Using a cheap solar heating pump

[gobuchul]

I have just been looking at a few things on line and came across these mini solar pumps.

http://brewbuilder.co.uk/index.php?_a=p ... oduct_id=4

Now I can see a lot of advantages in using a pump rather than gravity when brewing and when fitted with a speed controller you could have a lot of control over things.

It would be cheap to set up as well, probably about £25 - £30 once all the fittings etc. are bought.

Anyone use something like this?

Am I missing something? Are there some issues?

[Dave S]

I have just been looking at a few things on line and came across these mini solar pumps.

http://brewbuilder.co.uk/index.php?_a=p ... oduct_id=4

Now I can see a lot of advantages in using a pump rather than gravity when brewing and when fitted with a speed controller you could have a lot of control over things.

It would be cheap to set up as well, probably about £25 - £30 once all the fittings etc. are bought.

Anyone use something like this?

Am I missing something? Are there some issues?

There are a lot of people here that use them or have used them. I have one I'm planning to put into service soon. For the money they are excellent. A possible disadvantage it they can only be controlled by a variable voltage, Whereas other more expensive ones can be controlled by flow control.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

From my personal experience they are great for pumping water around, I use one for recirculating the liquor in my HLT and for pumping to the mash tun.

When you start pumping sticky wort around with them they start breaking.

[Hairybiker]

I've used one from Solar Project for several years. I had a stuck one a year + ago, I returned it to him he dropped it in boiling water and left it running! It cleared the problem which was I wasn't cleaning it long enough after use. I got it back FOC.
Now I leave it to recirculate some boiling water for 10-15 min while I am cleaning up. Not had any more problems.
I use a 12V2A psu (£2 from ebay) and ebay led dimmer (£3) to control it, others use hornby controllers etc.

My only issue with them is they don't like hop leafs, so make sure your hop filter is a good one.

[Kev888]

I really liked these little pumps but (very) sadly I've had problems with the electronics expiring whilst pumping boiling wort, and also with grain particles being lodged in the magnetic shaft, which can upset the pump and worries me WRT sanitation for post boil applications. In all, three have died on me over the last few years and I wasn't running them outside the spec.

So now I only use them for clean water and pre-boil stuff, such as with the HLT - in that role they seem to last and its a really great little pump so no complaints at all there. Very quiet and surprisingly powerful. Though don't forget to factor in the cost of a power supply, unless you already have whats needed.

FWIW This is a picture of the innards (of a broken one; they don't come apart like this without being damaged):

The magnetic shaft is top left, the thing to the right of it is a bearing which can let wort and small particles past to get around the shaft but it isn't designed to be removable for cleaning - when assembled its a 'very' tight fit and is also hidden behind that washer and the impeller which are held on by a very tiny and fragile spring clip, which isn't easy/safe to routinely remove IMO. Though the impeller housing can be removed without damaging anything should you just get the impeller itself clogged up.


Cheers
Kev

[orlando]

I

My only issue with them is they don't like hop leafs, so make sure your hop filter is a good one.

And for that you can get a "Y" filter.

[kearnage]

I've also just ordered a pump, power supply and speed control so that I can pump the hot wort from the boiler through my counterflow chiller at higher rates. Gravity fed just takes too long.

The bazooka does a great job at filtering out the hops but I want to add another filter inline to catch anything smaller and help the pump out. I was looking at the 'Y' filter but that also lead me to reading that basket filters are much easier to clean. Not being an expert in this filed I search around and found items like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHURFLO-INLIN ... 2a4ee1d81e

But I have no idea if they are suitable for 100C liquid. Has anybody ever tried one of these? or have any experience with Y filters vs other types?

Thanks

[orlando]

I've also just ordered a pump, power supply and speed control so that I can pump the hot wort from the boiler through my counterflow chiller at higher rates. Gravity fed just takes too long.

The bazooka does a great job at filtering out the hops but I want to add another filter inline to catch anything smaller and help the pump out. I was looking at the 'Y' filter but that also lead me to reading that basket filters are much easier to clean. Not being an expert in this filed I search around and found items like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHURFLO-INLIN ... 2a4ee1d81e

But I have no idea if they are suitable for 100C liquid. Has anybody ever tried one of these? or have any experience with Y filters vs other types?

Thanks

I had a Y filter and recommend that, there is a screen and a fine mesh, I found over time that that fine mesh started to peel off so removed it, quite frankly it worked better because the pump, if it is a Solar type can handle the very fine particles you only need to stop a seed or a leaf. I set mine up like this.

[orlando]

I've also just ordered a pump, power supply and speed control so that I can pump the hot wort from the boiler through my counterflow chiller at higher rates. Gravity fed just takes too long.

The bazooka does a great job at filtering out the hops but I want to add another filter inline to catch anything smaller and help the pump out. I was looking at the 'Y' filter but that also lead me to reading that basket filters are much easier to clean. Not being an expert in this filed I search around and found items like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHURFLO-INLIN ... 2a4ee1d81e

But I have no idea if they are suitable for 100C liquid. Has anybody ever tried one of these? or have any experience with Y filters vs other types?

Thanks

I had a Y filter and recommend that, there is a screen and a fine mesh, I found over time that that fine mesh started to peel off so removed it, quite frankly it worked better because the pump, if it is a Solar type can handle the very fine particles you only need to stop a seed or a leaf. I don't know about the item you linked to but I would avoid it as the Y filter is stainless so will withstand 100c water and be a lot easier to keep clean over the long term.

I set mine up like this.

[Jocky]

I have the next step up, the TS5 pump which has steel ends, but more importantly is magnetically coupled and has dry running protection. Unfortunately it also costs twice as much, so hopefully it will last a bit longer than the cheapest solar pumps.

[Kev888]

if it has mag coupling then it may also be more hygienic than tho solar pumps. That alone would be worth the extra cost IMO