mgkpancake
No ragrets
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2016
- Messages
- 106
- Reaction score
- 39
Hi.
I've been brewing with the Ace for awhile and have run into various shortcomings of the unit. It's a fine unit but for those of you who have seen my luck with it, would realize my luck has been not so great (I have replaced most components for the unit).
ONE of the shortcomings of this unit is where the pump intake is and it's prone to clogging. It's at the very bottom. No strainer, nothing to keep stuff out. Now the unit was never designed for the pump to work during boil (instructions say do not use at boiling temperatures). So during mash, it works okay. People have come up with various solutions for clogging issues including grainfather-esque filters, bent pipes, other strainers, and the like.
The reason why I've done this mod is to allow use of the pump at the end of the boil for various things like:
- effective chiller use
- chill plate options
- mechanical Whirlpool via Whirlpool port
And
- easy access for cleaning
- deleting the malt pipe and sharp 90 bend (and the sloppy silicon job on the inside!)
How do I know the pump can work during boil? For the last 5 brews in an effort to destroy the pump, I have run it non-stop during the boil. The pump is designed like it's big larger brothers like chugger, March, etc. A magnetic drive.
The mod only cost me what I already had and compliments the Whirlpool mod I have done in my earlier videos. The existing pump can be mounted externally without any major modifications or drilling. Disconnect the pump, reverse the bracket, turn the body, and flip the ends of the pump. The lead to the switch needs to be extended and ran through the hole where the malt pipe was. Malt pipe was hacked with a hack saw near the top and enough room to allow a hose clamp.
I've had some nay-sayers concerning this mod. The unit is mediocre and you can work around it with mediocrity. That's fine, have your cup of tea. This is by no means innovative but imo promotes discussion towards improving the shortcomings of this unit and units like it. Whether workarounds or otherwise. I will post an update in about a month (current Imperial Stout will take some time).
I've been brewing with the Ace for awhile and have run into various shortcomings of the unit. It's a fine unit but for those of you who have seen my luck with it, would realize my luck has been not so great (I have replaced most components for the unit).
ONE of the shortcomings of this unit is where the pump intake is and it's prone to clogging. It's at the very bottom. No strainer, nothing to keep stuff out. Now the unit was never designed for the pump to work during boil (instructions say do not use at boiling temperatures). So during mash, it works okay. People have come up with various solutions for clogging issues including grainfather-esque filters, bent pipes, other strainers, and the like.
The reason why I've done this mod is to allow use of the pump at the end of the boil for various things like:
- effective chiller use
- chill plate options
- mechanical Whirlpool via Whirlpool port
And
- easy access for cleaning
- deleting the malt pipe and sharp 90 bend (and the sloppy silicon job on the inside!)
How do I know the pump can work during boil? For the last 5 brews in an effort to destroy the pump, I have run it non-stop during the boil. The pump is designed like it's big larger brothers like chugger, March, etc. A magnetic drive.
The mod only cost me what I already had and compliments the Whirlpool mod I have done in my earlier videos. The existing pump can be mounted externally without any major modifications or drilling. Disconnect the pump, reverse the bracket, turn the body, and flip the ends of the pump. The lead to the switch needs to be extended and ran through the hole where the malt pipe was. Malt pipe was hacked with a hack saw near the top and enough room to allow a hose clamp.
I've had some nay-sayers concerning this mod. The unit is mediocre and you can work around it with mediocrity. That's fine, have your cup of tea. This is by no means innovative but imo promotes discussion towards improving the shortcomings of this unit and units like it. Whether workarounds or otherwise. I will post an update in about a month (current Imperial Stout will take some time).