Recommendations for Water Pumps?

[stilly_bugger]

...just see how it performs when you hook it up to your condenser...

Gave it a trial run last night on a 2" reflux column and 2,200W element combo with a 6mm double wound coil condensor. Very happy with its performance.

I read somewhere on one of the forums (probably here or HD) that it's better to control your condensor flow from a bypass valve (the valve connected to the T in the diagram above) rather than putting a control valve in the direct line between the pump and condensor somewhere after/above the bypass valve. Less pressure on the pump, or something like that. It works pretty well, but on a pump this big I found that your minimum flow rate through the condensor with this setup is about 1100mL a minute. At that rate, with cool water in your tank on a 2,200W element, that's slow enough to have the condensor output quite warm.

The water temp in my ≈200L drum was 13 ˚C when I turned on the pump, about 15min before the column got up to temp. After just under three hours the temp in the drum had climbed to 36 ˚C, which is the heat-up rate I expected based on the estimate I got by plugging the numbers into Rad's 'Heating Time to Temp' calculator over on the HomeDistiller parent site (http://homedistiller.org/calcs/rad14701).

But before I pushed the pump in water any hotter than this I thought I'd ask: The Owner's Manual for this pump says not to run it in water over 35 ˚C. Do people on here run their pumps in water hotter than 35 ˚C? Just curious about the effect this will have on the pump.

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

For anyone else wanting to use this pump, the following table shows you roughly how long it will take the water in your tank to get to 35 ˚C when you're running a 2,200W element at full power. The times assume that the water in your tank is 15 ˚C when you turn on the pump. The times do not take into consideration the heat generated by the pump itself and assume no heat loss to the external environment.

Tank vol. L : Time to 35 °C
200 : 2hr 7min
400 : 4hr 13min
600 : 6hr 20min
800 : 8hr 26min
1000 : 10hr 33min
1200 : 12hr 39min
1500 : 15hr 49min
2000 : 21hr 6min

[stilly_bugger]

Okay. So was sitting in the shed today and got the 1000 mile stares up, just thinking about how best to improve this cooling setup. I have a ≈2,500L water tank out behind the shed that was just itching to help me cool my condensor. So this is how I brought it in on the act:

modified_cooling_setup.gif

I am lucky that the tank only has to be about 2/3 full for it to be able to feed water into my 200L drum reservoir by gravity alone. This means that I can pump cooling water from the 200L drum to the condensor and out to the tank. Meanwhile gravity does its work refilling the drum with cool water from the tank.

I only have to check that the flow from the tank to the drum is about equal to the flow from the drum to the tank.

Sorted. :-bd

PS. Why don't I just ditch the 200L drum altogether? I prefer to keep the pump running in the shed. Don't think the neighbours would appreciate the extra noise late at night.

[R-sole]

That's exactly as i have my setup, but i have lifted my drum so it naturally balances a water level with the tank via gravity and cannot overfill. The thing you need to be aware of though is that if you're tank is small enough to get heated that it will promote algae growth.

coolingwater1.jpg

coolant3.jpg

[stilly_bugger]

I saw your setup in another thread 5Star, after plugging 'pump site:http://aussiedistiller.com.au/' into a Google search. It got me thinking about how I could do something similar with my tank.

Yours seems to be a more fool proof way to go about gravity feeding a reservoir:

punkin_cooling_setup.gif

And good to see you've cleaned up around that tank, too. :clap:

This also got me thinking :think: , would a gravity fed ('water finds its own level') and natural convection ('hot water rises') setup work, eliminating the need for a mechanical pump altogether?

gravity_and_convection_cooling_setup.gif

Thanks for the algae advice, too :handgestures-thumbupleft:

EDIT: added better picture explaining thinking behind gravity-convection pump.

[R-sole]

That's an old pic. the garden ios looking pretty good now. i have just bout a flowering vine to grow over the tank. That little garden is the only one where i'm allowed to do what i want. :D

[scarecrow]

I've got the 250W pump from Bunnings. It will drain a 200 litre wheelie bin in a matter of seconds. :o

Couple of piccies from my stuff.

This is the pump.

pump1.jpg

This is the control setup for water lines and the bypass valve. Flow is from left to right.

setup1.jpg

I've got to tidy this shit up one day. :laughing-rolling:

My Still.jpg

Been using it since January and it has not missed a beat. Wheelie bit water gets pretty hot. On a long run it would be up around 50C. (Makes a mental note: get a bigger cooling tank).

scarecrow

[stilly_bugger]

...Wheelie bit water gets pretty hot. On a long run it would be up around 50C.

No trouble with the pump running in water at that temp?

[scarecrow]

Not that I can see. It still pumps like a champion, even at that temp.
It gets a bit noisy if I have too much back pressure. I generally just set and forget, but sometimes I temporarily increase back pressure to up the flow rate if I need to get all the bubbles and airspace out of the system.
I usually set the maximum flow rate to the flow controllers at about 300 lph. That gives me about 2-3 lph at the needle valves on the reflux condenser.

scarecrow

[MR-E]

...Wheelie bit water gets pretty hot. On a long run it would be up around 50C.

No trouble with the pump running in water at that temp?

These pumps are great, they have a auto cut off if temp gets too high & will reset when cool :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[crow]

yeah that might not be to cool in the middle of a strip especially if ya don't realize until there's ethanol vapor pissing out ya output . I just bought a 1000 ltr tank on ebay for $30 , there's loads of em on there . Figured I'd let it fill with rainwater and shouldn't have to fill it again , well not for a very long time :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MR-E]

yeah that might not be to cool in the middle of a strip especially if ya don't realize until there's ethanol vapor pissing out ya output . I just bought a 1000 ltr tank on ebay for $30 , there's loads of em on there . Figured I'd let it fill with rainwater and shouldn't have to fill it again , well not for a very long time :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sorry, just thought I'd add that, if people were worried about burning there pumps out. :oops:
My pump has not stopped during a run.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Frank]

Courtesy of rural living maybe??? 8-).... I have a DC house pump (Shurflo 24v rated only at 11l/min BTW) and I run a garden hose from an outside tap into the stilling shed and then from the condensor I run a hose back into the watertank inlet.
It worked first time and works evertime and the water is 'completely' recycled too. My only modification was to put an inline ballvalve-type tap just prior to the condensor intake because I couldn't be bothered walking back to the outside tap during a run. :oops:

[stubbydrainer]

I use my 7500 gal rain water tank, I use the tap outside the shed door, run it thru the apparatus , the outlet goes back to the tank via a "hook pipe " i hang from shed guttering ( it saves rolling out and packing up a long hose to/from the tank inlet, it alsoinvolves fuckin ladders :handgestures-thumbdown: )

[Goldie]

If anyone in Perth is looking for 1000lt IBC tanks this place;
Daly Laboratories Pty Ltd
32 Railway Pde, Welshpool WA 6106, Australia
(08) 9358 5445

Has loads for sale @ $25 each.

[bt1]

Goldie,

Jesus i like that leibig...wait till mid summer when it comes into it's own...

Another 6 months and I'll haul out the bigin myself. I'm over winter allready.

bt1

[stilly_bugger]

...1000lt IBC tanks ... Daly Laboratories ... loads for sale @ $25 each.

Now that's a bargain. Would love them at that price in Melbourne. :snooty:

[crow]

...1000lt IBC tanks ... Daly Laboratories ... loads for sale @ $25 each.

Now that's a bargain. Would love them at that price in Melbourne. :snooty:

I got mine in Elaine they had another that went for $40 and I reckon I saw some cheap in Geelong to ;-)

[bluenova]

I've been using an old washing machine water pump for over three years now and have had no problems.

[Goldie]

I've been using an old washing machine water pump for over three years now and have had no problems.

:handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft: OH YEAH? I have a water pump from the mother in laws old washing machine. I knew there was a reason I kept it, :text-thankyoublue: bluenova.

[bluenova]

Oh yeah......they make a great pump, just that tey are gravity feed but heck you can find em' all over!