New Tankless Water Heater

[Johnny-MAX]

Well, I installed a tankless water heater in the Meadery. I tested the temperature of is yesterday and it was not as hot as I thought. If I turn the knob to high and open the faucet wide open, the water comming out is 140F exactly and it maintains it. I guess I could fill a swimming pool with 140 F water. It heats it as it goes through, so it never runs out. It will be great for cleaning, because caustic in 130 F water will not only sanitize, but sterilize. I am still happy with it.

[hobgoblin]

I have looked at those things..you can save alot on gas if start temp is at 140. can you run it in a loop?
 they look like they are worth the money,I looked at some for R.V.'s they ran off L.P. gas.

  I have been looking at my dishwasher alot latey too. a dishwasher has eveything you need to make electric mash tun,timers,pump,heat eliment...

[Sgraham4]

very true hobs...how strong is a dishwasher pump?  i was thinkin bout tryin to use one to circulate cold water through my chiller

[hobgoblin]

J-Max (I think) has used a pump from dishwasher, if it can pump hot wort,it can do cold water,and they are cheep.

[bbushmaster]

yeah Jmax uses them they work great even magnetic drive

[Gridiron Brewer]

Johnny, I would think that 130F would be a great temp for adding (along with some cold tap water) to honey in order to aerate and bring to a pitching temperature. Now, say you wanted to use the water heater to heat up higher than 140F to say an infusion temperature, you could easily add a line with an electric heater inline to boost that temp up to say 170F!

[Johnny-MAX]

It controlls the temp of the water going out within a degree. I guess it is set to a max temp of 140F. I had thought about it. I need to talk to the guy who manufactures them, because he lives here in the same small town I do, Vidor, TX

[specialed]

J-Max (I think) has used a pump from dishwasher, if it can pump hot wort,it can do cold water,and they are cheep.

I just ordered GE Dishwasher Drain Pump WD19X10015?, its the same one Johnny bought and I found on ebay for $20. I hope to have it next week, Johnny says it takes a little adaptation for the hoses tho.

[Mr E Brewer]

What I did with this pump is tap threads into the ends, the inlet is 1/2" NPT and the discharge is 3/8" NPT.  The taps are a little pricey (about $10 each) but I just picked some up at work.  This way looks a lot neater since you can screw the fittings right into the pump. 

[Landshark67]

Dishwasher Pumps?

I have two dishwashers that were destined for the curb.  I now think I have a "Brutus 10 - "Viking Style" beer system in my future.  Two Kitchen Aids may be the beginning of something special.

Any photos of the pump modification would be appreciated.

-Shark

[specialed]

What I did with this pump is tap threads into the ends, the inlet is 1/2" NPT and the discharge is 3/8" NPT.  The taps are a little pricey (about $10 each) but I just picked some up at work.  This way looks a lot neater since you can screw the fittings right into the pump. 

Thanks for the tip I will try that

[Sgraham4]

how exactly does a dishwasher pump work.  obviously its not submerged like a sump pump?  i'm tryin to figure out how i could use one to circulate ice water through my chilller.  i'm guessing theres a in tube that would be in the liquid and an outlet, which for me would lead to my chiller.  sound right??

[Mr E Brewer]

This is how I threaded fittings into the pump.  The dishwasher drain pump works really well as long as you provide a good prime for the suction.  I held on to this pump for quite some time trying to figure out how I was going to hook it up to anything, then I figured out this little trick, hope this helps.

[hobgoblin]

        

[specialed]

This is how I threaded fittings into the pump.  The dishwasher drain pump works really well as long as you provide a good prime for the suction.  I held on to this pump for quite some time trying to figure out how I was going to hook it up to anything, then I figured out this little trick, hope this helps.

Thanks for the post and pics.
I  got my pump in the mail the other day but haven't done anything with it yet. Those taps sound great too

I have one question tho: is the the plastic thickness after you ran the taps still substantial. I am concerned if it would be flimsy. I want to be able to add some valves to the pump.

[Mr E Brewer]

I have one question tho: is the the plastic thickness after you ran the taps still substantial. I am concerned if it would be flimsy. I want to be able to add some valves to the pump.
[/quote]

Are you planning on using more valves then this?  This was actually disassembled this day and replaced with just one valve.  I was using the pump to recirc the wort through and copper coil in my HLT.   It got too complicated, especially when I decided to hook up a recirc line so the pump wouldn't pull a full suction on the grain bed and compress it.  I was trying to teach my neighbor to brew and he took one look and this contraption and started to cry.  Besides that heating element works great anyway (as long as you don't walk away from the thing and boil your grains ).

[specialed]

Excellent pic and nice heat stick too. I would say that your system is a more complicated setup than any I would have.
Nice to know you can hook all that stuff up to that pump.
More Beer has a pic of a March Pump configured sorta like yours for their sculptures and that was how I planned to set mine up
Pics are always great when talking about some of this stuff.
Thanks

One more question after looking at that pic.....when that cooler is filled that provides enough head pressure to prime that dishwasher pump?

[Mr E Brewer]

Yeah, plenty of head pressure, the problem is with pulling too much of a suction on the grain bed and then dealing with a compressed bed.  Hence the complicated recircs and stuff.  That was why I decided to go with just a valve and Vorlof.  With the heat stick I don't need to recirc though my HLT. 

I called the beer "The Fall of Modern Technology", because I replaced a pump, 4 valves and a bunch of piping with one valve.  I'm sure I'll come up with another use for the pump and the nearly $100 dollars in fittings, but for now, I'm happy this way.

[bbushmaster]

well larger breweries and some smaller ones use what is called a grant you basically let your liquid gravity feed into a container(grant) then pump from there so there is no risk of stuck mash

[specialed]

Look what I found at Harbor Freight 3/8" and 1/2" NPT tap and die for $15.00 and got my pump finished today and tested. It didn't seem to pump that fast, but it was a short test and took a little time to get primed.

[Gridiron Brewer]

SWEET

[Johnny-MAX]

That tapping idea was a great idea, but I am pumping with 3/4" hose because I am pumping from a 90 gallon fermenter. I want it to pump faster, but when I put them on my brew system, I will definitly tap them!

[bbushmaster]

I agree Johnny putting the hose on the outside of the pump allows for much more volume with the nipples inserted into the pump it is choked down allot think of how it is connected in the dishwasher it is something like 1-2 inch hose and it really moves some water in there

[specialed]

Yea it did cut down on the flow but, I can still put the hoses on the outside. I was thinking of taking a dremel and cutting those ridges off the outflow.

[Gridiron Brewer]

If you are using the pump to recirc your mash tun, then you don't want too much flow or you will compact the grain bed. UNLESS, you have a good throttle valve to control the flow. If you're just using the pump to transfer cooled wort or finished beer, you need to determine the amount of liquid you are transferring. If it is a small amount (5 gallons), you don't want a pump that runs 50 gallons per minute because you will have the transfer done in about 5-10 seconds; adding tons of air to it.