Chugger Pump PSI...?

[Rob2010SS]

I've emailed Chugger and requested the PSI output for this pump but have not gotten a response from them. Does anyone know the PSI rating for this pump or does anyone know how to figure out the PSI rating (is there a formula I can punch some of the other numbers in and figure it out...)? I'm essentially trying to figure out if this thing will run a CIP spray ball or if it doesn't have the power to do so.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, the performance curve for that model Chugger is a close fit to the March 815-SS which advertises ~8 psi at max head...

Cheers!

 

[Rob2010SS]

fwiw, the performance curve for that model Chugger is a close fit to the March 815-SS which advertises ~8 psi at max head...

Cheers!

I'm a pump newbie so pardon the stupid question. So if you shorten the head, wouldn't pressure go up then? So at max head (18 ft), it's approx. 8 psi. If you cut that down to say, 3 ft, wouldn't psi go up?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Maybe I'm not understanding the term "head" correctly either. Head is simply the vertical distance from the output of the pump to it's destination, right?

 

[Vale71]

Head is actually a pressure. It can be expressed as a vertical distance as well since the height the water reaches is directly correlated with the pressure at the pump outlet. Pressure at the outlet is constant and only dependent on pump design and RPM (assuming fixed RPM).
If you look at the provided data sheet (the chart on page 4) you'll see that flow drops to zero at a head of 17 feet. This means that pressure at the pump outlet is equal to the pressure that a 17 feet tall column of water exerts, the two pressures being equal means that the pump will stall and flow will stop.
With this handy converter you can see that 17 feet of water are equivalent to 7.37 PSI and that's your outlet pressure.

http://www.kylesconverter.com/pressure/pounds-per-square-inch-to-feet-of-water

Unless you attach the spray ball directly to the outlet there will be losses proportional to hose length, material, diameter and shape (elbows are particularly lossy). An exact computation is not trivial but if you keep the hose short and with adequate diameter and use properly sized connectors you should not incur overly large losses, but if you already know that your spray ball requires more than 7 PSI then you already know that this pump is not suitable for this purpose.

 

[augiedoggy]

for a spray ball I have tried a few pumps... including a version of this one https://www.chuggerpumps.com/product/cppsmax-ci-1/ only I bought a different clone of the march other than chuggers a "rank" from here for $155 shipped, (i got the plastic head version)
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=253999327538

even though its 17gpm flow its still rather weak for a sprayball imho, I also have one of the 48gpm stainless sanitary pumps from china and that cleans and spins the spray ball tremendously better than the home brewing pumps which barely have the power to spin the ball let alone spray with any real force. (this is with 1.5ID hoses to boot)
this is the pump I use for CIP
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=264102439037
here is is for less$$ with no stand.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=232927369391 I had to buy larger thicker hoses for this but I cant stress enough the difference in cip cleaning power.
this is all for a 3bbl system though.. for homebrewing personally I feel CIP is kind of a novelty that takes more effort and $ than its worth vs just wiping out the tanks. but YMMV everyones systems are different. some things just dont scale down and work the same way and sprayballs are one of them.

 

[Rob2010SS]

for a spray ball I have tried a few pumps... including a version of this one https://www.chuggerpumps.com/product/cppsmax-ci-1/ only I bought a different clone of the march other than chuggers a "rank" from here for $155 shipped, (i got the plastic head version)
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=253999327538

even though its 17gpm flow its still rather weak for a sprayball imho, I also have one of the 48gpm stainless sanitary pumps from china and that cleans and spins the spray ball tremendously better than the home brewing pumps which barely have the power to spin the ball let alone spray with any real force. (this is with 1.5ID hoses to boot)
this is the pump I use for CIP
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=264102439037
here is is for less$$ with no stand.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=232927369391 I had to buy larger thicker hoses for this but I cant stress enough the difference in cip cleaning power.
this is all for a 3bbl system though.. for homebrewing personally I feel CIP is kind of a novelty that takes more effort and $ than its worth vs just wiping out the tanks. but YMMV everyones systems are different. some things just dont scale down and work the same way and sprayballs are one of them.

Yeah, I suppose it's not needed. I just used my conical for the first time and I filled it up with oxyclean, let it soak, dumped it, filled it again with oxyclean and let it soak for 30 mins, emptied that round of cleaner to another bucket, sprayed out the inside of the conical to get all of the cleaner residue out, pulled off all of the TC attachments and soaked those in the oxyclean, then used star san on all of them and reassembled the conical. The spray ball seems like it would just save some time but from what I'm reading, people are disassembling the TC attachments anyway even after using a spray ball...? So maybe it wouldn't really save that much time...

 

[day_trippr]

What CIP can do for the homebrewer is dramatically reduce the use of cleaning compounds.
I only need a few gallons of PBW'd water to clean my entire rig...

Cheers!

 

[Brettomomyces]

My chuggers could never effectively spin a 1/2" CIP spray ball, even with only a 4-5' head. It would turn but not with enough force to do anything useful. I got a 1/3hp sump pump and put my cip ball on quick disconnects, lets me clean kegs and kettles and hook up the plate chiller as well with regular hose.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I've clean my immediately after racking and don't even bother filling it and soaking as I have the 18 gallon and as noted it's alot of waste water/chemicals. I just add about 3-4 gallons of warm water and pbw and gently clean with a soft foam sponge. Drain and rinse then I remove all the accessories and soak them in the sink. When it's time to fill the conical I soak the accessories in the sink with starsan. Attach them to the conical and then spray the rest with starsan in a spray pump. Works great and takes less time than my carboys used to require
Cheers

 

[augiedoggy]

I've clean my immediately after racking and don't even bother filling it and soaking as I have the 18 gallon and as noted it's alot of waste water/chemicals. I just add about 3-4 gallons of warm water and pbw and gently clean with a soft foam sponge. Drain and rinse then I remove all the accessories and soak them in the sink. When it's time to fill the conical I soak the accessories in the sink with starsan. Attach them to the conical and then spray the rest with starsan in a spray pump. Works great and takes less time than my carboys used to require
Cheers

I do about the same only with about gallons of hot water and skip the pbw.. not needed when I clean immediately after use.

 

[razzman]

For what it is worth, I got a mini-spray ball from SS Brewtech. Ideal for the 7 gpm pumps like March and Chugger.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I do about the same only with about gallons of hot water and skip the pbw.. not needed when I clean immediately after use.

I may have exaggerated when I said I always add pbw lol. Cheers