What kind of pump to use?

[islandgreen1971]

Im a novice, but love my new hobby, anyway have a 10 gallon potstill and Im on about my third run and I was using ice in my condenser and it was working me hard to keep up, I have rods and screws in my back and disabled. So I sent back my condenser to the maker and he is putting a inlet and outlet on it for me. Was looking @ submersible pumps on Amazon and dont really know which one to get. I run on electric and a waterbill so wasting water isnt feasbile. Everything on utube is about reflux or Lm or CM's. I now know after going back and reading that cooling water should run between 50°-68°, and that I was shocking the product and killing my back. But does anyone know a pump to use with a potstill condenser that will make me and my priduct happy!

[thatguy1313]

I just use a cheap pond pump I picked up from Lowe's for about $30. Fill up a cooler with water and recycle the water. The water will get pretty warm near the end of the run (5 gal run) so I have some soda bottles I filled up with water and froze that I just drop in the cooler. It cools off the water but not so much as to cause vapor shock.

[Bushman]

I also used a pond pump from lowes on my first still. Make sure that it has the capacity for vertical lift if you have a reflux still as mine worked but was rated for 12' vertical lift. If you have propane, a keg, and 4' column then this would be probably a minimum I would run.

[S-Cackalacky]

I bought a pond pump off of ebay for $20 and free shipping. I have it in about 15 gallons of water that I continually use. The batch I'm using now is about 6 months old. After each session, I toss in about a cup of chlorine bleach and store it covered until the next session. My pump is rated at 380 GPH and has a head lift of 6.5 feet. As Bushman says, the head lift is the important thing to look for.

Another trick is to use a ball valve to control the water flow to your condenser. Use a Tee adapter with hoses going straight through to your condenser's input connection. On the third leg of the Tee, install a ball valve and a hose going back to your reservoir. You can then control the amount of water going to the condenser by opening or closing the valve - open it up to divert more water back to the reservoir and close it to send more water to the condenser. The goal is to only use enough water through the condenser to do the job. This will give a better heat gradient in the condenser and a more gradual vapor collapse.

[islandgreen1971]

Thanks guys!!! I will get the T and the ball valve, I think it wii make for a better product too.