Help - Leak!!!!

Hi,

I’ve just gotten a new brew Kettle from www.morebeer.com and it’s a nine gallon with the two welded ½ inch threaded openings in the front. Well, I’ve been waiting all summer to get started and it finally got here. I ordered it with a thermometer and it was supposed to come with a ball valve. Once it arrived, everything was in order with the exception of the ball valve.

Since I’ve been waiting almost half a year to start, I wouldn’t be undaunted to this because I just want to start getting out some brew. So I went to the hardware store and got a couple of stops for the kettle. One was plastic and the other was galvanized. I wasn’t too hot on the galvanized but I figured that I could use it long enough to get things boiled and in the fermenting bucket.

So I started out, I put the thermometer in the top and the stop in the bottom. First time out they both leaked. Well, I tighten both and then only the bottom leaked. After that I torked it as much as I could and it continued. So I went through the process of the galvanized and it was the same result.

From there, I went back to the hardware store. This time I got a brass fitting and I came home and tried it with the same result. After, I got the brilliant idea of trying to put a gasket along the outside from one of my Corey kegs that I replace when I changed them and that didn’t work. Finally, in all desperation I put the brass in the top and the thermometer in the bottom and it still leaks.

Can someone tell me how to fix this?

http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=15439

Never mind......I found the problem, the weld is no good......there is a pinhole at the bottem.........

I don't know what other peoples experience has been but dealing with morebeer has been just shy of a certifyable nightmare....

I can tell you how to fix it, but it requires about $2,000 worth of welding gear to do it right.

I've never had a problem with More Beer, but I've never ordered any of their custom equipment, either.

Yuri_Rage said:

I can tell you how to fix it, but it requires about $2,000 worth of welding gear to do it right.

I've never had a problem with More Beer, but I've never ordered any of their custom equipment, either.

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For me, my relationship with Morebeer has been the equivelent of a relationship of an abusive girlfriend.

I got my kit at the begining of the summer then when I found out that I had to get a new kettle they were out of stock. It took more then a month to get back in stock so I waited almost 6 weeks. Then when I tried to order because of the construction of their wish list the order got completly messed up because you can't just have things dumped from the wish list to the basket. You have to add them and then remove them from the list. So by the time that I had done all of that the order was completely messed up and I hadn't cought it. Well, after I tried to correct the situation, the order had been processed and then I couldn't charge it because I had to wait three days for the old pending charge to clear. And now i'm short one valve and heavy one leaky pot...

I say its like an abusive girlfriend because you never know when your going to get slapped next....

Well, we have an independent welding shop in town, I was thinking about taking it to him....

Yuri_Rage said:

I can tell you how to fix it, but it requires about $2,000 worth of welding gear to do it right.

I've never had a problem with More Beer, but I've never ordered any of their custom equipment, either.

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You could get a low-power inverter TIG machine with pulser and all for about half that. With a backpurge of argon, a pinhole leak could be fixed with about a second of welding. For what these stooges are charging, they are not doing their job.

Ideas:
1. Hire competent welders
2. Inspect your products before they go out

It's not that hard to run a business properly...

To the purchaser: Either send it back and demand all charges to be refunded plus to be reimbursed for shipping, or send it back and have them repair it and still demand that they reimburse you for shipping.

Contact MoreBeer and ask them what you need to do. Should be a no brainer that they pay to have the defective unit shipped back and send a replacement. I would probably start with sending an e-mail in a professional manner, giving you a chance to fully express your experience without putting them on the spot. In turn, giving them a chance to thoroughly review the issues and how to address them.

PT Ray said:

Contact MoreBeer and ask them what you need to do. Should be a no brainer that they pay to have the defective unit shipped back and send a replacement. I would probably start with sending an e-mail in a professional manner, giving you a chance to fully express your experience without putting them on the spot. In turn, giving them a chance to thoroughly review the issues and how to address them.

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Or offer them the opportunity to reimburse you for repairs, seeing as how it'll cost more to ship two-ways than to just fix locally.

I had a similiar problem with a SABCO keg and they paid for shipping. I wasn't happy that I had a small pinhole leak but the guys at SABCO were very accomodating; infact, they asked me what I wanted to do. Since I couldn't find anyone local to TIG weld I simply returned the unit. Sure I paid too much for the keggle but Customer Service goes a long way in my opinion.

Good luck in your dealings with MoreBeer. Gosh I wish I knew how to TIG weld; I weld like a dirt dauber builds a nest and that ain't pretty.

Yeah if it is a defective product like that, they owe you a new kettle, or repair yours, and shipping both ways. They might pay for you to have it welded locally, if it'd be cheaper in the long run. Funny, you would think they would test the custom units?!

I have ordered twice from morebeer. Once was ok, though shipping took a week. What can I expect - CA to NY free shipping, right? I bought 2 WYeast packs there WITH ice packs and they were both dead, but that was during the summer months - silly me!

The other time there was one item backordered, which took a week to get in. Once that came in, another item was backordered, after another 2 weeks, my order shipped. After another week, it arrived at my house. So that is a month waiting for this stupid order! In the mean time I just brewed a HW with what I had on hand, and all was peachy.
However, mostly due to the length of the US and the associated transit times, I'll probably not order from there again unless they are selling better bottles for $5 or something.

chillHayze said:

Yeah if it is a defective product like that, they owe you a new kettle, or repair yours, and shipping both ways. They might pay for you to have it welded locally, if it'd be cheaper in the long run. Funny, you would think they would test the custom units?!

I have ordered twice from morebeer. Once was ok, though shipping took a week. What can I expect - CA to NY free shipping, right? I bought 2 WYeast packs there WITH ice packs and they were both dead, but that was during the summer months - silly me!

The other time there was one item backordered, which took a week to get in. Once that came in, another item was backordered, after another 2 weeks, my order shipped. After another week, it arrived at my house. So that is a month waiting for this stupid order! In the mean time I just brewed a HW with what I had on hand, and all was peachy.
However, mostly due to the length of the US and the associated transit times, I'll probably not order from there again unless they are selling better bottles for $5 or something.

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Honestly, since i've never even been able to do my first batch, I'm just thinking about taking the lump and live with it because for someone whom wanted to start brewing by August at the latest.....I'm despirate beyond belief.....

Personally, If I had the money right now I would go buy about 4 corey kegs to add to my two, 50lbs of malt powder, 50 pounds of corn sugar and some assorted hopps with some other components and put out at least twenty gallons of brew.....

I'm just tired of feeling like my hands are tied.....

Maybe an exhaust shop or something could tack up that hole for ya for a few bucks or free if you buy a muffler or something. Then no dealing with BBB, now or ever in your case!

chillHayze said:

Maybe an exhaust shop or something could tack up that hole for ya for a few bucks or free if you buy a muffler or something. Then no dealing with BBB, now or ever in your case!

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Sorry I didn't follow up but my ISP went down and I couldn't use the internet at all. Yesterday went quite well. I got some CO2, got my pot fixed......and oh yeah......got beer for consuming while I was making.......

Well I got the problem solved for $10 and it ran pretty well. Even though it was fixed though, I have found that i'm still going to need some food-grade pipe dope because once the fittings get over 100 degrees, they start to drip a bit.....not alot, just enough to be annoying so I was able to at least start my first batch......

Telflon tape!!

Bobby_M said:

Telflon tape!!

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Yep, saw that after the fact....