Pump Pressure And Liquid Flow

[djackal]

I just turned on my pump and water is not flowing through the system. I would like to know if there are any experts out there who could explain why this is so. The plan is for liquid to flow in from either the Kettle or Mash Tun and flow out to either The Plate Chiller, HLT, Kettle or Mash Tun. I was hoping that gravity would help get liquid to the pump and there is sufficient pressure differential to let the pump do its thing. Am I missing something and is ANOTHER modification needed to optimise my system?

Cheers to the plumbers/brewers out there for helping with another ignorant jackal question

 

[razz]

I guess you know that these pumps don't pump air, so look for any air leaks at the couplings. They also can't prime them selves so you have to do that to. Try flooding the pump without turning it on, you should get fluid coming out the delivery line above the valves. You will need to have plenty of water in your tun to maintain head.

 

[devo]

I find that if you rotate the siphon tubes upwards in the kettle or HLT helps purge any air that may be trapped. Thats if you have installed siphon tubes at all?

 

[Screwtop]

It appears from the pics that the valve on the MLT is open and the Kettle Valve is closed, so you have a length of hose above the MLT valve with air in it behind the liquid coming from the MLT. A bit like having air in your car's hydraulic braking system, it kinda stops you, but not real well. A couple of things to try: 1. Disconnect the hose from the kettle at the T fitting of the MLT and block it. 2. First open all valves on the out path from the pump then open the MLT valve and wait for the liquid to run down through the pump and up the out side hose before turning the pump on. Remove the pump head and rotate it so the in-port is at the top so that liguid runs down through the pump priming it using gravity. Always open your out path valves before opening any valves on the in side, liquid will run down under gravity so long as the out path is open and it's not trying to compress air inside the hoses on the out side.

Screwy

 

[newguy]

As razz mentioned, the pump has to be primed (full of water) before you can turn it on. My setup is kind of similar to yours in that my pump is mounted below all the vessels. I open whatever valves are required and allow water to flow through the system, then turn on the pump once I see water come up through the pump on its own. One thing I do have that I can't see in your picture is a bleed valve. I have an extra T following the pump (the pump out side of the pump) and the T has a valve on it that just hangs there. With my valves and that bleeder, I can fill the pump using gravity, then turn it on. It works very well.