Cooling water pumps

Brewmeister · Post by **Brewmeister** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:24 pm

I am looking to setting my cooling system up with recircualting water and was wondering if any of the Aussies out there that use pond pumps etc for their condenser cooling water can let us know what size and type of pump they are using and where you can get them from.

I don't want to be buying one that is not up to the job so to speak and have to be going back and forth replacing pumps till I get 'the right one'

I have just been searching this site for a few hours and although heaps of guys are using some type of pump none of them mention actual size, type, make etc.

Thanks in advance

CoopsOz · Post by **CoopsOz** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:44 pm

G'day, Woftam uses one, he says it does the job. Heres the link;
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 42&start=0
Last post on the page....addresses to me incidently

I believe it came from an aquarium shop.

woftam · Post by **woftam** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:21 pm

hi yes i got it from an aquarium shop.

the cost was $27.00
it gos well even when the water gets hot some times

hornedrhodent · Post by **hornedrhodent** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:13 am

="woftam"]hi yes i got it from an aquarium shop.

the cost was $27.00
it gos well even when the water gets hot some times

But what voltage is it - if it's not 12V it's a

Wast
Of
f******
Time
And
Money

Brewmeister · Post by **Brewmeister** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:53 pm

CoopsOz = G'day, Woftam uses one, he says it does the job. Heres the link;
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 42&start=0
Last post on the page....addresses to me incidently
I believe it came from an aquarium shop.

Woftam - hi yes i got it from an aquarium shop. the cost was $27.00 it gos well even when the water gets hot some times

Thanks for that fellas - CoopsOz I have read that thread - that is the sort of thing I am looking for but with a bit more oomph as I don't think that one would be up to the task for my system as it only pumps a 1.2m head and my column alone is 1.2m high then the condenser on top of that - then bring the keg and burner and stand it is on into the equation etc - my coil in the condenser ends up about 2.7m high up so I need a decent pump to push the water up that high and then through the 1/4" tubing.

Thanks again for your help though

AllanD · Post by **AllanD** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 3:23 pm

for those working in their basement with an electrically heated still I think a line current pump will work great.

And the circulation pumps sold in home and garden centers for
pumping water in small water gardens or small Koi ponds would work well...

For a classic "beer keg" still 20GPH MIGHT work, 30GPH would be preferable and 40GPH even better.

a Small pool or a couple of (plastic) 55gal drums as a water reservoir would help in proportion to the ammount of water you have in circulation...

I've seen another system where a guy took two 5foot lengths of baseboard radiator, attached them in series in a "U" shape connected to them with garden hoses and sank them in his swimming pool.

AllanD

Brewmeister · Post by **Brewmeister** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:33 pm

I just went and bought a 2000 L/Hr pond Pump - supposed to pump up to a height of 3 metres.
Thought if I put the pump and water a bit higher up off the ground it may do the trick - ended up testing out with a 1.5m lift. No Bloody good - would only pump the water up the tube to about 2" from the connection to the condenser coil and then stopped pushing the water full stop.
So that was a no go - ended up taking it back to the hardware store and got my money back.

I have a household pressure pump here that I may have to use until I can find something else that is light, portable and suitable to do the job.

Didn't want to use it but at this point looks like my only option so far.

muckanic · Post by **muckanic** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:29 pm

I went for the HJ-2000 from here: http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category2_1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. Looks like they don't carry it any more, just the models down and up. This one lifts 2m without even trying and recirculates through my 13mm heat exchanger at a rate way faster than is needed. They were on special in July.

Brewmeister · Post by **Brewmeister** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:45 pm

muckanic :- I went for the HJ-2000 from here: http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category2_1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. Looks like they don't carry it any more, just the models down and up. This one lifts 2m without even trying and recirculates through my 13mm heat exchanger at a rate way faster than is needed. They were on special in July.

Muckanic,

I think the 13mm tubing in your heat exchanger is why yours works so well - mine having to go from a 12mm hose to a 1/4" tube creates too much back pressure for these type of pumps and they are not up to the job as these pumps are more of a flow pump than a pressure type. I think you would need a fairly decent pump to be able to pump up any reasonable height and thru the small tubing.

I'm now using an Onga household pressure pump I had lying around here at home and it is doing the trick very nicely.

I also tried a Shurflo pressure pump I got from BIAS Boating some years ago and it does the job OK, as it pumps at 45psi at 2.8 gpm (about 10.5 L/min) but its downfall is it is only 12V and need some sort of power supply to run it - used my battery charger for power supply which worked but over a lengthy time I think it, or the pump would start getting a bit hot or overworked.
Other than this I would have to hook up a battery etc and I think the Onga pump will do me for now.

Thanks for your help.

pyrobrewer280 · Post by **pyrobrewer280** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:16 pm

If you are on tank water, as many of us are around here, and you have a pressure pump for tap water, you just need to plumb the exhaust water back to the tank or for gravity feed systems to a lower tank if you have one. Plenty of other stillers I know use aquarium and pond pumps I even used one that circulated through a homemade temprite for beer!

Brewmeister · Post by **Brewmeister** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:26 pm

pyrobrewer280 :-If you are on tank water, as many of us are around here, and you have a pressure pump for tap water, you just need to plumb the exhaust water back to the tank or for gravity feed systems to a lower tank if you have one. Plenty of other stillers I know use aquarium and pond pumps I even used one that circulated through a homemade temprite for beer!

G'day Mate,
No I am on town water but as I mentioned do have a household pressure pump so am just recirculating the water through a 200 litre plastic drum.

As I mentioned in my post above the problem I had with the pond pump was it just wasn't up to the job mainly because I believe the restriction down to 1/4" tubing in my coil/condeser and the pump gets too much back pressure and just hasn't the oomph to push the water through.

I've been searching around for other pond/aquarium/stream pumps that I think would do the job and they start getting rather pricey $$$$$ so I think I will stick with what I have.

Arnie_sla · Post by **Arnie_sla** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:57 pm

G'day, Go to K-mart, In the gardening section look for pond pump. Cost about $30.00.

Pieterpost · Post by **Pieterpost** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:53 am

I used to have a fontain-pump but the thing would barely pump is upto the height I needed it to go (2.20 meter).

When I switched to a VM-system I definately needed a stronger pump and I got myself one of those pumps which you use to drain your cellar. Got it second hand but it was brand new. It pumps upto 7 meters (I don't believe that but still it gets the job done). My cooling elemnt is made of 8 mm copper tubing.

it's a submersible pump which i would recommend to anyone!

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