Is the thumper the difference?

[wpkluck]

If you've done your research, you know the purpose and use of a thumper. That said, I'm using one in my 5gal pot setup. I generally charge the thumper with a jar of heads or tails from a previous run, just enough to cover the bottom of the inlet. It eventually fills to an equilibrium level, depending on the heat of my run.

So I'm in the middle of a UJSSM series of runs. I have 2 5gal mash buckets, which (obviously) I have to run separately. This last time around, I charged the first round thumper with a jar of heads. I got about 108oz of hearts from that bucket (not bad for a beginner). To expedite the second bucket, I didn't break down the thumper, and since I can't empty it and recharge without breaking it down, I just left it with what was in there from the first 5gal run, then emptied and recharged the pot. I expected the second 5gal wash to produce something similar, since it's the same recipe, same OG/FG, same volume. But I only got 48oz of hearts. The only difference I could see was that I didn't recharge the thumper.

My question to y'all: Is the thumper the difference, or am I missing something here?

(I'm defining hearts as 160p to 120p, measured at each jar.)