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I'm thinking of purchasing a Peristaltic Pump for home brewing. The fact that they are self priming, that you can adjust the speed easily, and reverse the flow makes them seem really appealing to me. I've seen people recommend Cole Parmer medical pumps, but the used ones seem a little pricey. Does anyone have any other recommendations for a cheaper alternative? if not, which Cole Parmer should I go for.

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What do you plan to use it for? E.g. recycling the mash, transfer to fermentors or something else? While most peristaltic pumps will handle the temperature range, the volume capacity is usually limited. Reverse flow sounds fun, how do you plan to use that? – mdma♦ Aug 13 '12 at 17:15
Do peristaltic pump really-self prime? Every peristaltic I have used in the lab need me to get liquid at least to the pump before it flowed. Gravity seemed to be enough. Would dry tubing and the liquid to be pumped sitting below the pump really climb up the tubing into and past the pump? – brewchez Aug 13 '12 at 23:17

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You could make your own. A little googling will turn up several interesting DIY peristaltic pumps specifically designed for homebrewing. Here is a particularly interesting one that also has a pretty good discussion thread to go along with it:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cake-pan-skateboard-wheel-bike-brakes-homemade-peristaltic-pump-279120/

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It's a good build - especially after he moved over to a 2-wheel design. If you can get it, use norprene tubing - it's far more resilient than silicone, requiring replacement much less often. I've been planning to build one of these for ages, but just haven't got round to it – mdma♦ Sep 11 '12 at 17:12

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