Best pump ?

[dendron8]

Ok so i might be reaching for a unicorn here, but I'm looking for a pump that can be used both for my cip and for brew operations.. hot liquor, wort, finished beer.. and i want to spend around $400 or maybe less. I am at 10gal brews now, but very soon i will be at 60gal.

If i should get two separate pumps that's ok too.

The number of options and recommendations is overwhelming [emoji6]

Bonus points for links i can click!

 

[augiedoggy]

two different pumps would be ideal for multiple reasons including having a backup in a pinch... for cip a bigger pump like the 17gpm versions would be ideal. I have no ideal what your brew process is (Rims? herms , neither?) but for those something like a riptide of the td5 with the pwm speed control would be ideal since they both have means to control flow. The riptide is way easier to take apart and clean or unplug. I have a couple td5 dc pumps and a riptide I use for my 3bbl brehouse and then one of the chinese 3ts sanitary 3/4hp pumps from ebay for cip which is more than enough for a good whirlpoool and CIP as well as keg cleaning.

 

[mongoose33]

The riptide will do boiling wort or water, which for me is important as a sanitizing thing. I run the boiling water or wort through the system for a minute or two before beginning the chilling operation.

@augiedoggy has a good idea--a backup. As the riptide costs $200, and you have $400.....

The riptide will do about 7 gallons per minute. I don't know what the capacities of others pumps are. I have a couple Mark II pumps too, and they also will do around 7 gallons per minute, but they don't do boiling liquid.

 

[augiedoggy]

the march and chugger pumps as well as the mark II are all magnetically coupled pumps that pump between 5-7gpm. the riptide is actually a march made pump with a very similar if not identical head in some of their other pumps.. the MKII and variants like the grainfather and anvil pumps are all rebranded or clones of the various iwaki MD (magnetic drive) pumps that have been around for many years.

They will all handle boiling temps for a short period of time but the cavitation is not good for them and prolonged pumping of boiling liquids with steam bubbles can damage them over time. some may be more forgiving than others as ive hear of failures on some more often but theres a lot of variables like boiling while pumping or pumping at end of boil which does the same thing sanitation wise without risking damage.

the TD5 dc pump head impeller is almost identical to the others including the riptide. the riptide is the best choice for you imo but once you go to 60 gallon you will want something more powerful for both whirlpooling and CIP the little homebrewing cip ball designed for the 7gpm pumps many not be enough for the larger tanks.

If it were me maybe id go with a riptide and then something larger down the road when you need it IF you need it.. or buy two now..

 

[matt_m]

Man I sure read that subject wrong on the first pass.

The Riptide is working well for me for both of those needs.

 

[augiedoggy]

for finished beer a speed controlled VFD or pwm driven pump is best hands down. breweries do not pump beer with a pump throttles down with a valve because whipping up the finished beer is very bad for the beer.. something about shear force and such, to be honest I dont remember the details but we use a speed controlled td5 from brewpi for pumpsing fermented beer from our conicals to the brite tanks at a low speed. this is not the same td5 thats made for solar panel hot water applications with the mppt controller built in .. those dont work well since the mppt fights the pwm. these are special td5 pumps actually made for brewing by topsflo.

 

[dendron8]

Perfect thanks everyone! Seems like riptide is the way to go to start.. so i just bought one!

 

[gnef]

I've got a center inlet basic chugger, and then also their mini-max with the same head but TEFC motor, which I really like. I use this for brewing, and also for cleaning tap lines when I do that (not often enough!).

I also recently bought a diaphragm pump for pumping finished beer. I don't do this often enough, so I bought a small single speed one from northern brewer for $60. I haven't used it yet, but I should be relatively soon (I bought it to transfer beer out of my jack daniel's flanders red solera barrel for the partial drains and refills).