OK, so in going with pumps in our system, we decided on these:
Sure, you can get them on eBay, but most sellers are in China. Who wants to wait 2-4 weeks? Amazon has them with Prime Shipping and for only a couple dollars more.
These are food grade and rated for high temps (100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit). Instead of an inline head design, these have a center inlet and a top outlet which is supposed to be a more efficient pump design. The threads are 1/2″ BSP, which is essentially the same as 1/2″ NPT without the tapered end.
The mounting plate has four rubber grommets to help eliminate noise.
Just for size comparison, Here’s the pump next to a standard 3-piece airlock. These suckers are tiny!
Stainless Quick Disconnects from BargainFittings.com.
1/2″ STAINLESS Quick Disconnect – Male x 1/2″ NPT FEMALE – x 2 – $17.98
Since Bargain Fittings offers flat rate shipping for $5.00, it makes sense to plan ahead and order all the fittings you will need for all of your projects.
ALWAYS use teflon tape. Four wraps with the white tape seems to do the job.
Only tighten hand tight. You do not want to over tighten and snap the plastic connection off. Notice how front heavy the pump is with the quick disconnects. This will definitely have to be mounted to a base.
Next, add a length of wire to reach your pump controller. Solder the joints and use heat shrink to shield the connection.
Solder the male connection for the DC Jack. This is the connector we went with to go with the Pump Controller:
10 x Black Plastic Cover 2.1×5.5mm Male DC Power Plug Jack Connector – $5.30
$49.23 for this solution and it’s a part of a larger modular solution. I’m excited for this. Of course, the cost of the DC Jack Connectors will be spread across all pumps and other projects, as you will see.
How are these working out? looking to try something similiar without spending a fortune
These work quite well. So far I have two in place. One to transfer from HLT to Mash Tun and one to transfer from Mash Tun to Brew Kettle. I open the valve all the way to transfer my strike water. During fly sparging and MT > BK transfer, I limit the flow on the output side of the pump because these things move a surprising amount of liquid. Have done four batches so far and we brew every two weeks.
Got one on the way. Hopefully will get a chance to test it out this weekend.
Great! Hopefully it serves you as well as they have me. Quick note, the small stoppers that LHBS commonly sell to plug the hole on fermentation buckets fit the Quick Disconnects that I use perfectly and I don't have to worry about and debris falling in to the pump.
This thing is comically small next to the camstyle quick disconnects i was going to use on it. I might have to re-think this. They seem way too massive. Might have to order up some plastic ones.
The camlocks would definitely dwarf the pump! As it is, the SS Quick Disconnects that I used look huge on these things.