Help needed picking a submersible pump

[Dan Mages]

This has always been the best place to go for DIY project advice. You are the best!.

Washing and sanitizing beer bottles for is a pain in the back end. You sit there at the slop sink with a spray nozzle attachment and rinse the bottles one at a time. I want to speed things up a bit, so I am building a washing rig out of 1/2" CPVC pipe and a Rubbermaid tub that I hope to be able to rinse out the inside of 36-48 bottles at at time. It will be similar to the one in this video. http://youtu.be/35zhUHyIy_g

I need a pump for the rig. It will sit in a 5 gallon bucket filled with cleaner or sanitizer. I will run a hose from the pump to the CPVC cleaning rig. I have found the following pumps at Harbor Freight that should do the job.

This first is a 620 GPH pond pump for $35 that I think will work fine. http://www.harborfreight.com/620-gph-submersible-fountain-pump-68393.html

They also have this 1350GPH 1/6 HP utility pump for $20 more. http://www.harborfreight.com/16-horsepower-submersible-utility-pump-68422-8394.html

They have other models in the $50 range, but I don't feel the need for anything over 1500 GPH. I think that will send the bottles rocketing to the ceiling.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Dan

[Lee Schierer]

I think even the larger pump will prove to be woefully inadequate for what you are trying to do. The max 10 psi divided by the 36-48 nozzles will barely dribble fluid out each nozzle. You are going to need a much larger pump. Hook your rig up to you hose and you will see what I mean. Even at 40 psi line pressure you won't get much flow out of your 1/2 dia. nozzles.

[Dan Mages]

I might put a cap on each PVC pipe and drill a couple of holes or cut a slot with a Dremel. Will that help with the pressure?

[Lee Schierer]

It will help, but you are still dividing teh flow and pressure across all of those outlets.

[Mark Bolton]

You could probably calculate the flow at each nozzle and do some simple math to get an idea of what you would need. I would agree with Lee that if your flow would be substantial with 48 nozzles. The idea of a cap with a couple holes would help alot. Its not like you need a tremendous flow.

The only drawback to the pond style pumps is the smaller ones wont generate much pressure.

You may look into small RV pumps with an integral pressure switch. Just an idea.

**edit** looking at that video the pump doesnt look like anything spectacular. Perhaps shoot the poster a note and ask the specs?

[Jerome Stanek]

looks like the HF 1/6 hp pump you can always put a valve inline to reduce the flow.

[Dan Mages]

I can always cut down the number of nozzles to 24, or one case at a time. They also have this "1 hp" model for the same price as the 1/6 hp model. http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/69000-69999/69300.pdf It has 12psi of pressure and 2900gph. It will be overkill, but as Mark mentioned, I can add a valve to control pressure and flow.

How do you calculate the flow for the nozzles? This is a foreign process for me.

[Dan Mages]

An update. I went with the "1 hp" pump. It does a good job pumping the water through the pipe, but does not have enough pressure to wash out the inside of the bottle. I tried a cap, but the bottle will not fit over it. What other methods can I use to restrict the flow for a better spray inside the bottle? Will heating the pipe and pinching it shut partially work? I would appreciate any ideas.

[Mark Bolton]

Is there any way you could find a different fitting or plug that you could slide inside the pipe rather than a cap that slips over? Sometimes you can go through all the different pvc fittings and find something very close. If it slightly oversize you can buy a speedbore and grind it down to the size you need and drill out your pipes on the drill press.

You could look for anything plastic that would fit tight inside the pipe as a plug and then drill it.