Cooler Conversion (Chiller Water Recirculation)

[tmendick]

I'm looking to add a slightly quicker pump to my wort chiller water recirculation setup, but the new pump is not submersible.



I would like to add a drain port/bulkhead to the bottom area of the cooler, and since it is never going to be in contact with the wort I'm skipping stainless and looking for a brass or plastic solution that I can put together from parts at Lowes/Home Depot.



Does anyone have a list of parts for something like this?

 

[brewster2012]

I have a similar setup to what you describe using a 500gph livewell pump. The pump is designed to recirculate water in a livewell on a fishing boat (as opposed to drawing water in from outside the boat). I removed the drain on my 50qt cooler and with a little trial and error mounted the pump directly to the cooler. Runs on 12v and doesn't draw much power. I use my trolling motor battery on brew day to power the pump and then recharge it, but you could easily adapt a 1amp wall wart.

I then fill the cooler with water and use the pump to recirculate through my immersion chiller. I use ice or frozen water bottles in the cooler as needed.