culaslucas
Well-Known Member
FYI - I wrote Mark and here is his response:
and mine...
1.) When attempting to attach the 3/16" hose to the tee that goes to the ball lock connector, without overt pressure, I twisted the connection off - see picture below. This resulted in a $10 home improvement store run even before getting started.
The vendor used low quality HDPE without my knowing it, there are appearently several grades of hdpe, I am having them run a batch in higher quality HDPE and also in Nylon. A few guys have reported this problem. If you keep the unit, send me your address and I will replace the one that broke.
2.) SPLASHING. holy. splashing. Over the course of PBWing the above items, I lost 1/2 gallon of liquid. It got so bad that I had to place a large tupperware lid under the keg washer to catch all of the excess fluid. This device would be a lot better off if the lip was about an inch taller. Per the instructions I added the shrub sprinkler with no noticeable change.
Some of the bigger buckets that go right up to the edge will spash over the edge depending on how the bottom of the bucket is formed. The sprinker head worked on the ones I tested. You might also try reducing the pump flow by partially closing the input to the pump. Some buckets are just going to splash no matter what I do. Buckets are fairly easy to clean by hand, carboys and kegs are where the keg and carboy washer really does the job. Did you lose the 1/2 gallon mostly on the bucket? Was the 1/2 gallon lost after all the items mentioned (8 corny kegs, etc)? The unit is really not designed to clean that many items in a row, although, I guess you could. It is really meant to be used while brewing, like sanitizing a keg, then cleaning a carboy. My whole idea was to make setup and use so easy that dirty stuff would not pile up to be cleaned later. If you were cleaning a bunch of stuff like that, I'd just do that in the utility room or the back patio and anticipate some splashing.
3.) No drain? Seriously? You're right, it's not THAT difficult of a job to tilt the thing out into a bucket but after a few instances of spilling I found myself siphoning. I promptly ran to Lowes and installed my own drain solution.
I designed it not to have a drain, leak considerations. I made it light enough to just dump out. I will probably never break even on this unit, getting plastic injection molds are very expensive. A drain would have cost about $10,000 in addtional mold costs. A drain in the side would not have completely drained the unit and people would have complained about that, so I couldn't win on that one either way. At less than 7 pounds full of water, I did not see it coming that people would want a drain so badly. I just take the carboy and stand off, rinse the pump and then dump the dirty liquid in the sink and rinse it off all at the same time.
In hindsight I wish I would have built my own, saved a fair amount of cash and got a product I was comfortable would do such a simple job.
Sorry you are so unhappy with the unit, go ahead and return it to more beer, they will be very happy to refund your money. Lots of guys make their own keg washers. Check you tube for lots of examples. I made this unit for people who did not want to go to the trouble of building their own, but it's not for everybody. Also, I have never taken a sump pump apart, so not sure what is inside and if it will stay as clean as I wanted it to. Most of the do-it-yourself stuff uses a sump pump.
Thanks for your feed back
Cheers,
Mark
and mine...
Mark,
Thank you for your prompt reply. For the record, I am not "so unhappy" that I am interested in returning the product. I was simply concerned with the quality of product I got for the money.
I am rather satisfied with your response and candor. I simply wanted to get a sense of what can be done to remedy the challenges I am having from a pro. It is rather unusual to be able to speak with the proprietor directly and your reply is much appreciated. The high level of customer service you provide will go a long way in communities like HomeBrewTalk.com.
I look forward to the updates that will help make the product more complete.
Best Regards,
--
Lucas