Solar pump ressurection

[Shanna]

Hi there,

Thought that I would share my experience with you regarding my small 12v DC solar pump that I use for transferring wort from my mash tun to my brew kettle. I had not used my solar pump in nearly two month due to warm weather and being away on holidays. When I tried it again it refused to budge. I initially feared I had blown the DC power supply but a quick check with a computer fan ruled that out. I stripped it down and removed some small hair and debris (old grain flakes) from around the impeller but no joy. I put it aside and rather frustratingly ordered a new different pump from ebay. An off the cuff remark from Rossa ("don't throw it out as sometimes they start working weeks later") made me think that maybe there was some hope for it. Last Sunday with a few hours to kill I retested the pump and I managed to get the impeller running for a few seconds at a time by flicking it with my finger. However it would only run for a second or two before stopping again. This confirmed that the pump itself was not burnt out which my initial fear.

I sent an email to get guy from the Solar Pump supplier explaining my situation and asking him for help to diagnose the problem. He replied in 5 minutes and gave me chapter and verse on how to diagnose and fix the issue. Basically it involved standing the pump impeller end up in a cup of boiling water containing some washing up liquid for 2 hours. I switched the water at the one hour mark. This had the effect of melting the wort that was causing the impeller to jam. After two hours hey presto it worked perfectly again. I left it running fully submerged for a further hour to work out any residual wort and left it overnight in warm water to flush it further. Next morning it took it out and stood up impeller end down to drain it. Reassembled and tested it last night and it runs like new.

Lesson learned was to flush the pump completely with warm water 50C+ for at least 20 minutes after each use.

Shanna

[Rossa]

[johnrm]

I have one with the same issue.
I must try this.

[johnrm]

My Solar pump came back from the dead.
I didn't go through the whole rigmaroll, just removed the head and dippped it in boiling water for a few minutes.
Good man for chasing this one down Dec!

[Shanna]

My Solar pump came back from the dead.
I didn't go through the whole rigmaroll, just removed the head and dippped it in boiling water for a few minutes.
Good man for chasing this one down Dec!

Great news, glad to hear that it worked for you. Something I have to keep relearning is to try fix things before chucking them out. I bought a second pump before I figured out the issue with the pump.

Shanna

[Shanna]

Mine seized up too a couple of months ago, mid brew on my first time using my RIMS. Brew was ruined. Cleaned it out afterwards and it worked fine, much to my annoyance, as it demonstrated that it's not dependable.

One of these days I'll shoot it or throw it out a hotel room window.   

I never had any problems with it mid brew. I did not really clean it properly between brews and this contributed to my problems. Time will tell whether it will continue to work. I am hopeful a more rigorous cleaning routine with hotter water will ensure its continued operations.

Shanna

[DEMPSEY]

One of these days I'll shoot it or throw it out a hotel room window.   

Get your man DITCH from Leitrim to do it. He shot to death a Chinese made stc 1000 because it was crap