Cheapo solar pumps

[Beermonger]

I was holding forth on the virtues of cheap submersible Chinese pumps on the Capital WhatsApp group and was asked to put the info up here where it wouldn't be washed about by the inevitable torrent of ... erudite beer posts.

So I built a system that uses a solar pumps to perform a recirculating mash, wort transfer, and whirlpool. I guess that's a fair bit of constant use, and I've noticed that some types are much more reliable than others. In fact, the one I'm using now seems to be a very solid cheap pump solution.

There's an image of the two main types I've used at the end of the post. The black one one the left is good, the beige one on the right is not. They've got half-inch threads on the in and the out, incidentally. They cost about €10-14 from aliexpress, usually with free delivery (sometimes with free delivery from Europe so it only takes a few days instead of a month).

The beige ones that used to be sold everywhere shite: the slightest bit of husk stops them, the build quality is crap, and I've broken the faceplates off them trying to unscrew them from the input.

In fact, I broke all my beige ones and ended up ordering some black ones from aliexpress. It turns out they're much better. Much more solid, very robust versus the odd grain or chunk of hop pellet, recover well from too little flow on the input. Been using one for about 5 brews and zero problems. I've never needed to disconnect the pump during the brew to get it restarted again, which was a constant pain with the beige ones.

So the problem is that there are lots of slightly different pumps being sold with similar parameters and appearances. THey're not all the same. There are some crap black ones, too. I think I can identify the good ones, though.

I think this is one: http://tinyurl.com/jpwcsof

(I know, that link will eventually expire, so look at the black one in the photo below).

(I'm also not necessarily recommending that seller; look around, one that ships from Europe)

If you look at the photo below, the good (left) pump type, apart from being back, has a square (not round) faceplate with screws solidly in the corners (not sticking out), it has its two wired encased in a single fairly thick cover (not separate red and black), it's made of a somewhat more rubbery plastic than the brittle stuff used on the right-hand one (you can see in some photos that it has a white sort of bloom on it - visible even in some aliexpress photos)

                       
You'll need a power supply: 1A, 12V will give you the full output of your pump. Don't go over 1 A, but if you have a 0.7 A or 0.5 A device adapter lying around, it'll likely work too (running it slower, not necessarily a bad thing)

You'll also need some way to attach the leads from your power supply to the loose ends of the pump leads. In a pinch a connector block would do. The power supply I used had a male 5.5 mm 'CCTV' plug on the end of it, so I needed the appropriate sockets, which I got for next to nothing on ebay or ali.

Anyway, it's a super cheap pump that works surprisingly well.

[darren996]

Could be a good backup pump for anyone using the bulldog brewing system.

[Leann ull]

Cheers for sharing
I had 4 beige "solar pumps" all shit and there is the clue, for water transfer no problems, for sticky wort with grain husk forget it

[garciaBernal]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fafada-Brushless-Magnetic-Submersible-Garden/dp/B016Q3Y2R6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479398927&sr=8-1&keywords=Fafada+DC+12V+700L%2FH+Brushless+Magnetic+Submersible+Water+Pump+Fish+Tank+Pond+Garden

Does this one look like it may do a job?

[darren996]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fafada-Brushless-Magnetic-Submersible-Garden/dp/B016Q3Y2R6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479398927&sr=8-1&keywords=Fafada+DC+12V+700L%2FH+Brushless+Magnetic+Submersible+Water+Pump+Fish+Tank+Pond+Garden

Does this one look like it may do a job?

That one is rated up to 90 degrees, so not suited to boiling wort

[nigel_c]

Probably a grand pump for anyone looking to recirculate water in a herms pot.

[darren996]

Absolutely , just depends on what you are using it for.

It's suitable for mash recirc, sparge water transfer etc.

Suppose the only thing it's not suitable for is recirc through a plate chiller or counter flow chiller.

[Motorbikeman]

This is the one

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pc-New-High-Quality-DC-12V-3-8M-Magnetic-Electric-Centrifugal-Water-Pump/32525574532.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.2.F1a0jM&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10056_10065_10068_10055_10054_10059_10078_10079_10084_10083_10073_10080_10070_10082_10081_10060_423_10061_10052_10062_10050_10051,searchweb201603_1&btsid=d8ffe3c2-40d9-4cb6-af66-47fa622d313c

[auralabuse]

Could be a good backup pump for anyone using the bulldog brewing system.

Exactly what I have em for. They are great for pumping sparge water over from the boiler to the bulldog too

[Will_D]

In all fairness the beige "Solar" pumps were intended to be used in a solar heating system. They were designed to pump a water/glycol mix at any temp from 105C down to cold.

If we as HB'ers want to pump sticky, crud ladden wort then let the HBer beware!

Also skip on cleaning and oops "Eff'ed Pump scenario"

[Beermonger]

garciaBernal, that's not it - that one's got a narrow output ant the plastic looks different. I think the one Motorbikeman linked to is what I'm talking about.

As for cleaning, yes, I wouldn't skip that step. I use mine to recirculate mash, then during the boil I immerse  it in a litre or two of oxi and let it pump that around for while. Then I replace the oxi with water, pump it around a while and use it for the whirlpool and final wort transfer to the FV. Later I use it during clean-in-place of the vessels with more oxi.

It never transfers very hot liquid: max 75-80 C.

[Beermonger]

Also, as Will suggests, cruddy wort is not going to be the easiest thing to pump. But that's part of the reason I posted about this: those black ones are really surprsingly good with dealing with bits of grain and hops. For twelve quid they're great value. More solid pumps are of course available for 8-10 times the price.