Food Grade Pumps!?!?!?

[Jmsmithy]

Luckily things are going well and need the occasional extra barrel. Bought cheap plastic pump for 55 gal drums from my big name maple manufacturer. Got about 2/3 through and pump no pump no more!?!? 😂

At my local farm coop just bought iron rotary pump w/ stainless impeller/down tubing.


Is this food grade!!????? It looks clean, no fluids/solvents/greases of any kind...

[wiam]

Do you have a picture or a link?

[Jmsmithy]

No but it's in Leader catalogue for 39.99.... You get what you pay for!

[Jmsmithy]

Here's pump I got....

Food grade??

https://lowvillecoop.doitbest.com/products/rotary-vane-pump

[GeneralStark]

The pump you got is definitely not food grade. So you are trying to pump cold syrup from a barrel? You will have to lay down some cash for something that will work for that whether it is a bronze or stainless gear pump or a compressed air diaphragm pump. Especially if you want food grade.

Do you have a filter press? If not maybe it would be worth the investment and you can use whatever pump you get with it for pumping syrup also.

[Jmsmithy]

Hey General, what actually makes a pump food grade? I thought had to be all steel, preferably stainless....?

[WESTMAPLES]

i see your talking about pumping syrup, but what about pumping sap before hand ??? would you call most engine driven sap pumps sugarmakers use with aluminum housing and cast iron impellers food grade ?? since most everyone uses them but they aren`t potable water grade anyway what are viewers thoughts about the subject ??? im curious myself

[Moser's Maple]

You should be looking for something like this
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/material-handling/drum-barrel/drum-pumps/food-grade-55-gallon-double-action-drum-pump?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=

[Moser's Maple]

i see your talking about pumping syrup, but what about pumping sap before hand ??? would you call most engine driven sap pumps sugarmakers use with aluminum housing and cast iron impellers food grade ?? since most everyone uses them but they aren`t potable water grade anyway what are viewers thoughts about the subject ??? im curious myself

I guess the arguement could be that it is incindental contact before final processing has occurred

No different that you could pose the argument about the sugar maker that boils outside and it starts to rain. If the rains drops are hitting the syrup pan or gets into the draw off pail is it technically pure maple suyrup cause rain water isn't natural occurring in maple sap or syrup.

Or this one. When adjusting density for syrup or thinning cream make sure distilled water is used because anything else can be considered as making your syrup or cream as not pure.

Trying not to pick here. Don't get me wrong that I'm a big supporter for food grade components but sometimes common sense can go a long ways

[WESTMAPLES]

yeah im all for food grade inside and out, its easier to buy it from the start and be safe. common sense is a huge part, i was thinking it might be better if the cast iron inner parts are painted with food grade paint ?? on a clear water pump for sap or atleast it would be safer than worrying about it rusting and for syrup i would look into filter press like generalstark had said mine has been very useful with filtering and tranffering syrup

[n8hutch]

I don't think cast Iron is a issue so much as the type of lubricant used in production of the pumps and any grease or oiled bearings. There's plenty of potable water pumps with cast housings

[sapman]

If you have compressed air, Leader's drum pump (which isn't REALLY a pump), works very well. Only need a few psi to make it work.

[Jmsmithy]

That's what I went with Tim, Leader's drum pump using my compressor. Awesome! Be aware, however, instructions had regulator unit reversed. Didn't learn it until my barrel bulged. That'll get your attention when you're doing it for first time! Great thing about Leader was they worked issue out on phone, figured what the issue was and promptly overnighted me a new regulator!

Food grade / stainless throughout!

[esetter]

Any good home brew supply catalog will have an assortment of pumps used in the beer industry. Most have either food grade plastic or stainless housings and are built to handle hot temps. I don't know if these are the size you guys need ( I'm new to this) but a suggestion.