How Many Pumps Do I Need

[fergi]

now that i have nearly got all the bits to do double batches instead of my singles ,i want to build a frame to sit it all on.

i am thinking of having all the vessels on a level frame,.
if i want to pump the HLT water into my mash tun ,then mash tun into my kettle ,can i do that with one pump or do i need more than one pump.

also how does pumping from a mash tun go with the pump, i would have thought the pump will try and pump the wort from the mash tun to quickly and start to suck crap from the tun.
fergi

 

[razz]

You can get by with one fergi but to do both functions at once you will need two, or put the mash tun above the kettle. You won't compact the grain bed if the run off is slow. What type of spare are u planning?

 

[Cocko]

You can go one level and batch sparge.

Or run your HLT higher and gravity feed your HLT -> MT than pump to your kettle and fly sparge...

I am building a new rig atm and this is my only conundrum, as my efficiency improved about 9% when going from batch spraging to fly sparging on the old rig....

But ****, it looks soo much better one level IMO!

2c

Edit: Found this thread to be helpful / more frustrating on which to choose!

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Really need a site plan to work out what you need but there are some pumps around at much less than March pump prices so you can have one for every thing.
Drop by my site late tomorrow and see what I mean ($37.50).
Nev

 

[fergi]

You can get by with one fergi but to do both functions at once you will need two, or put the mash tun above the kettle. You won't compact the grain bed if the run off is slow.

What type of spare are u planning?

thanks for the replies guys,

will look tomorrow nev.

not sure razz what you mean by :what type of spare are you planning:

fergi

 

[razz]

thanks for the replies guys,

will look tomorrow nev.

not sure razz what you mean by :what type of spare are you planning:

fergi

Batch or fly sparge? I ask because when u batch sparge u can run off as fast as u like. Fly spargeing tends to be a much slower run off and is where u can get grain compaction with too fast a run off.

 

[Cocko]

You can go one level and batch sparge.

Or run your HLT higher and gravity feed your HLT -> MT than pump to your kettle and fly sparge...

I am building a new rig atm and this is my only conundrum, as my efficiency improved about 9% when going from batch spraging to fly sparging on the old rig....

But ****, it looks soo much better one level IMO!

2c

Edit: Found this thread to be helpful / more frustrating on which to choose!

thanks for the replies guys,

will look tomorrow nev.

not sure razz what you mean by :what type of spare are you planning:

fergi

He meant sparge

2.1c

 

[brettprevans]

Really need a site plan to work out what you need but there are some pumps around at much less than March pump prices so you can have one for every thing.
Drop by my site late tomorrow and see what I mean ($37.50).
Nev

Nev u.got a pump that.van pump hot wort or water for under $40 we r listening. Well I am at least. I could use another pump esp since my march pump is playing up

 

[Nevalicious]

If he is referring to the brown pumps off eBay or similar, I can (for the moment atleast) vouch for their quality. Considering they are so cheap, I bought two. Probably didn't really need two at the end of the day. I built a 3v single tier setup, and I use one of the pumps to pump from HLT to MT, the other from MT to kettle. Admittedly, I have only run ~80deg wort through them so far, but they work bloddy well considering their size.

That was the other thing that freaked me out a little about them... They're tiny. The size of two or three matchboxes, but with around 1m head on my setup, they pump the rated volume in L/min easily

I guess I bought two not only because of cost, but because I can fly sparge if I really want. For the minute, I'm sticking with batch sparge until I get the hang of the new rig!

 

[bignath]

Or run your HLT higher and gravity feed your HLT -> MT than pump to your kettle and fly sparge...

Yep, or you could also run your mash tun higher, and then:

recirculate HLT (saves stirring it for even heat distribution)
pump from HLT to mash tun which could be up higher
then gravity feed from mash tun to kettle.

Just another option.

I have HLT and MT on same level. Recirculate HLT, switch pump to go to MT, then gravity feed to a kettle on a stand that's just a bit higher than my cubes.

EDIT: "little brown pump" too. They are fantastic.

 

[Yob]

+1 for the little brown pump , Im currently using one for HLT recirc and is fantastic, will be getting another in the very near future.

WHICH PUMP TOPIC

:icon_cheers:

 

[brettprevans]

+1 for the little brown pump , Im currently using one for HLT recirc and is fantastic, will be getting another in the very near future.

WHICH PUMP TOPIC

:icon_cheers:

hmm.. not convinced by that thread. sounds like the housing etc leaves room for infections and no gaurentee about food grade. so no use to me as i want one to xfer wort. bugger just xfering hot water

 

[booargy]

Every home brewery needs one of these AC-5B-MD.

 

[argon]

Another one for the brown pump here... also really surprised with it's size. But it does the job with ease.

I've been using it to do everything including recirc boiling wort through my plate chiller... so it handles boiling fluids just fine.

May get another one at some stage and try out that fancy fly sparge caper in my single tier rig

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Brown pump HERE.
We got a batch in for testing are were amazed at the performance, I have done 100L brews using this pump for ever process including transfer from fermenter to kegs.
The site has the remainder of the test batch (6) but there are a lot more on the way.
Nev

 

[MarkBastard]

Awesome work Nev, that's a good price too.

 

[kelbygreen]

I just use the one pump works fine. I just pump from HLT to MT and MT to kettle, Sparging takes a little time as I fly sparge with a container draining it out of the HTL but I guess one them cheap brown pumps would be good for that at least it would only be touching water no wort. I then just drain the kettle with a sanitised hose. All fittings are just brass hose fittings so clip on and off easy and fast.

How are they for throttling back nev? do you just turn back the tap like the

 

[brettprevans]

Brown pump HERE.
We got a batch in for testing are were amazed at the performance, I have done 100L brews using this pump for ever process including transfer from fermenter to kegs.
The site has the remainder of the test batch (6) but there are a lot more on the way.
Nev

interesting Nev. does it come with a power cord attached or do you have to wire one up?

edit: yeah just realised its DC. wtf? ok nev (or others) spell it out for us.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

How are people powering the pumps?

Off a battery or some sort of adaptor?

Cheers

 

[matho]

something like THIS would do it