Electric washer pump needed for non-washing machine related project

[58limited]

Does anyone have a good working used electric washer pump they don't need? I'm building a bottle washer/sanitizer for my homebrewing/winemaking endeavors and the plans call for a washer pump to circulate the wash solution through the system. The water inflow and outflow need to be perpendicular to each other and need to be the same size. I can pay by paypal or send a money order. Post here or PM me with what you have and your price. Thanks in advance: )

 

For those of you interested in this subject, I got this plan out of a book I purchased on Amazon called "The Homebuilt Winery" by Steve Hughes. He has do-it-yourself plans for just about everything needed for a home winery including wine racks, a grape crusher/destemmer, a fruit press, and more. Some things can be adapted to homebrewing beer. Some projects do require prior knowledge and skill with woodworking tools but he explains many of the processes so a novice can attempt the projects.

 

[tolivac]

KOOL!!!My Dad used to make his own wine-the basement of the house he used to live in was full of bottles,crocks,drums of wine being made or aging.I used to love crushing grapes for him--didn't use my feet-but a 4X4 post in a barrel of grapes.He would then strain the crushed grapes thru a peice of cheezecloth into another container.Was sort of fun.He would sterilize and reuse various wine and some glass soda bottles for his wine-he also had a capper device.But when he moved to an assisted living home-all that had to go.He had been doing the wine thing for many years.The wine was really good.He also made some homade beer-that was far better than the storebought kind-the only type I would drink.And root beer,too-was so good!!

 

[58limited]

Tolivac

I'll deviate from my topic a little here: I usually keep a keg of root beer on tap in the summer, but I use extract to make mine. I have a 1982/83 Frigidaire that I converted to hold five 5 gallon stainless soda kegs, five taps across the front. Right now it has four winter beers and a Marzen on tap. We had a very mild winter so I didn't drink as much of the the winter beers as I thought I would.

 

I just bottled 12 gallons of port wine (chocolate raspberry, from kits) and 4 batches of meads. This really impressed upon me the need for a simpler way to sanitize the bottles, hence my current project. If no one here can spare a used pump, I'll buy a new one. The type I need seems to run about $50+ new, that is why I posted here first. I figured a used one would be cheaper.

 

Here is a picture of the beer fridge. As you can see in the picture, the fridge needs to be repainted. I was given a suggestion to use chalkboard paint so that I could write the names of the beers on tap and maybe do a little artwork as well. I keep frosty mugs and hops in the freezer. I really need to find another place for this fridge, but for now it sits by the back door. I took the photo today, the date is wrong on my camera.

 

[58limited]

The kegs.

 

[58limited]

The freezer.

 

[wayupnorth]

If a washer pump is not available, could a garden pond or swimming pool cover pump work? Some of those have threaded ends that could be connected to whatever you need.

 

[runematic]

I use a 12 volt rv water pump to recirculate my wort and when I move the wort from the mash tun to the lauter tun.

 

[mattl]

It seems I paid about $19 for the replacement pump for my duet washer a couple of years ago.  It was a GE version of the pump that cost $40 branded for use in WP.  Wish  I could remember where I got it, looked in my bookmarks but nothing showed up, I usually save links for stuff like that. might be worth checking on replacement pumps for GE front load washers.

 

[tolivac]

Like the idea of the converted fridge to dispense your wine and other drinks---Maybe should tell Dad?Don't think the home management would like the idea!!This would have been neat when he was doing the wine hobby.The chalkboard paint on the front is nice-so you could label what is in the dispensors and if you change them.Guess a "whiteboard" panel on the fridge would work just as well.Come to think of it-the smooth orig surface of the fridge might make a good "whiteboard"markerboard for drink labels.Just get some markerboard markers and eraser from the office,school, supply store near you.

 

[alr2903]

Home Depot sold an electric pump that had male fittings on both sides. I never puchased one, but they were in the section with the Simer portable sump pumps were. I was on a pond/waterfall mission when I discovered them. alr

 

[58limited]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll look into the RV pump and the Home Depot one.

 

Runematic, I'm not as advanced as you in brewing, I don't have the room (or the time really) to do all grain batches. I use extract with a pound or two of steeping grains. I recently purchased Jamil Zainasheff's book "Brewing Classic Styles" that is based on extract and every recipe I've tried has been top notch, much better than some of the ones I've used in the past (try the Chocolate Hazelnut Porter next winter). I am making his German Wheat and Belgian Saison and I am drinking his version of the Oktoberfest/Marzen right now as I type and it is just awesome.

 

For those who don't know, Jamil Zainasheff has won just about every beerfest he has entered. He has been homebrewing since 1999 and opened a craft brewery a few years ago. Every recipe in his book has won an award. I also recently purchased "Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels. This book was recommended by Jamil and numerous other published homebrewers and teaches you the basics: all of the different properties of hops, malts, water (which is actually one of the most important ingredients), how to achieve balance, etc., so that you can develop your own well balanced great recipes.

 

One thing surprised me: I have a friend who runs a restaurant here in town. I asked him if he could get me some more kegs but it turns out that the soda companies don't use the stainless kegs anymore. They send the soda syrup in bags now.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>One thing surprised me: I have a friend who runs a restaurant here in town.  I asked him if he could get me some more kegs but it turns out that the soda companies don't use the stainless kegs anymore. They send the soda syrup in bags now.</blockquote> Yes, bag-in-box.  Theater popcorn "butter," cheese for nachos, and I think chili is also marketed now in bags, which go into a warmer for dispensing.

 

[runematic]

58limited, I definitely would not call me advanced.  My brother & I brewed extract and partial extract for quite a few years.  Then we got busy and stopped brewing for a spell.  About 1 1/2 years ago, we got the itch to start brewing again.  We decided to go all grain this time.  I had a few old half-kegs sitting around.  My neighbor used to repair RV's and we had a few campers so he used to give me some parts.  One was a new RV h2o pump that sat on my shelf until we watched someone using one on ebay as a beer pump.  My former college roommate works for a big supply house so he got me some silicone tubing very cheap.  We made a brewing setup on the cheap (I wouldn't have it any other way).

 

We've brewed about 20 gallons this way so far, but we've run into the time aspect again.  We've both been so frickin' busy that we haven't brewed for quite a while again.  Hopefully this spring we're going to fire everything up again.

 

I thought all grain would be a lot harder, but I've found that it isn't.  I quite enjoy it, but it does take most of the day to do it.

 

Here is a shot of our setup.

 

[runematic]

Here's another shot where you can see the rv pump.

 

[58limited]

That is a neat set up. I've got a 16.5 gallon keg or two I could use for that one day but I'll stick to extract for now.

 

The RV pump looks like what I need. I'll check prices. The pumps at Home Depot, at least the ones on their web page, are $100+

 

[58limited]

I just finished the first part of the project. The original design is for a 12 bottle washer/sanitizer, which is big enough to wash a case of wine bottles. I doubled the size (plus one) to 25 bottles since I usually make 5 gallon batches. Five gallons of wine makes about twenty five 750ml bottles, 5 gallons of beer makes about fifty 12oz. bottles. I have not acquired a pump yet because I need to determine whether my larger bottle washer will work with a washer pump or not. An RV pump is looking better for this project.

 

 The next step is to build the watertight box that this will fit in. The pump is really the last thing to be added.

 

[yogitunes]

this is too cool.......can't this rack be adapted to use inside a dishwasher of sorts....

take out the top rack......insert this into the bottom rack, and with a hose, attach to the port that would supply the dishwashers middle arm to wash the inside of the bottles, plus the dishwashers regular bottom and top sprayers would take care of the outside of the bottles

certain dishwashers, like a Kenmore UltraWash with the supply tube for the middle and top arm goes up the back wall would probably work...

or am I too far off base with this.....just a thought

 

[cfz2882]

nozzle size

how big are those nozzles?-i think an RV pump won't produce enough volume for a strong spray,i'd look into a ~3400 RPM centrifugal utility pump such as the type used for light duty irrigation-just would need to find a plastic or SS one.The right salvaged dishwasher wash pump probably would work nicely too-if i see something that looks suitable i will post details.

 

[58limited]

This probably would fit in a dishwasher. I have been calling it a washer/sanitizer, but it really is just a sanitizer. I rinse all of my bottles as I use them and I store them upside down to keep dust out. All that needs to be done is to sanitize the inside of the bottles on bottling day with a solution of potassium metabisulfite and citrate. No need to rinse for wine, but for beer I would have to follow with a rinse of clear boiled water to remove the metabisulfite residue since homebrew beer is carbonated in the bottle by adding a little sugar to reactivate the yeast. This would also have to be done if I ever make champagne (not likely). Since I keg most of my beers, I won't be using it for beer very often.

 

The nozzles are 1/4" copper tubing that I cut with a manual hand held pipe cutter, so the openings are crimped a little.This unit is made out of 1/2" PVC and will fit in an open top box with a sloped bottom (slopes towards the front), the two ball valves will be on the outside of the box (they aren't glued in place yet). 1 X 4 lumber with holes drilled over the nozzle positions will be laid across the top. The holes are 1 1/2" in diameter so the bottle will fit to its shoulder, the nozzles will then be about 1" inside the bottles, and the sanitizer solution will spray up to coat the inside of the bottles. The pump mounts to the outside and the input hole for the pump is near the bottom front. The discharge line of the pump will feed into one ball valve. The other ball valve is to hook up a tank of nitrogen to "sparge" or evacuate all oxygen out of the bottles - oxygen will cause wine to oxidize with off flavors over time. I will not be using nitrogen for awhile, but I'm building this into the system for later upgrade.

 

I looked for a picture of what I'm building online (don't want to scan the book image - copyrights you know) but this is the closest that I found (and it costs $2800!!!! 

  ). It has four nozzles - two for rinsing and two for sparging. Mine has 25 nozzles that both rinse AND sparge and will cost about $50 not counting the pump.

[this post was last edited: 3/24/2013-20:33]

Manual Rinser & Sparger For Bottles

This commercial grade, bottle rinser and sparger is made in Italy by Tardito, a leading designer and manufacturer of bottle rinsing equipment. Rinse your bottles with water and sparge them with inert gas just prior to filling. Ensures that your wine is protected from the damaging effects of...

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