Fountain Pumps

[GMK]

OK,

Here is a pic of my IDRA Fountain Pump.
Almost ready for testing.

i have used snap in hose conectors for ease of use and make cleaning better.
all hoses are 12mm rain water drinking hoses - that should stand 80 celcius no worries.
The nipples in the ball valve are food grade plastic 1/2inch.
The SS ball valve is on the outlet - thanks to the guys here - so as to control the flow rate.
All fits together very well.

Just have to hook up the outlet and do the big test.

My short term aim is to use this to recirculate the wort for the last 10 mins so the grain bed acts as a filter and therefore increases my wort clarity...

 

[jayse]

cool ken,
one tip is after recycling just swap the line from the top of the mash tun and place into kettle...makes everything very easy.


Jayse

 

[dicko]

G'day Ken,
I'll think that you will find that a minute or two is the most you will have to recirculate the wort in the mash to clear it.
If I recirculate for too long I have found that it compacts the grain bed and can cause a stuck sparge.
Cheers

 

[jayse]

Have you got some more pics for the gallery BBB aka Dicko.
Love to see some more. Iam going with the fountian pump for awhile as you saw my last pump in flames. h34r:
Anyway like you the march pump will be one of my next brew tools.

Sorry folks i didn't get batteries to take pics of my new brewery set up. Hold out i'll get there but is does look great.

cheers and beans.
Jayse

 

[dicko]

I am very happy with the March Pump Jayse, and I recon that they are a good investment. I think the Idra pump would probably have a lower LPM than the March but I am not sure. (LitresPerMinute)
I will go through my photos and put some more up on a new thread.
Cheers

 

[chiller]

I don't have an Idra, mine is a CAP 1800 [similar deal] and I get a great flow through mine.

My pump is not designed for hot liquid but submerged in a bucket of water it has shown no sgns of stress. I loose a small amount of efficiency using the pump and I put this down to the wort cooling as it is recirculated. I spoke to BBB on the phone yesterday and we have both noticed a slight drop in efficiency probably due to the cooling factor.

This loss is not significant considering the convenience of pumping the wort.

################################# PLEASE NOTE #########################

DON'T SUBMERGE A MARCH PUMP: THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS A "POND" PUMP. A MARCH PUMP IS PURPOSE DESIGNED TO OPERATE AIR COOLED.

################################# PLEASE NOTE #########################

Steve

 

[Gout]

I use the IDRA pump, and i get a temp loss useing the pump, but it works fine, make sure it is left in a pool of cool water to keep the windings cool enough, otherwise it will cut out.

pumps heaps of wort (LPM) for me.

all that said i am sitting at 80% efficency so i wont complain, go the pump

 

[dicko]

Re the quote from Chiller,

DON'T SUBMERGE A MARCH PUMP: THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS A "POND" PUMP. A MARCH PUMP IS PURPOSE DESIGNED TO OPERATE AIR COOLED.

These pumps come with important instructions stating not to install them in areas where moisture is a problem or allow any moisture to come in contact with the motor of the pump.
The motor housing is very well ventilated and any activity like hosing down or a big spillage near the pump could allow water etc into the windings.

Cheers

 

[Trough Lolly]

Hey Kenny,
Remember this posting? How do you connect the input on the front panel of the pump? Does the flow regulator come off? I've got the pdf for the pump here but I can't see where the nipple goes.

Your picture is a side on view and I'm curious how it looks, front on...

TL

 

[Trough Lolly]

Oh, hang on a tic!
I just scrolled down the pdf and noted an "accessory prechamber". It looks like a doohickey that fits over the same hole that the flow regulator occupies, or am I wrong???

TL

 

[GMK]

you need the prechamber attachment - get the 13mm.
Then u can use 13mm rain water hose - just clamp it on tight.
Note that this does not allow you to adjust the flow rate with this attachment.
U will need to put a ball valve in line on the output to allow control of the flow rate.

 

[Trough Lolly]

No probs - thanks Kenny...Graham Saunders article explaining how he ran one with boiling water for 3 hours without a problem has me convinced it'll do for now.
Depending on how I position the counterflow chiller to the kettle, I might also try using it on the output end of the chiller - that way, the pump will be pushing chilled wort to the fermenter rather than hot wort from the kettle to the chiller.
BTW, how's your pump going?

 

[GMK]

great - but i push mine thru the CCCFWC - it is very slow otherwise..

But i sit the Idra in a saucepan of cold water so that it does not cut out...
with the heat from the kettle.

 

[Trough Lolly]

Yeah, I'd hate to choke the pump just because I cant get enough hot wort through the counterflow chiller.
Does the saucepan of water heat up? GLS reckons his pump barely warms the pot of water it stands in?