Pumps

[Michael]

I understand that some cheaper pumps have made their way around NZ lately. Does anyone have an idea where I can find a cheaper pump that is food grade, and can handle boiling wort?

My March pump may be fubar now. However, even if it is OK, I hope to get a second pump.

[Stu H]

http://www.tempercon.co.nz/

[Michael]

That looks like the pump. Do you know how much they charge? The price does not seem to be on the site.

[mattd2]

I got mine from this chinese supplier (don't be fooled by the website name!)

NZ$131 + $10 S&H = NZ$141. From what I can tell they are the same as the tempercon/iwaki just Resun brand name.

http://www.boyu-australia.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&...

The supplier messed up and did not have any MD30 pumps in stiock when I ordered so they emailed and asked if I would take the next size up... for no extra cost!

Pretty happy with them and the pump.

[Michael]

Are these actually food grade, and can they handle the boiling temperatures?

[mattd2]

I have looked into the materials of contruction and I am happy with using it. I have seen service temp limits of 90°C but speaking with other pump manufactorers (March) they agree that those would be to cover for the fact most of these pumps will be used for amatuer user that would not be knowlegable in the issues that present themselves when pumping boiling, or near boiling, water (i.e. customers would be unhappy if the pump says it can pump 100°C water but the pump cavitates and stops pumping when doing so only because the customer has set the pump up incorrectly)

From memory - MoC, all of which are have working temperatures over 100°C:

Casing - GFRPP

Impeller - GFRPP

Spindle - Ceramic

Bearing - Teflon

Thrust ring - Ceramic or PE

O-ring - Viton or EPDM

[Vesku]

I have Tempercon "XX-15" and it has been reliable and has been used over 90C temps for short period of time.

I bought an Iwaki pump (used) a while ago, this one is made in Japan and the build quality seems much better than the Tempercons's and the plastic material is different. Could all these Chinese "green magnet pumps" be copies of the real thing (Iwaki)? There's an official importer for Iwaki pumps here in NZ (Wallace Pumps) and their price for Iwaki MD-30R was $871 + gst.  The model numbers you get from Tempercon are not MD-XXX, but WP-XXX. Just guessing though...

[mattd2]

The resun pumps are even better with their model numbers = MDXXX. I would think that these are chinese knockoff of the Iwaki. I think Iwaki offer more options for their pump heads where the Resun seem to only be GFRPP (which is an option for Iwaki).

I will try and get some photos of my pump on here soon(ish)

[Vesku]

Yep, when you look at the Alibaba it looks that there's a lot of these available (and you can guess how much the TM seller's cut is):

http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/magnet-pump.html

I don't know if Iwaki makes the pumps in China now? Maybe these knockoffs come from same factory...

[mattd2]

I wouldn't be surprised? The only concern with that would be Iwaki's QC being better than the others (and hence the price!) with the cheaper brands we could still be getting a pump as good as an Iwaki... or one that is much worse!

[Damon Colbert]

You might want to check out the Tempercon store on TradeMe (http://www.trademe.co.nz/stores/tempercon).  Just spotted them today.  It looks like they're selling pumps on a comparable price to imports from Australia.

[mattd2]

Tempercon's site lists the MoC http://www.tempercon.co.nz/Magnetic_Pumps.php

Pretty much the exact same pump as the Chinese supplier

[Joel Macfarlane]

I've got one of the Tempercon pumps and the fact that they don't have metal screw on input/output fittings is a real disadvantage. Most of the guys I see online mount a tap above the output. You can't do this with these because all you have is a floppy hose clamped onto the plastic output.

I've seen pictures of Jo Woods setup and he seems to have one with a proper metal output. Not sure where he got it from though.