but you are unable to do one of the things you set out to do and that is fly sparge. I use a single tier 3V system also and running two pumps for up to 90 minutes is no effort on them. I can only think that you will be in for problematic brew sessions with these pumps and you should purchase something else.

 

[matthew.finkbeiner]

Good morning Matt. It's disappointing for me to read your second last post and see that you are prepared to work with these pumps. If you want to batch sparge, that's fine and dandy, but you are unable to do one of the things you set out to do and that is fly sparge. I use a single tier 3V system also and running two pumps for up to 90 minutes is no effort on them. I can only think that you will be in for problematic brew sessions with these pumps and you should purchase something else.

Hi razz, it's not so much that I'm prepared to work with these pumps, but I need to lay low on spending for a bit so I will have to make do with these until I can swing paying for yet two more pumps! At that point I will have 6!

btw, what pumps are you running and where did you get them? I too want pumps that will run for 90mins with no dramas!