Aquarium Pump For Boka Condenser?

[FreeMountainHermit]

D-day is rapidly approaching for my new Boka build and I need a smallish pump for my 10' X 1/4" OD condenser. I have a 270 gph pump to run my Liebig but that's a bit of overkill and if I valved it back to a trickle I'd most certainly do some damage to it.

I believe Rad said his coil used about a quart per minute so if anyone has a link to a submersible pump in the 15-20gph range it would be appreciated.


Thanks, FMH.

[fullhouse]

u can put a bypass in the line and only use what u want from the flow

[maheel]

make sure the head height is enough to get to the top of the still

some pound pumps can only lift a few feet

[Coaster]

@ FreeMountainHermit,

Most Aquarium Pumps are not designed with high Pump Heads or provide much Pressure Output. Since you already have your 270 GPH pump as fullhouse suggests you could plumb in a bypass loop and use your 270 GPH pump for your new Boka build.

Regards,
Coaster

[NineInchNails]

A lot of people pay WAY too much attention to 'head height'. Head height vs flow rate only pertains to pumping water straight up and seeing how much come out the top. This has absolutely nothing to do with our use in a 'closed loop'. We do not typically pump water up into a reservoir.

Little pumps are always able to prime the loop all on their own. In other words you can't always turn on the pump and expect a little pump to always fill the lines and return water back to the reservoir. Sometimes you have to suck on the return line in order to get the loop primed (filled with water) first. I like to prime the line using a garden hose. Once the loop has been primed (completely filled with water), a little tiny pump is able to move water through the loop. It only has to feed the loop with a little bit of pressure and it will move water through the loop just fine.

Some pumps were made to produce more pressure than others. Pumps like that are capable of pushing a higher volume of water through a loop in comparison to pumps that do not produce much pressure.

Feeding water through a reflux coil typically offers more resistance/back pressure than feeding a liebig (less resistance/back pressure). The larger diameter of copper tubing used (and water hoses) gives you less resistance/back pressure. That is one reason why cross-flow condensers and shotgun condensers are so desirable (less resistance/back pressure).

Plumbing a bypass definitely gives you control over the flow rate. I like to use a gate valve on the bypass.

[Samohon]

I use a 12v DC caravan/trailer pump...
Heres the specs...

I just connect up a 12v DC power supply, push a piece of 10mm hose on the outlet, drop it into my water reservoir and connect the other end to the condenser.
Easy Peazzzy... She's run for 2 years, does'nt show any signs of stopping and only cost £10 - ($17US) - hey, buy 2 at that price...

• Supply : 12Vdc
• Delivery rate : Max.10L / min <-- More than enough for our purposes, don't even need a bypass installed...
• Delivery Height : Max.7m (0.7 bar) <-- Pushes water up the Liebig, then upto the coil with no problem at all...
• Power consumption : 15 - 25W <-- Cheap to run also...

[FreeMountainHermit]

Hey Samohon ! !, got a link for that pump ? PERFECT !!! Maybe I can find one in the states.

THANKS, FMH.

[whiskeytripping]

Hey Free mountain, You might want to look at operating temperatures of the pump you decide on. I just did my first Boka build and the water coming out of the coil is HOT! my pump is a home depot 570GPH pump and 1/4" coil, it melted the discharge line closed, My point is this pump and hose set up and 55 gallon tank worked PERFECT for my lieberg arm on my potstill. I just back inside from the vinegar run and im definately going back to the drawing board. Im thinking about using fresh water for this, due to the extremely high temperatures . Or some kind of serious radiator system for the discharge. running this still 40 min with a outside temp of 70degrees, filled half way up (not thinking I would need but a half barrel for a cleaning run) And that water was HOT! when I got done, also im gonna run a lieberg arm on my product tube, Its coming out boiling hot as well . Just some info I learned first hand my self tonight. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks guys