Cheap compact wort pump

Williams 728
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Just checked the one I bought on Ebay, the seller has gone up 6$ on them since I bought mine. Glad I got it when I did.
 
Whirlpool . . . .
:tank:

whirlpool_05.jpg
 
The pump arrived today and I must say I really am impressed with the quality. The first pump I bought off ebay was smaller and not all that impressive. This one is definitely a better made product by far. Now I have a pump and no use for it :confused:
Just need to find a housing now for the controller, wire it up and it will be ready to try out before stashing it away for a Christmas gift. :D
 
After scouring this thread, I purchased 2 of the little black pumps for $25 each on eBay. I also purchased 2 3A speed controllers from eBay and hooked them up to the pumps. I did a test run using boiling water from my kettle through one pump to the wort side of my plate chiller and cold water through the other pump to the water side of my chiller. Priming the pumps proved to be a little tricky with my gravity setup, but once primed they worked great. I controlled the hot water flow rate using a combination of kettle valve and speed controller. I plan to brew with my new setup next week and will post my progress. Thanks for the help guys!

Here is are the pumps
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281209651285?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Here is the speed contoller
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310983082372?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
Try this before tossing your Chi-Com pumps. Remove the magnet/impeller/shaft assembly and and soak in white vinegar over night. Use an ultra fine Scotch Brite pad cut to fit just loose enough that a Bic pen can be stuffed into the middle for leverage and gently swab around the inside of the well horizontally, not up and down. Also use some white vinegar here and let sit for a while. Rinse and coat the shaft with just the tiniest film of food grade silicone (dive shops or FeeBay) grease and you should be good to go. As mineral deposits begin to microscopically accumulate they will sometimes reach a point where they'll keep things from spinning even though all appears clean and normal.
 
I brewed a 5 gal batch of Amber Ale this past week with my newly acquired eBay black pumps with speed control on my finished wood brew rig. I have to say, I was super impressed by them and how they handled all aspects of the brew session. I transferred hot water from my kettle to my tun, recirculated, sparged, transferred to my boil kettle, recirculated while cooling through my plate chiller and finally transferred through my plate chiller to my carboy. I had both pumps running during my cooling process. One running boiling wort through my plate chiller and the other recirculating ice water from my cooler through my plate chiller. I controlled the flow of hot wort using a combination of boil kettle valve and speed control. The speed controls that I purchased on eBay, take a little time to dial in, but once set for lower flow, they seemed to work fine. I can dial them down all the way to off and all the way up to full speed without turning the pump switches on/off. The draw backs that I have noticed. 1 - the threads on the pump aren't tapered, so lots of teflon and tightening are required. 2 - they take a significant drop to get them gravity fed and primed for use. Once primed, they worked great but I needed at least 3-4 feet of drop to get them fully primed. 3 - I ran PBW through them and then star san right after I had finished and still had a small amount of debris in them when I disassembled them. It looks like I'll have to disassemble them each time. 4 - when I disassembled one of the pumps, 3 out of the 4 screw threads were messed up. I had to replace the screws and nuts. The other one disassembled without a problem. All in all, for $25 each, they handled the workload just fine and didn't clog. I was super impressed and didn't have to lug around hot boiling wort. I'll probably pick up 2 more for backup and/or replacement parts.

The picture is the recirculated of the wort through the plate chiller and recirculating ice water through the plate chiller.

IMG_1876.jpg
 
flybigtone said:
I brewed a 5 gal batch of Amber Ale this past week with my newly acquired eBay black pumps with speed control on my finished wood brew rig. .... 2 - they take a significant drop to get them gravity fed and primed for use. Once primed, they worked great but I needed at least 3-4 feet of drop to get them fully primed. ....
Click to expand...


Thank you for sharing your experience. I decided to get one. Although I have not used it, I read somewhere that they prime better if you orient vertically with the discharge end pointing up. Allows trapped air to get out with the flow. Your picture looks like you aren't doing that. You may want to give it atry.
 
Singletrack said:
Thank you for sharing your experience. I decided to get one. Although I have not used it, I read somewhere that they prime better if you orient vertically with the discharge end pointing up. Allows trapped air to get out with the flow. Your picture looks like you aren't doing that. You may want to give it atry.
Click to expand...

I can get mine to prime with just 8 inches of drop by squeezing the hose a little when it starts up. Sometimes I have to click the power off and on a few times, too.
 
riderkb said:
I can get mine to prime with just 8 inches of drop by squeezing the hose a little when it starts up. Sometimes I have to click the power off and on a few times, too.
Click to expand...

I do the same but I have my pumps connected directly to the kettle ball valves..I find the just cracking the seal on the pump exit hose will prime them quick as well.
 
Hey just a fyi those pumps are on "sale" for $21 with free shipping in case anyone was wanting to get some.


Sent from DMAC's iPhone using Home Brew
 
They are not NPT they are probably 1/2" BSPP (straight thread). They work just fine with NPT fittings, but you will need plenty of teflon for a good seal.
 
Hey y'all
This $25 pump is news to me...it looks almost identical to the ones I use but upon closer inspection, it differs significantly. This latest pump is made of ABS, and last time I checked, ABS is not regarded as food safe for high temps.

The solar pump (below) has both a Ryton impeller and housing,and is rated for Exceptional Resistance to Hot Water, and Meets Requirements for Food Contact.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Water...315?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac5968e6b

food for thought.
 
The description says all food grade materials. Says it can be used for hot wort transfer. Would they lie?

Where did you see materials (ABS)?

If this pump kills me, I will be pissed!
 
Yes they would lie. It's Chi-com garbage. I promise there's more crap that will kill you in a meal at McDonald's than in getting one of these pumps hot... Food safe or not.
 
KPSquared said:
Yes they would lie. It's Chi-com garbage. I promise there's more crap that will kill you in a meal at McDonald's than in getting one of these pumps hot... Food safe or not.
Click to expand...

They are ALL from china.

the tan ones are in fact food grade. The $21 topsfo / us solar style ones are likely just being bought in bulk by AN AMERICAN IN CALIFORNIA from china by someone who saw this thread and decided to mark them up a bit and resell them advertising them for beer brewing use. So before you jump on china let keep the blame were it belongs because its the sellers that are stateside that decided to market it for this not china....

That said I have been using the same one claimed to be "ABS" above for almost a year with no ill effects. the housing are identical in everyway so I doubt they are using the same molds and making them of different plastics as it would likely ad MORE costs to manufacturing.... However, as this thread states earlier though the magnets are not coated like the tan ones are...
 
I just ordered 2 pumps. They look like all of the ones on this thread, but I bought the 24v ones that have more flow.

This one.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/290934852826?_mwBanner=1

I don't plan on using these for wort. I plan on making a glycol chiller.

Anyone know if these are good safe? They don't have to be in my case, just curious.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Picked one of these up (most recent linked black one) and it doesn't work. Ebay has decided to block my account and I can't for the life of me figure out why (apparently it's been blocked since 2008... been using it since then...) anyway, can't contact the seller, anyone had any issues yet and figured them out?
 
You get pretty much what you pay for but they do work pretty good. Very touchy when it comes to power supplies and the way you connect the wires. Tried a couple of power supplies before I found one mine liked.
 
BlkWater_brewer said:
You get pretty much what you pay for but they do work pretty good. Very touchy when it comes to power supplies and the way you connect the wires. Tried a couple of power supplies before I found one mine liked.
Click to expand...

Well thats good to know. I do landscape lighting for a living so I have a bunch of 12V transformers laying around, tried to use that but maybe not the best idea. Guess I'll track down something else.

Thanks!
 
Most of those are DC. If your lighting transformers are AC, they wont work.
 
Minbari said:
Most of those are DC. If your lighting transformers are AC, they wont work.
Click to expand...

Well, thats kind of embarassing, haha. They're definitely AC and my pump is defiitely DC. At least I don't need to find a way to contact the seller. Thanks :rockin:
 
BlkWater_brewer said:
You get pretty much what you pay for but they do work pretty good. Very touchy when it comes to power supplies and the way you connect the wires. Tried a couple of power supplies before I found one mine liked.
Click to expand...

Yeah you need to meet the required voltage and meet the minimum amp requirements but I found the tan ones work well on a 1 amp or higher amp 12v power supply despite the specs saying 800ma (if they are the 12v pumps and not the 24v version)
 
hairless_mac said:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=171421348963


Sent from DMAC's iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

just a recap since its not mentioned on this thread these black ones have been confirmed to be NOT food grade... theres a few other threads about it and I checked the manufacturers website myself, two other members contacted the manufacturer who told they the same thing, that they are not safe for hot food grade transfer. they were designed for hot solar water and chemical (kerosene, oil) transfer.

http://www.dgshenpeng.com/en_asp/productshow.asp?id=808
 

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