With my brewing set up I have to haul my kettle full of water, hot wort etc. from basement to garage and visa versa. This got to wear on me so I bought a pump. It is not self priming. Now I’m thinking this might not work for me because both of the kettles I plan to use do not have a spigot. Originally, I planned on putting the hose over the lip of the kettle and down into the wort or water (using clamps so the hoses didn’t fly all over the place). I know the pump has to be below the source, which is no problem, but I would somehow have to have liquid in the intake hose, right? Any ideas or suggestions?
You need to start a siphon somehow. All of my ideas might be too dangerous if you are moving hot liquid.
My first idea would be a pipe tee before the pump head. Attach a valve to the leg of the tee and use a long hose to start a siphon. Once the hose is filed and pulling liquid you should be able to close the valve and flood the pump. Might be smart to also have a tee on the pump out to ensure the head is flooded completely.
You could try pre-filling the pump inlet hose with the liquid from the kettle using a pitcher or racking cane. Get the house really full, with one end connected to the pump then dump the end of the hose into the kettle. Could be a bit scary with hot liquid though.