Brewing pumps that don't cost the earth

[Andrew Luxmoore]

Afternoon people,

Thought I'd check to see whether anyone else had bought a brewing pump here in New Zealand that didn't cost close to $300. I've called a few places that stock March pumps, and all are around that price. None have heard of Chugger pumps, which was a little surprising I guess.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,

Andrew

[Crusader-Rob]

I have the same question....

[Peter Smith]

can you get 240v chuggers?

[Andrew Luxmoore]

No idea, I had not even considered this. 

[Adam Barnes]

I picked up the Chugger Pump Kit from BrewHardware:

http://brewhardware.com/pumps/133-chuggerpump

The pump itself is $141USD + shipping ($65USD) which is roughly $250NZD. Shipping should be reduced however if you go in the group buy here:

http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/forum/topics/brewhardware-stainless...

This *may* bring it down to about a $200NZD pump, which seems pretty good.

[Andrew Luxmoore]

Hey mate, Peter above raises a good point re: voltage. How are you getting around that?

[Adam Barnes]

My Chugger pump is 240V. When BrewHardware first stocked them 240V was an option on their site. Now they've sold out and Bobby hasn't restocked them - he says to email him if you'd like one. I emailed him to enquire on the 17th Nov as I'm looking at getting a second for my HERMS setup. This is his response:

"Adam, I have to check but I believe I only have ONE 230v left on hand.  The demand is generally low due to the high shipping costs involved so it hadn't occurred to me to pick up more last week. It looks like my next chugger pump pickup (they are about an hours drive from here) will be in mid December at the earliest. If you get desperate, I could have them ship a few to me but I'd need the buyers to absorb that cost because the margins on these pumps are very thin. I figure that would be at most a few dollars more per pump."

[Andrew Luxmoore]

If you were considering grabbing a second pump mid December, I'd be more than keen to go in on that order with you to halve the shipping costs between us. Hmmm, though I've just seen you're in Wellington, bugger!

[Karl Hayes]

I used to sell the green RESUN MD 30 pumps and they are good quality. The March ones are better, but more expensive at about the $300 mark. Chugger pumps are unavailable in 220V (AFAIK) and are about the same price so I'm not surprised they're not stocked.

IMHO, $300 is about right for this quality pump. If you can pick it up in 220V in the US and not have to pay GST  you should be able to get them in for less but if it's not working right, where do you bring for warranty repairs / replacement?

[mattd2]

I got a Resun MD40 from a Chinese aquarium supplier. Good pump. It is a PP head, so the rated specs are 90 degrees but all the materials are good to 120 degrees. Asked a rep from March what he thought, he said same as their similar pumps - no worrys with boiling liquids just don't expect any warranty if you break it (for whatever reason).
I'll try and find the seller later tonight. It was just over $100 landed for a MD30.

[Andrew Luxmoore]

Champion, thanks for that mate. In terms of L/m is it comparable to what you'd get from a March?

[Karl Hayes]

What ports did it have Matt?

[mattd2]

Hey guys,

Checked back over my emails, sorry I was wrong it was US$114 for the pump and shipping (I guess NZ$140).

I ended up with a MD40 as he had run out of stock for the MD30 I ordered - no extra charge.

Basically from all accounts these are similar to the Iwaki (W)MD series and I have used their info - although the Resun has an annoying feature that the studs are level which makes the outlet point of on a bit of an angle.

The pump I got has 3/4" BSPP threads.

Like most things coming from China, the description vary from vague to completely incorrect. As the website had it listed as G1" (1" BSPP) it was a bit of a nervous wait to see what showed up - my guess is the got confused with it being thread (G) with an OD of 26mm (1"). The Photo was a stock image showing some size of MD pump with hose barbs = added nervousness!

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

As for performance (Power / LPM / Max Head):

MD30

China: 35W / 40 LPM / 2.9m

Iwaki: 45W / 32 LPM / 3.8m

 

MD40

China: 80W / 52 LPM / 3.5m

Iwaki: 65W / 45 LPM / 4.6m

Name plate: 80W (45W output) / 52 LPM / 3.5m

 

March 815-PL-C: 29W / 30 LPM / 4.1m

 

Finally some photos, these are after 1.5+ years of use - only dissembled once before, normal cleaning is to flush with clean water, back flush then flush again pulsing the pump on a few times each flush.

Cheers guys!