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Pump for recirculating cooling

Has anyone found a pump that the SD blue hose fits up to nicely without buying any fittings? This is the last piece I need to order for my setup! Getting excited!

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  • The blue hoses qd fitting is available in 1/2" BSP thread which will fit all pumps with a simple reducer and most suitable ones without the reducer.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • @punkin any recomendations on a pump that wont break the bank but be able to pump to the top of the refulx condencer..and also not blow up with restricted flow.

  • edited April 2017

    A cheap submersible sump pump mate. Not sure what country you are in but in Australia they are $70 odd at the hardware stores.

    Ozito 350W Dirty Water Submersible Water Pump @ Bunnings Warehouse AU

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • i have been using a big aquarium mag drive pump for years.

    cheap alternatives are a bilge pump or a washing machine pump

  • edited April 2017

    Find someone with a used aquarium, pond, or small fountain pump.

    @punkin - my 1000 liter 12" still uses less than 90 watts for both recirculation pumps. With the 4"x1m condenser, I can push 60 liters per hour.

    350 watt pump? Thats a monster. I have an old aquarium pump for my little rig - it's a Danner Mag Drive - I don't know if that brand is out in Au/Nz, but the little Danner Mag 5 was just fine. But, you gotta look at the pump specs and check the flow rate at your head height.

    That big pump would be good if your reservoir was some distance away, or outside - and you had some very long hose lengths and height on the dephleg.

  • I ordered this for $10.39 to test, and gave it to a guy who has a 4" CD... (select the largest one, 264GPH, from the drop down) , it is 220v, but if you have a 220 element, well, then you have 220V.... heck, it is even in the same state as you....

    106 - 264 GPH Submersible Pump Aquarium Fish Tank Fountain Water Hydroponic 220V @ eBay

  • edited April 2017

    @grim i used bilge pumps for years on pot and reflux stills and upgraded to a sump pump when i started using a plated column as the 12v pumps weren't supplying enough water for me in the summer time. I used the 12v pumps because i couldn't get an aquarium pump that had enough head at a reasonable price back then. I could never have used the one yCotherman recommend as it has a maximum lift height of 3 feet (4.5' for the largest model).
    I imagine your 12" column is a little taller than that.

    If anyone can get away with a smaller pump well and good, the one i recommended will work.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited May 2017

    This is the pump I ended up going with:

    PonicsPump PP40016: 400 GPH Submersible Pump with 16' Cord - 25W… for Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Fountains, Ponds, Statuary, Aquariums & more. Comes with 1 year limited warranty. @ Amazon.com

    Works well and will easily pump to the top of the baby dragon! Needed a 1/2in npt to 5/16ths (i think) barbed fitting for the SD hoses. Also flows super fast if need be...I dont have any exact numbers of what it flows through post needle valve but its quick. Time will tell how long it lasts.

  • I saw at a craft brewer auction this last weekend, ...... they were using washing machine pumps for their water distribution. Thought this was brilliant. They even had them installed with pump bodies in Tupperware containers. Quite impressed as washing machine pumps are dirt cheap and can be purchased wholesale from various distributers.

  • @richard and needless to say, not sanitary. Wondering how the brewer got his food establishment license

  • At an auction? So they failed? Not surprising if they thought washing machine pumps in Tupperware containers was a good idea.

  • they may not be sanitary - but then again they don't need to be for pumping coolant thats not in contact with wash or liquor.

    but agree the execution might be better

  • Exactly that ... they are for water distribution be it hot or cold. No they are not dealing with product. I thought it good because they were craft / home brewers nand were thinking out the box. ... Tupperware box :-O

  • edited July 2017

    Just to come full circle, this is the pump I ended up using. Works perfectly! Had about 5 runs using it so far, I have it on for about 5 hours per run.

    PonicsPump PP40016: 400 GPH Submersible Pump with 16' Cord - 25W… for Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Fountains, Ponds, Statuary, Aquariums & more. Comes with 1 year limited warranty. @ Amazon.com

  • edited January 2018

    @punkin said: A cheap submersible sump pump mate. Not sure what country you are in but in Australia they are $70 odd at the hardware stores.

    Ozito 350W Dirty Water Submersible Water Pump @ Bunnings Warehouse AU

    Thanks for the tip Punkin! I needed a pump for my project and didn't have a clue about what pump to get. It is reassuring to buy something that has proven to be up to the task for someone else. thanks aye!

  • You are welcome.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • we use grundfos hydronic pumps cast iron ones for water and stainless steel ones where needed . there cheep usually around 100 bucks and they will run forever . we have pumps that have bin running continuously for 5 years pumping hydronic water . very reliable .

    tim

  • We used to use a Harbor Freight 1/2-horse shallow well stainless pump/tank, and pressure switch system, but I was always painfully aware of the 70F max seal temperature rating. Last summer our coolant reservoir spent some scary time above 80F, what with hotter weather and more work, so we swapped in a Grainger simple centrifugal pump with 180F seals ($280) for our old $110 well system.

    I sleep better these days.

    Zymurgy Bob, a simple potstiller

    my book, Making Fine Spirits

  • I had a bell&gossett 1/25HP circulator on my hot tub solar heater that kept my hot tub at 102F for 10 years, when it wore out(plastic impeller disintigrated) replaced it with a "TACO 007-SF5" pump like this one on ebay and it worked great until I got rid of the hot tub and put it on the shelf, 8 years later, it is going on my RC to circulate the water in a loop while my existing pump keeps the loop pressurized and my sestos/johnson valve setup lets water exit the loop....

  • I ran 12 volt bilge pumps for circulating pumps for condensors for 10 years without a worry too. They are still going strong as far as i know. One Rhule and one cheapie no name.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • Punkin, how hot did your coolant get, and what temperatures were the pump seals rated for?

    Zymurgy Bob, a simple potstiller

    my book, Making Fine Spirits

  • Sometimes in summer on back to back to back runs or 10 hr long reflux runs it would get hot enough that i'd have to flush the 500l tank with cold water from the bottom up. Hot to touch on the outside of a plastic rainwater tank.

    I have no idea of the rated temperature, perhaps google could help?

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited January 2018

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited January 2018

    This schematic shows how I'll be using the sump pump. I have called this design the BBC or BamaBill (from HD forum) Cooler as it is based on his adaptation of an industrial water tower.

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  • @kimbodious. At first glance good luck with that as I see no ability to control it. How big are you talking about here?

  • 70 litre reservoir, top chamber 25 litre and there'll be a valve on the warm water return. It is based on coolers already in use by others.

  • edited January 2018

    Just keep in mind that a submersible pump adds heat to your reservoir.

    If you are throttling that thing down, it's like a 350 watt heater in your reservoir. Just saying.

    Given the size of your cooling tower, it may not even be able to manage the heat of the pump.

    It's also working backwards, the air needs to be counterflow to the water. Way more complicated than it needs to be.

    image

    schematic.png
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  • edited January 2018

    You can make a simple cooling tower out of two plastic trash bins. Flip one over and put it on top of the other one - open end to open end.

    Use the flange where they meet to bolt them together.

    Use a 4" hole saw to create your air openings above the water line

    Cut a hole in the top for the fan. Use a radiator fan from the junkyard, they are easy to power and generally very water resistant.

    You need to make a water distribution manifold at the top. Just use PVC.

    Very easy to bulkhead a trash can with UNISEALs. One at the top for the manifold, one at the bottom for the pump. It might have a slight leak, but who cares this needs to be outside, it's loud and it's wet.

    Higher efficiency is going to require packing in the upper section of the cooling tower.

  • Thanks for all the tips. Yes the pump did raise the temp in the reservoir by about 1.5C above ambient temperature (stabilised around that). I agree that fan drawing upwards is more efficient but that also creates much greater loss to evaporation.

    I need to throttle the water return; it was overwhelming the permeable membrane so that there was a reduced level of air being forced through compared when there as no water. I am going to need a new reservoir, the one I was using is leaking. Next one will be larger. A larger water body help with absorbing incidental heating from the pump and some capacity for losses to evaporation

  • edited January 2018

    I have a 20,000 rainwater catchment reservoir that overflows with every rain. I just go once-through the condensors and discharge to the ground, using household water pressure. Feedwater temp stays in the mid 70s F year round.

    Household water pressure is provided by a 3/4 hp Gould pump controlled by a 60/40 psi Square D pressure switch. Feedwater for the still comes off of a hose bib. I contol the condensor inlet water to 20 psi with a single value (not adjustable) PRV I picked up in the irrigation section of Home Depot.

    Once-through is not wasteful in my case. I live in a rainforest (180"/year). I just catch the rainwater, make it do a bit of work for me, then send it off to where it was going before I diverted it.

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

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