Ross Ward writes:
 
>I am building a new honey processing plant which requires a number of honey
>pumps .
 
>1. Cappings pump -which will not easily jam (with small broken peices of
>comb frame), to pump more than 1.5 tonne / hr.
>We wish to replace a 2 inch "Pender" 6 vane honey pump which pumps the
>cappings from the uncapper and outflow from the extractors. It pumps through
>a heat exchanger to a Cooke & Beale type centrifuge to separate the wax from
>the honey.
 
I like the Moyno pump, which is a SS worm that twists in a rubber tube,
called a stator. We use it to pump wax and honey through a Cook& Beals heat
exchanger to warm up the honey before it goes through the spinner. Ideally,
one should have a decent sized sump to catch larger loads of honey so the
pump can run slower to deliver the honey to the wax spinner at a slow
steady pace(less air is incorporated into the honey) Mann Lake(US bee
supply house)carries another brand of this style pump that they claim is
better- I think it was a Viking) BTW, drop a couple of big magnets to catch
the nails coming off the extractors and uncapper to pick up nails *before*
they get picked up and sent down the line to the heat exchanger and jam it
up. Also keep skimming off the wood chunks. The pump will handle it but the
heat exchanger won't like it.
 
 
>a)Has anybody had experience with rubber impeller pumps or pumps other than
>gear.
 
 I do use a rubber impeller pump to pump the honey out of the second sump
tank in our system(the one that catches the honey from the was spinner and
delivers it to our bulk tank). It is made by Tri-clover out of Wisconsin, I
believe. It is quite expensive, over $2000, US. It is bullet-proof. It is a
single speed pump with a motor that drive a gear reduction unit to drive
the 2 rubber impellers.
 
We also use a Viking vane pump to lift warm honey out of drums to strain
and pack in bottles. It is slow but also bulletproof.
 
In the past we have used the old gear pumps to pump clean honey out of
sumps, but..... Beware of wood chips that will jam up the works!
 
We are interested in the diaphram pumps and would be happy to hear of
anyone using these to move warm honey.
 
 
 
 
 
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