water pump question

[dillsandwitch]

okay so i just tried to use my submersible pump for the first time for my 1000l tank. no good. just wasn't getting the water through fast enough. the pump i have is a 10l/min so that would be 600l/hr. it was going through the still at about 400ml/min and from previous runs i need about 550-600ml/min through it to keep it at a stable 61-62 ish degrees where it likes to sit.


now i was thinking something that puts out around 1200l/hour would be the way to go. i was having a look at eBay and have found a couple that are reasonably priced. would this be suitable or should i go for something that puts out more water? oh and they say they are for fish tanks. does that matter?

thanks in advance
dill

[crow]

On a 1000 ltr tank I can't see the water getting to warm so as long as the pump capacity is right shouldn't matter what the specified use is :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[dillsandwitch]

yeah not worried about the tank size. i know thats fine. its getting the water flow that i need. having a further look i found these 2 pupms from the same seller on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/24w-Multi-Us ... 4ab3e6b966

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/85w-Multi-Us ... 336fb2c15e

now i dont know would the bottom one be overkill?

[Kimbo]

I think the problem there Dill is the actual motor is too small to pump the water thru the condenser.
i used one of these for my bok and it worked brilliantly

[blond.chap]

I went for a commercial electric one as well, much better than the little pond pumps. May not need the 950W one in the link though, mine's 550W and is overkill for my pot still. You can find the range in Bunnings for around $80.

[dillsandwitch]

I think the problem there Dill is the actual motor is too small to pump the water thru the condenser.
i used one of these for my bok and it worked brilliantly

16500l/hour seems way overkill to me, but then again thats why i asked as i have no idea

[Kimbo]

Hi Dill, its not about how many litres the pump can deliver, its more of a pressure thing.
For example, my 750W pump, with no attachments will shoot a jet of water as thick as my arm for over 20m.
Once i connect it to my 6mm diameter double helix condenser, the water just trickles out. ;-)

[dillsandwitch]

oh i see. that makes much more sense.

[SBB]

its more of a pressure thing.

Sanga, Kimbos right when he says its a pressure thing, particularly with your still which i think is a T500. The water lines on those stills a pretty small in diameter. Water or any liquid is harder to push through a small diameter pipe than it is a larger diameter pipe. Try blowing air through a drinking straw, then try through a piece of 1/2 inch or 3/4 pipe and you will get the idea. In short you need more pressure to get more water through a small hose/ pipe.

[dillsandwitch]

okay so i got one of them dirty water pumps from bunnings. only thing is it doesn't fit into my tank :crying-blue: the diameter of my tank opening is 14cm and the pump is 16cm :crying-blue: so before i go cutting a bigger hole into the top of my tank which i would prefer not to do or wait for ben to build me a sump dealy i was thinking about trying one or even 2 of these ones. but before i go spending more money on something i just wanna know if it will work.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100w-Multi-U ... 460a83c5dd

Specification:

Voltage: 220-240V / 50Hz
Power: 100W
Output: 4500L/h
Max Head Height: 4.5m
Additional Connectors: 2 cm, 2.3, diameter
Dimensions: 175 x 112 x 133mm / 7" x 4.4" x 5.2"
Inlet and Outlet fits 22mm/25mm Flexible Hose
Cord Length: 2.5m

[Kimbo]

Hi Dill, im not sure how it will go.
it still looks a little under powered to me.

[dillsandwitch]

i did a run the other day with 1 30w and 1 12w chained together and it almost gave enough pressure to do the job by themselves. i only had to switch to the tap 3 times during the run when the pressure dropped.

so i figured if i had 2 of the 100w ones chained together it would work no problems. the dirty water pump that i got is only a 250w one and it had no problems giving me 750ml/min through the condenser. i just done wanna wait 6 months for ben to get around to building me a sump for the tank and i really dont wanna cut a bigger hole into it and therefore ruin it :S

[Kimbo]

Its worth a try i guess, keep us posted on how it goes :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[dillsandwitch]

yeah i will. i think im gonna go with the 2 chained together. hey worst case i end up with 2 pumps and have to put in a pond to make them worth while. hahahahaha

[Lil Pete]

i got a 8 dollar plastic tub from bunnings as my sump and had that as my tank water one then got the submersible one in that i had same drama as u with the tank hole size so now the tank flows into the drum and the pump sucks out of the drum no more issues and work so much easier than the fish pumps

[Fatherjack]

I have same problem with house supply being on pressure pump, which causes flow irregularties (sp) ie: flow drops while waiting for pump to kick in or demand elsewhere in house causes same problem.

Sooo I wonder what the biggest prob with my CM still will be when the cooling water outlet temp flatuates between 42-54 degrees? Is it effecting my product?

[Kimbo]

With a cm, they are notoriously hard to run due to the fact that the temp of the vapour rises as the alc is depleting from the wash.
This means that you have to constantly adjust the water flow to compensate.
Now, if your water temp and/or pressure is fluctuating, this will increase the level of difficulty immensely.
Which can result in any combination of - ABV, output rate and smearing. ;-)

[Lil Pete]

i had same problem as father jack with the pressure pump and apparently they arent designed to run constant for 4-5 hrs etc that why i got a bunning submersible have a line to the still and a tap with a hose before the still back to the tank to releave the pressure and now no dramas and very little wastage

[Lil Pete]

i got info from this thread
http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=572

[SBB]

i had same drama as u with the tank hole size so now the tank flows into the drum and the pump sucks out of the drum no more issues and work so much easier than the fish pumps

Ive used a similar method, just get a large plastic rubbish bin, put you pump in it, also helps if you can find and use some sort float system in the bin, like they use on water troughs or toilets to stop the bin overflowing.