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I am currently building a pour over coffee maker(personal use), but I am having trouble sourcing a water pump to use. I am hoping to create something that performs similar to the Poursteady commercial machine. My current plan is to boil the water to a specific temperature in a kettle, then use a water pump to pump the water from the kettle into the coffee funnel containing the grounds. I'm doing all the automation using an arduino.

Requirements for the pump:

  • Food grade
  • Safe to pump ~100c water
  • A flow rate of >=500ml/minute
  • Either AC or DC is fine
  • The more affordable the better. Self priming

I believe peristaltic pumps, magnetic pumps, and vibration pumps all seem to be okay options, but having zero experience with pumps, I am wondering if any of them are recommended over the other given the specific requirements.

Thanks.

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  • $\begingroup$ Get the spec sheets for each pump, read and compare...this is likely to be closed as a shopping question... $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Jan 2 '19 at 5:34
  • $\begingroup$ The issue is that i'm having issues even finding a pump that I might fit the bill. I just looked up the specs for an espresso machine vibration pump, and i discovered that the pump is not intended for hot water, as it's purpose is to pump water into the boiler. $\endgroup$
    – Andrew B
    Jan 16 '19 at 2:18
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The simple answer begins with this: You will be pumping water that is at the boiling point, and such conditions will cause cavitation1,2 in many pump designs.
Cavitation in a pump occurs when the liquid passing through the pump begins to vaporize in the low–pressure regions upstream of the impeller or similar mechanism which causes the liquid to flow through the pump casing. Such bubbles of vaporized liquid cause various forms of damage to the pump; see to the links for more information.
Every pump is susceptible to cavitation, so you need to choose a pump which is tested to operate at the conditions of the liquid which you will be pumping with it.

Any pump which has been designed and certified for use in coffee makers like that which you are describing would be suitable.

Following that, your second concern will be the size and physical configuration of the pump. Since you have not provided any information as to the physical dimensions and configuration in which you plan to build your coffee maker, I looked at some of the schematics3,4 available on the Poursteady website which you referenced. Going off those, it appears as though you will are expecting to build a device which will have ample space in which to install your pump.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you. I wasn't aware of cavitation, so it's something I will be mindful of. As far as physical dimensions, i'm hoping the unit can fit in in 2ftx2ftx2ft. $\endgroup$
    – Andrew B
    Jan 16 '19 at 2:16

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