Zambelli T-70/T-110 pump thoughts? Good / bad?

[user 36973]

I'm looking at a Zambelli T-70 or T-110 pump. Does anyone have any experience with either of these that would recommend them? Or recommend that I stay away from them? This will be used primarily for wine racking and filtering.

My specific questions are:
1) Does the bypass work well and easily? How much does it cut the flow down by?
2) For the T-110, even though it is called a must pump, the 2-inch openings seem too small. Anyone use this as a must pump?
3) How loud is the pump?
4) Any issues with the electrical components or impeller?
5) Anything I'm not thinking of?

Thanks.
-John

 

[user 36973]

I'll close out this thread in case anyone stumbles across it later.

I decided on the T-70 pump. It actually has 2-inch inlet/outlets while the T-110 has 2.5-inch openings. The flowrate is better in line with the sizing of my hoses and filtration unit than the higher flow T-110.

The bypass works very well and reduces flow quite a bit when the pump is working to pump wine through the filter. When the bypass is closed, the pump generates about 30psi max, so it is not a high-pressure pump that will blow yeast through your filters. When there is minimal back pressure, such as during racking, the flow rate is good even with the bypass fully open.

The pump operates a lot quieter than the Euro30 pump it replaced. (Of course I think I got a bad pump and MoreWine shipped me a lemon. They still haven't responded after I've complained to them a few times. I expected more than 18 months light use from a $800 commercial pump.)

Electrically the T-70 is a 60Hz single phase 220V motor. Had to replace the European plug it came with a plug that corresponded to my outlet. The only somewhat annoying feature is that the manual says that the single phase is not able to get the motor started and you have to switch it from reverse to forward to energize the pump and get it going. This is tough on the impeller too. I found that it does sometimes not start when switched on but that switching it forward/off/forward usually gets it going. If the pump was recently shut off then it usually restarts again immediately. I've only occasionally had to do the reverse/forward trick to get it to work. This wasn't a problem with the other pump I had so it seems like the starting electronics could be designed better. I can't get 3-phase where we are in the rural area.

 

[Sage]

You can get a fairly cheap 3 phase static converter. Check ENCO. I run one on my milling machine, less than $200 and your problems will be gone and the pump will work better and last longer.