Hi all. I'm thinking of buying a chugger pump or similar to power my rotating sparge arm then, at the end of the brewday, pump the wort into my FV after cooling it.
For the sparge arm the pump will only be pushing hot liquor, so no problem. To pump wort into my FV, though, I'll want to ensure it's properly sanitised and can be cleaned well afterwards.
Does the front come off so the impeller and other bits in contact with the wort can be cleaned and sanitised?
Thanks.
Guy
How do you clean a pump out?
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guypettigrew
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weetabixface
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Re: How do you clean a pump out?
Guy
on the model you linked to the head comes of, undo the four cross head screws to remove the pump head, once off turn the pump head around and remove the back plate to get access to the impeller and pump internals
W
on the model you linked to the head comes of, undo the four cross head screws to remove the pump head, once off turn the pump head around and remove the back plate to get access to the impeller and pump internals
W
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guypettigrew
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Re: How do you clean a pump out?
Thanks. Sounds pretty straightforward. Just ordered one.
Guy
Guy
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Kev888
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Re: How do you clean a pump out?
With my march may 815 (similar to the chuggers) I back flush it with a hose immediately after MT duties, drain and bung a bit of starsan in pump+tubing for good measure, then later just recirculate the boiler contents (whilst boiling) for 20mins before redirecting to the FV.
I don't disassemble it during brew day... possibly I should, all I can say is that for me personally the combination of starsan and heat has always done the job. The only issue I had was that my old hop filter couldn't cope with hot break (until after the hops had settled on it post boil) so needed upgrading, but that wasn't the fault of the pump.
The ease and reassurance with which it could be sanitised is largely why I bought it. A model without unhygienic crevices or small apertures, that can genuinely take boiling wort and easily pass small particles of grain through/out is well worth having IMO. My model was well over-priced and outwardly unimpressive (there may be cheaper equivalents about today) but after 'many' frustrations with a succession of cheaper pumps this has been the answer - its the first one I found which actually just gets on and does all thats required of it with no fuss at all. I'm sure the chugger will be equally good.
Cheers
Kev
I don't disassemble it during brew day... possibly I should, all I can say is that for me personally the combination of starsan and heat has always done the job. The only issue I had was that my old hop filter couldn't cope with hot break (until after the hops had settled on it post boil) so needed upgrading, but that wasn't the fault of the pump.
The ease and reassurance with which it could be sanitised is largely why I bought it. A model without unhygienic crevices or small apertures, that can genuinely take boiling wort and easily pass small particles of grain through/out is well worth having IMO. My model was well over-priced and outwardly unimpressive (there may be cheaper equivalents about today) but after 'many' frustrations with a succession of cheaper pumps this has been the answer - its the first one I found which actually just gets on and does all thats required of it with no fuss at all. I'm sure the chugger will be equally good.
Cheers
Kev
Kev