fraser_john
Go Pies
Groan.. :angry:
Brewed last weekend and had disaster befall me, my worst brew day in years. Mash got stuck at around the 45 minute mark, I had opened the outlet on the March pump just a little as the wort was looking like it was bubbling a little coming out of the RIMS heater unit. The grain bed immediatly compacted (darn wheat). Instead of taking it easy and backing off the pump outlet, shutting down the heat and then giving a gentle stir in the mash tun, I quickly grabbed my spoon and stirred the grain bed, with the pump still going it collapsed my filter mesh. I have been meaning to go to a S/S fabricator and have some stronger mesh backing put on my fine filter bed. Anyway, quickly after that I saw a slurry of mash rushing through the hoses towards the pump inlet.......
An hour later, I was finally back on track, getting ready to sparge of course as sachrification was well and truly over.....
My brewhouse was a total mess as I pulled apart my pump to flush out the grain and wash all the hoses clear of grain. I am still finding bits of grain and sticky places on/under my benches and equipment.
However, I did notice that my pump impeller had swollen over the times I have been using it (3 years now). Has anyone noticed that before on their March Pumps? It had left scratches & grooves on the pump housing and on the impeller itself. Can we get March pump parts here in Australia or do we need them shipped from the US? I kind of wish in hind sight that I had taken a picture of it, it looks quite odd.
Regardless, the brew is tasting quite nice, fortunately....
Brewed last weekend and had disaster befall me, my worst brew day in years. Mash got stuck at around the 45 minute mark, I had opened the outlet on the March pump just a little as the wort was looking like it was bubbling a little coming out of the RIMS heater unit. The grain bed immediatly compacted (darn wheat). Instead of taking it easy and backing off the pump outlet, shutting down the heat and then giving a gentle stir in the mash tun, I quickly grabbed my spoon and stirred the grain bed, with the pump still going it collapsed my filter mesh. I have been meaning to go to a S/S fabricator and have some stronger mesh backing put on my fine filter bed. Anyway, quickly after that I saw a slurry of mash rushing through the hoses towards the pump inlet.......
An hour later, I was finally back on track, getting ready to sparge of course as sachrification was well and truly over.....
My brewhouse was a total mess as I pulled apart my pump to flush out the grain and wash all the hoses clear of grain. I am still finding bits of grain and sticky places on/under my benches and equipment.
However, I did notice that my pump impeller had swollen over the times I have been using it (3 years now). Has anyone noticed that before on their March Pumps? It had left scratches & grooves on the pump housing and on the impeller itself. Can we get March pump parts here in Australia or do we need them shipped from the US? I kind of wish in hind sight that I had taken a picture of it, it looks quite odd.
Regardless, the brew is tasting quite nice, fortunately....
