StillSmart

As the weight is getting too much for me,I have just bought a pump for transferring liquids from fermenting vessels and still.



Before attempting to use it and to avoid possible damage, I have some questions I hope can be answered.

1. There are no instructions but, on the silver label on the pump itself can be read:
“Warning! Forbid no water run.

Does this mean do not run without it being in water, or, do not place it in water to run?

2. The mains adapter connects by means of a two pin connector.

As there is no indication of live or neutral can this be plugged in any way?

I'm sorry if the answers are ridiculously obvious but I am hopeless at these things.

I think the warning is to not dry run the pump. An impeller driven pump wont last long without liquid being pumped through it. Any air left in the pump may also cause it to cavitate so make sure its primed before use.

Thanks for that. I wasn't sure whether it was a warning to submerge or, not to submerge..

Use of the term 'cavitation' was new to me, but I get the point.

By 'priming', do you mean making sure the pump is fully submerged before switching on or is there another meaning to priming the pump?

Do I take it that there is no particular position for the two pin connection fit (i.e. +/-)?

Thanks again.

I don't think that pump is submersible. It looks like it should be mounted externally at a low point and hooked up into a drain valve. Small submersible pumps usually have inlets at the bottom of the pump housing.

Priming a pump involves removing any air in the pump/inlet pipework before running.

Without any markings on the connectors I wouldn't know the polarity either.

The difficulty for a 'technical illiterate' in understanding the answers to their question, is the fact that they are technical illiterates. A sort of “Catch 22”.

Do have patience with me!

My original thought was that I obtained a pump, put a tube on one end to take up the liquid and a tube on the other end to direct where I wanted the liquid to go.

I don't know what a 'drain valve' is. Do I need to buy one? If so, what do I look for?

To remove any air from the pump without switching it on seems to be a problem I hadn't considered and, don't know how to do.

I do appreciate your attention and thank you for your submissions.

I would wire it up and switch it on.
If it doesn't work, buy another one from Chinaland.
In this case I don't think polarity matters, and the pump will or will not prime when the inlet is immersed.
What do you have to lose?

Robert.

It's only 12v so nothing too dramatic is going to happen, I imagine if you get the polarity wrong it will run backwards as it is DC voltage, just plug it in and get stillin..

For anyone thinking about a purchase.....

The whale submersible pumps, are brill. Used them the years. Self priming. Fast. 12v, Safe and just plug onto the bottom of you hose. Cheap at about £10 on ebay.

I opened this particular thread because, although the individual items were relatively cheap, there has been rapidly mounting costs for me,

I did, in the past, purchase the same pump and an ac/dc mains adapter. These items had very little use as they were for the specific purpose of transferring liquids after fermenting and/or distilling.

Within the past fortnight I had occasion to dig them out. The pump didn't work. I noticed that the LED light on the mains adapter wasn't coming on, so I ordered another mains adapter.

When it arrived, I connected the new adapter up to the existing pump. The LED light was on until that point. As soon as the pump was connected it seem to have blown the mains adapter.

Given that it now appeared that I had a faulty pump, I ordered another pump and another mains adapter.

I have the new pump and am awaiting the replacement mains adapter.

So. so far, three mains adapters and two pumps. Cheap as they are, costs are mounting and I grow increasingly warier.

As an aside, it does strike me as unusual that the suppliers of such pumps do not appear to sell a mains adapter alongside them or, have a package deal where in a mains adapter is included with a pump.

My commiserarations upon your choice of pump.
If it does not work, then I do back Mash's suggestion of Whale submersible pumps.
I have used them for years,sea water and diesel.

Robert.

Yup, I have a couple. And they last forever.

Sorry to hear about your misadventures Toper.

Just to bring this thread to a close, for my purposes, the replacement pump has now arrived and I have it up and running.

I originally chose this particular pump because of it's headline description:

“12V Food Grade Brewing Pump Craft Homebrew Beer Wort Mash Circulation”

It seemed to be exactly what I was looking for and built to withstand high temperature liquids.

However, it turns out that simply placing an extraction tube into the liquid one wishes to transfer, and switching on has no effect at all, and the pump is dry running.

If I place both an extraction tube and receiving tube in place first of all,with a closing tap on the receiving tube, by sucking the liquid through the entire length, then closing off the tap, to hold the liquid in place,the pump then works when switched on. The closed tap has to be opened virtually simultaneously.

So, at last, I have a functioning pump, but not one that I would recommend to anybody.

Yup. Sounds like it is not a self priming pump. Meaning it will not pump air, you need to wet/fill it first.

Pleased it is sorted.

What he said.

Robert.