Beer Forum

It's time to upgrade the brewery and I can't decide between the Chugger Steelhead vs. March 815 pumps. Seems like the March is the tried & true and Chugger is the new guy. I like the stainless head, if for no other reason than the lack of fear of cross threading the plastic March pump head. Otherwise no one has a bad thing to say about either. Price is comparable. Noise level? Throughput? Durability? Help me decide. Thanks!

First off, those polysulfone heads aren't easy to cross thread at all, the big worry is snapping one of the in/out's off the main body. Ask me how I know

I just snapped my first one last week & called up Northern Brewer to ask about the Steelheads. They're made from a different manufacturer but I was told the heads are interchangeable & they're hoping to sell the head assembly ala carte in the next couple months.

If the little extra money isn't an issue, I'd recommend going with the steelhead. Otherwise the March's are great pumps as well. The heads aren't *that* easy to snap, but it's possible & will probably happen 5 years down the road... at the worst possible moment, of course.

I have snapped a polysulfone head at an inopportune moment myself. Very unpleasant. That said, it only happened once, when I was changing out a ball valve. It is not that likely to break during normal operating conditions, i.e. during a normal brew day.

March also has SS heads but not inline ones. If I were to do it all over again, I'd get March 815's and buy the inline SS heads separately from Chugger. That way you have the better pump and a spare set of polysulfone heads, just in case something happens to your SS heads (unlikely but not impossible).

I've read several things that indicate that the Chugger center inlet is better, but I've seen them cheaper than what NorthernBrewer sells the inline steel head for. What gives?

I have my March pump mounted in a frame that supports the inlet and outlet pipes for my in-line 809 with the plastic head. For that reason, I've never snapped off the housing. A SST housing is not a requirement if you do it that way.

mabrungard wrote:I have my March pump mounted in a frame that supports the inlet and outlet pipes for my in-line 809 with the plastic head. For that reason, I've never snapped off the housing. A SST housing is not a requirement if you do it that way.

The tendency to break them is while you're working on them, such as changing or tightening a ball valve, etc., not from normal wear & tear or the weight of the hoses. Mine would still be fine had my hand not slipped when tightening a valve. If you're careful, the polysulfone head will last a life time. But we tend to screw up from time to time & the extra insurance (& bling factor) makes the extra $10 worth a million.

The chugger pump I got was cheaper than the march pump and its just a great and slightly better since the head is metal and you dont have to worry about melting anything if you flick the wrong switch. I keep buying chugger pumps from now on

I've got two Chugger pumps and they work very well, not to mention they were cheaper than the March pumps and come standard with Stainless heads.