BeerBorg

short of drilling holes in a cooler... do you think I could hook an inline aquarium pump/recirculator to an extension off the tun manifold and pump the wort up and out to the pot?

if this might work how strong of a pump might I need?

With just a quick thought, yea, I think it could work. Not sure how you would have to hook it up though. Not sure how strong of a pump you would need. I guess that would depend on how far and up you plan to move the wort to get it into the pot.

Should be able to get some kind of ball valve installed at the cooler drain and have the manifold attached to this.

Dawg LB Steve wrote:Should be able to get some kind of ball valve installed at the cooler drain and have the manifold attached to this.

Yup, you can find conversion kits all over, or just take it to Home Despot and find one that fits.

I would be hesitant to use an aquarium pump for +160F fluids, and would have to think it would take forever, and any pump meant to handle that kind of volume would not be much cheaper than a Chugger. But, now that I think about it you would have to size it right so that the pump isnt so weak it doesnt work or takes forever but not so strong that it starts sucking the grain bed.

Then again, seeing as I have never tried it, it could be the bestest idea in the world so dont listen to me!

DaYooper wrote:hesitant to use an aquarium pump for +160F fluids

Very good point!!!

I agree about being careful using a plastic pump in hot fluids, but if you found one that would work in that temperature range, what you will have to look at is your setup to determine the pump head required to pump the fluid. Basically, this is the height that the pump can pump fluid up against gravity. If the pump doesn't have enough head to pump the wort the 3 feet or so out of your mash tun it won't do you any good.