BeerBorg

Last night's brew did not go smoothly... The mash went fine, the boil was going nicely, I set up the recirculation through the plate chiller at T20 to sanitize everything, then with 10 min left in the boil, the cheap GreatBrewEh pump decides to quit on me. This happened once before, but I thought I had figured out the problem - guess not. Couldn't get the pump to work, so ended up gravity feeding through the chiller... Wort didn't cool enough for pitching, so I stuck it into the ferm fridge and pitched this morning.

I was so pissed that at 1 am last night, I ordered a Chugger pump from BobbyM (BrewHardware.com). $103 shipped is a great deal - and no more gambling with a crappy pump! Anyone else use a Chugger?

$103 for a chugger is a great price....does it have the stainless steel head?

Haven't used mine yet, but got the Add-A-Pump kit from BobbyM. Need to get off my A** and finish my build.

BlackDuck wrote:$103 for a chugger is a great price....does it have the stainless steel head?

No, that's for a polysulphone one - stainless is more expensive... I don't mind plastic, and I can always upgrade later if I really want the bling.

So I took the old pump apart, and figured out the problem - the ceramic shaft had seized inside the impeller. I suppose I may not have been cleaning it as vigorously as I could have the last couple brews. I cleaned the parts, put a bit of keg lube on them, and it's working fine again... I think I will just keep it as a spare though, or if I ever upgrade to a 3-vessel system, it will make a great HLT/sparge water pump.

Can't wait to get my new Chugger!

Sorry to hear a stupid pump failure screwed up your otherwise perfect brewday. I'll be ordering a Chugger pump with my High Gravity brewing system in a few months. Then the process of electric brewing BIAB will be all new to me and I'm very excited. I've never used a plate chiller before either so about the only familiar part of brewing beer to me will be the grain, even the hops have to be hung in bags during the boil. Happy to hear you found the problem, there's nothing wrong with knowing you have a spare part on hand though.

ScrewyBrewer wrote:Sorry to hear a stupid pump failure screwed up your otherwise perfect brewday. I'll be ordering a Chugger pump with my High Gravity brewing system in a few months. Then the process of electric brewing BIAB will be all new to me and I'm very excited. I've never used a plate chiller before either so about the only familiar part of brewing beer to me will be the grain, even the hops have to be hung in bags during the boil. Happy to hear you found the problem, there's nothing wrong with knowing you have a spare part on hand though.

I just got my Chugger, and dang, this thing is built like a tank - it makes my little old pump seem like a toy in comparison. I'm planning a few brews over the Christmas break (lucky enough to have 2 weeks off of work), so I'll give it a workout!

Have you seen this system?

Finally got to use my new Chugger pump last night - dang, this thing is powerful! Put camlocks on it, and was able to attach it directly to the kettle valve, just like my old pump, and it ripped through everything I threw at it. My only complaint is how loud this pump is, especially compared to the whisper-quiet little pump I was using. It also seems that the motor was getting pretty hot during operation - anyone else experienced this? But these are minor things.

All in all, I'm really happy with my new Chugger! Definitely a great piece of equipment.

Glad to hear how the chugger worked out for ya Russki. wife & kids got me one for Christmas. I already have a march so it is going to be interesting to see how they compare.