67 Comments

    • One of the days I’ll be wearing a tshirt with my Gremlyn logo on it, see if you can spot me 🙂

      Also find the AABG booth on Club Night, I should be there most of the evening.

  1. John

    Think it would be possible to use this set up for carbonating water from a water supply line directly?

    Obviously have to modify for water supply and valve control.

    Would it be able to carbonate sufficiently? And do you think the pressure from the water line would ruin the set up?

    Awesome post

    • If you used sufficiently high pressure and a long enough line, I think you could carb water in a single pass. Issues might arise if the water is too warm, as you’d need a pressure probably too high for the tubing to withstand.

  2. As a fellow Michigander who’s also pouring at Homebrew Con’s club night (Motor City Mashers), I look forward to trying the beer and talk a little more with you about this rig. See you in a couple of days! Cheers!

  3. Gary Edgar

    I ordered the pump and the power supply you listed in the parts, and I just received them in the mail today. However, when I plug the power supply into the pump, it doesn’t start. Did you have to modify the plug on the power supply to plug into the pump, or did you cut the plug off the pump and wire on the little adapter that came with the power supply?

  4. Gary Edgar

    Thanks,

    Appreciate the quick response. Should have my new power supply on the 10th so I can put everything together.

  5. Marc

    Would it work to use a Chugger pump with a SS ball valve to limit throughput? Obviously would have to use the right fittings to connect up, but it would be nice not to have to buy another pump.

    • Hi James, there are short barbs that give enough surface area to secure the tubing on. Might be able to screw on the outer bit over beer tubing, haven’t tried though.

      • James

        Thanks, haven’t got my parts yet but looking forward to the build. Would like to run another idea by you to get your thoughts. Was wondering how it would work to use a Corney Keg carbonation lid for the CO2, (those lids that have an extra gas port on top and a hose with a carb stone that hangs inside the keg) and just use the pump for circulation? May take a bit longer but would really simplify the build and cleaning. What do you think?

  6. My pump works intermittently, is this a bad power supply or bad pump?? Keeps chugging like its priming?. Then ran a little while then quit. Stopped then now chugging again but won’t go. Really frustrated!!!
    Btw no switch on my pump either fm Al—b-ba..
    Falvocano power supply 10A 12V output..

      • GUNNAR HOLMES

        I bought three more power supplies for friends, and they all do the same thing with the pump, one ran fine then pump quit all of a sudden. I think now that the female Cable Jack on the pump has a broken wire. Wiggling it would start it up but only sometimes. Similar problems are posted on UTube with laptops plugs. I guess Ill have to cut & replace it!

        • Not sure why the pump I originally linked with the switch got released with the one that just has a cable. Hopefully it’s an easy fix with the wiring.

          I found a link to the pump with the sweetheart switch and updated my post. Thanks for pointing that out.

  7. 🤣“Sweetheart”??? “Switch” got spell checked 😩.

    Canceled 3 pumps plus I’m returning the bad pump, for the ones with a switch, that might preserve the plug wires connections better…
    Thanks for the help

  8. Sean

    You used a DC 12V 70W Food Grade Diaphragm Pump on your build.

    Is there any reason why one should not use the normal March/Chugger type pumps ?

    Are they too “weak” or will the impeller cause cavitation and cause the Co2 to come out of solution.

    Reason I ask is that I have a few of these lying around.

    • I considered an impeller pump for this, but had a few concerns. Weakness was definitely not one of those, they move liquid faster than the diaphragm pump I use can. My concerns were, in no particular order:

      • how the impeller would impact the beer (wort shearing, foaming, CO2 coming out of solution)
      • having to prime the pump (diaphragm pumps are self-priming)
      • a potential for increased risk of oxygen exposure – though I’m sure that could be mitigated easily enough
      • tubing size – March/Chugger pumps are quite big and you generally use 1/2″ tubing, how would that be using beer line?

      On top of all of that, there is cost – I wanted something separate from my brew day equipment. Sure if you have one already you could use it, but I think it would get old really quickly to pull it off the brew stand, make sure it is extra clean and then sanitise it, hook it into whatever carb setup I have, use it, and then reverse that process to make sure it’s ready for the next brew day.

      All that said, if you’ve just got them available and not being used it might be worth trying it out to see if it can work. It might!

  9. GUNNAR HOLMES

    Just Wish we could find a reasonably priced US Supplier of Food Grade Diaphragm Pumps, the Far East suppliers are tough to deal with: I tried to return the 1st no-working / non-switched pump to no avail; I am “Awaiting Cancellation” of an order of 3 non-switched pumps, and Chinese New Year delay has got me on another replacement order for 4 more (=3 new for club members +1 replacement…sigh.

    • Many parts are available here, but you generally pay more. Most of what you can but here is just bought in bulk from China and resold in the US.

  10. Gfunk

    I bought a similar pump. Max pressure is about 77psi, which is higher than what I set co2 regulator to (10psi). The link indicates your pump is at or above that pressure. When I run my build, the pump pushes water back to the regulator and won’t allow co2 to flow into the stone. Makes sense based on the higher pump pressure. What am I missing. Do I need a lower amp power supply?

    • I was actually planning an update post for this soon. I discovered that when just running the pump my line pressure was about 13psi, so no wonder when I set my CO2 to 12psi I wasn’t picking up much carb! I tried 20psi and that seemed to do it.

  11. GUNNAR HOLMES

    More on: “..when I set my CO2 to 12psi I wasn’t picking up much carb! I tried 20psi..’ My new pumps are strong too! max: 72.5 psi?? So is the Carbonation pressure of the Keg a complex function of the Tubing size, ball lock gas connection return size and the Stone’s incoming pressure?
    Or a differential pressure? (20-13=7 psi : low.. English pub style). I set my NEIPA to carb at 12 psi, but the regulator pressure did vary a bit and I increased to keep it at 12psi… Confused in TX.

    • I’ve yet to figure out a formula. I tried my dubbel at 25psi, which I thought might equate to 12 psi (25-13), but that actually over carbed it slightly. I tried 20psi on my next beer (biere de garde) and that seemed pretty good.

      I imagine pressure inside the system is different at different points. The diffusion stone chamber might drop the pressure out of the pump a bit since it opens up?

  12. Gfunk

    I added a bypass line that recirculates a portion of the discharge fuid back into the inlet of the pump.
    The bypass consists of 2 barb tees, valve, 2 barbs, hoses, and clamps. The other portion of the discharge feeds into the carbonation tee. Worked with sanitizer and now a keg of pilsner @12psi.

  13. Tony

    Hi,

    Nice DIY build.

    How do you connect he tubing to the pump inlet/outlet, is the pump inlet/outlet threaded, and if so, what kind of connectors will I need ?

    • When I got all the parts I wasn’t sure about how that would work, but there is enough of a nipple of the pump under the screw on cap that you can get the hose on and clamp it in place. I just used zip ties and it’s held pressure.

  14. Tony

    I see that Blichman is using a 10micron diffusion stone on their QuickCarb system, saying this allows pushing sanitizer through the stone to clean it (and also make right Co2 bubblesize for a 40-60 minutte quick carbonation…..)

    Do You think the 2micron stone will increase the needed time to fully carbonate, and are You able to push sanitizer through the 2micron stone?

    …..and I can not find that it is possible to buy a 10micron stone on ebay or aliexpress…. ?

    • Yes, I can push sanitizer through it. I have noticed I need higher pressure than I expected to reach desired carbonation, but no issues otherwise.

  15. Rhubarber929

    Great read.

    I was wondering if this could be used to make soda.

    what is the highest PSI you can put through a diffusion stone? I haven’t found a number in my searches. I know I would require higher pressure lines. I would be looking at around 30-40 psi. Do you think the stone could handle that or would it break it apart?

    • I’ve gotten it close to 30 PSI and it doesn’t seem to have suffered any negative effects, though I can’t say for sure what the max rating would be.

  16. DON

    How’s this unit working out for you nearly two years in…I just ordered up the gear and am going to slavishly mountnit to a stainless plate …or maybe lexan…did you hose and/or butterfly clamp the tubing…if I use the steel plate on mine I’m going to use yellow butterfly clamps so Mr. Blichmann won’t be offended🤡

    • It’s doing well! I need to replace the lines on it now, I accidentally left it with beer in the lines and it got a little gross, so then I recirculated 155F water through it for an hour. Pump is fine, but the hoses deformed enough to need replacing.

  17. Gunnar

    Mine is working fine most of the time! Few I mounted it on Alum. Diamond plate looks great & easy to cut & smooth. Pump work great for car boys transfers.
    Recently had a problem carbonating a keg as it never got out of priming mode, fluid moved, but didn’t run fast. It pumped sanitizer in /out of a bucket just fine!????? Puzzled & need Help!

    • DON

      Have you tried removing and boiling the shit outta your carbstone? I do this periodically on the ones I use for my carb lid and aeration pump…

  18. GUNNAR

    Further: FYI not “few “!!
    Don: use SS clamps not butterfly’s.. not tight enuff for some tubing. SS is hard to drill & cut btw, Diam. Plate is nice light & inexpensive at TractrSupply

  19. Gunnar

    Well if you mate your barbs to tight fit tubing you’d be good. Not always possible. On mine the plastic handles slipped / leaked w hard tubing. 😉

  20. DON

    Thx for the tip Gunnar…I’ll take it under advisement…will be using kegerator standard beer tubing…will check out the pump nipple length and take it from there…

  21. DON

    An update…the 3/8” tubing easily installs to the pump’s screw on connectors both inlet and outlet as they are compression style connectors. The inlet/outlets have a grooved channel cut through them. Slip the 3/8 hose through the nylon nut, slide it snugly on the barb and then tighten it. I couldn’t pull the hoses off the pump and when I ran PBW and rinsed it with warm water, not a drop leaked. I’m anxiously awaiting the carb/tee/connect assembly so I can take this to sea trials. I had to use 1/4” barb swivels on the corny connects and hope they don’t change the pressure and if so, to the better.

  22. DON

    Scrounged a piece of polymetal composite sign material and will use shiny side instead of the white side. Just figuring best way to cut and deburr it and thus far it looks like a 72 tooth carbide blade on a chop saw should do it. Then a piece of heavy brass or hardwood stock to roll and reform the edges. Still waiting for the China Express to deliver the last two pieces of hardware and then I’ll source a tee pipe hanger and hook to hang it off the keg.
    How are the folks here making out with their builds? Lots of chatter and “overthink” on Homebrew Talk but a lot of good stuff on some DIY and ghetto builds of this project.

  23. DON GRAHAM

    Finally all the bits and pieces arrived and the bad boy is ready for sea trials…looks real good as well. I may even create some surprise “mock” labels to jazz it up…SS bolted everything to the aluminum polymetal plate…she looks as good as the Blichmann and hopefully will work as good as it supposedly does. It’d be cool if I was able to post pics here but I guess thats the Gremlyns deallio…

  24. Don

    Well, if that’s the software limitations and if so…I could always email pics to you to post 🙂
    Various ways to skin the proverbial feline…

    • Danni Borchmann

      another question is, that I can see that blichmann is using 10 micron and the one you listed is 2 micron. will that make any difference? and how about sanitizing? do you sanitize the carbonationstone outlet?

  25. Sorry for a delayed response! Hopefully you figured things out already, but just for future reference for anyone else:
    That power supply looks like it should work. The tips should be size specific based on their voltages, so as long as you have the right voltage and power it should work.

    As for stone size, we’re limited by what’s available, so I went with the 2 micron. It’s probably why you have to crank the pressure up so much to get it working, come to think of it. So the smaller size just means more pressure and tinier bubbles.

    I usually santise by putting a QD on the gas in while it’s running and forcing some sanitizer out it that way. Works so far!

  26. Simon K

    This is an awesome post. Was one click away from ordering a Blichmann before stumbling here. Ordered all parts next day delivery here from Amazon UK, arriving today. Great advice can’t wait to get it all together and try out on a kegged Guinness clone this weekend.

  27. Rimas

    Thanks for posting this. I may build a quick carbonator in the near future, but I just ordered on of these pumps to build a diy Torpedo using my Hop Randall from Norcal Brewing Solutions.

    I’ll report back in a few weeks when I get around to trying it out.

    Cheers!

  28. Jason

    Did you ever hook this up to a Randall and try to ‘quick flavor’ anything? Just curious as I’m interested in on demand flavoring…like quick dry hopping, or cacao nibs, or like your spruce tips.

    Great resource you have here!

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