Peristaltic pumps.

[Charlie]

I use peristaltic pumps for some applications in the lab. The idea of these things is that they have flexible tubing that is squeezed by rollers to move the fluid, and are not much affected by viscosity and solids. The great advantage of them in brewing is that the tubing can easily be changed to food grade. This short length of tubing is the only thing in contact with the medium, and is relatively inexpensive. The flow path is insanely easy to clean and sanitize, or replace.

I would like to add a peristaltic pump to my rig. Ideally it would be variable speed and have 2 heads so I could sparge and x-fer to the BK at at the same time, and flow 1 GPM per head.

I've put in a lot of time searching google, ebay etc, but have yet to find the perfect pump. Most of them are low volume things used in pharmaceuticals or huge things used for pumping sludge. Most do not have a provision for multiple head operation.

If anyone has suggestions I sure would appreciate it.

Charlie

[chadem1]

I've thought about these pumps as well, but I believe that they are generally too expensive for homebrewing operations. Watson-Marlow makes some great pumps (mainly for pharma) that also have options for multiple pump heads; but they are wicked expensive.

[dags]

have a look at the craft brewer site, they have a peristaltic pump. no coment on how good it is

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=909

[Charlie]

These pumps are indeed wicked expensive. There is absolutely no reason for that except that they are limited production items. Peristaltic pumps are also used in dish and clothes washers. The OEM versions are reasonably priced ($50-$60), but the ones I've seen have no control unit, so they're not real useful.

The best unit I've seen is the Cole Parmer I/P (1.0 to 13 LPM or 0.25 to 3.5 GPM). That web page is here;

http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_view.asp?sku=7796320

List price is approx 2K. Totally out of bounds for my op. I'm going to talk to my Fisher Scientific rep this week and see if he can get a better price or come up with a less expensive alternate. Scientific equipment is approx 50% discounted to the guys with the big accounts. Believe me, my employer has a big account.

The industrial units are priced lower too, but generally have much higher capacity and don't offer multi-head versions.

I'm still looking.

Charlie

[Bugeater]

Have you considered making one? I found a site where some idiot decided to build one to use for a gravy fountain at some kind of buffet. The design is really quite simple and looks like it can be easily made for our purposes. http://www.instructables.com/id/EUM86I9613EP28786D/

Wayne

[Mylo]

Oh, man.... I fell for it again. I thought this was another thread about JP and his antics.


Mylo

[dags]

its an easy mistake Mylo, a peristaltic pump could be a clensing diet

[missing_link]

brewmation www.brewmation.com sells a single and double with speed control. I want to say it was $400 for the double.

Only advantage I can see is the ease of balancing a sparge but that's the part that makes me feel like I did something since almost everything else is automated in my brew process.

Linc