Well i don't knoe about your head.. lol... but i agree- 20% vinegar seems too much. I like 5%- isn't that about what coffee pots/makers suggest?
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HarkinBanks
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Hah, well I assume it’s a ratio of water to vinegar. 4 parts water 1 part vinegar, but I doubt it needs to be that precise.
Still Brewn
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Yes.... regular vinegar 5% you would use for cooking, cleaning, etc..... like I said I've never seen anything stronger and I'm old..... ish
That sounds better, must be just how Hungarians word things.
And you are right, not a big deal I would assume even using at up to a 1 to 1 ratio. The important thing to the process is getting the mixture hot to boiling if possible. Takes off limescale in minutes if there is a buildup.
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Still Brewn
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My limescale comes off during regular cleaning at the end of the brew.
HarkinBanks
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Is that the taiwan website we have been posting? For that price, you may as well buy another ebay unit and harvest the parts as you need them.
Still Brewn
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Did you order parts for original Brewie or Brewie +? How compatible are the circuit boards between the 2. Just curious because at least one of the boards in my Brewie + say version 2.
Let us know how your purchase goes. $95 isn't really that bad considering how far it's coming. We have spent 60+ sending stuff to my son in DC from the midwest.
Did you use PayPal for the order?
Still Brewn
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Never mind ..... I just looked at the spare MCU Board I have. It says V1p1 and it is orange along with all the rest of the boards I can see in B+
Qunaki
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Took a couple of evenings to read-up (have been of during the summer).
Brewed a stout yesterday,and had a bad 58% effiency 1.033 (will be a 3% stout now).
Realized the Breiwe is almost gone, and I still have warranty.
Like Ajes we can't get spare parts (B20s) like you, here in Denmark/Sweden. And most of You seems to have got easy to fix machines. But ok these are B20, mine is the +
As for now I would only like two extra hop cages. But in the future, who know what will break and not be able to fix; circuit cards etc. Even if a lot of parts are of the shelves, I guess the machines will die of from them other specials.
But glad for those made a real good deal, and be able to run Brewie's for +20yrs.
Brewed a stout yesterday,and had a bad 58% effiency 1.033 (will be a 3% stout now).
Realized the Breiwe is almost gone, and I still have warranty.
Like Ajes we can't get spare parts (B20s) like you, here in Denmark/Sweden. And most of You seems to have got easy to fix machines. But ok these are B20, mine is the +
As for now I would only like two extra hop cages. But in the future, who know what will break and not be able to fix; circuit cards etc. Even if a lot of parts are of the shelves, I guess the machines will die of from them other specials.
But glad for those made a real good deal, and be able to run Brewie's for +20yrs.
Qunaki
Well-Known Member
In Sweden our normal food-vinegar is 12% and there is one with 24% vinegar-sprit (just use half of it). Used it to remove the first/last time scorthing in Brewie (thanks for the tips).
And in Sweden a lot of normal chemicals can't be found, and a lot are also forbidden for private persons to buy. E.g H202 down to 12% now, before 30 and 17%. Pure isopropanol, can't be found.
Thanks!! Any chance you can post them here for thoose of us who do not do The Facebook?
HarkinBanks
Well-Known Member
As I understand things B20 and B+ images are not interchangeable. While there are 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 images out there for both machines they are different. Just FYI if you are going to upgrade your software make sure you pull down the correct image.
He posted a link on the independant brewie forum. Here's a link to his post - you don't think you need a login:
http://brewieforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=56&sid=6f2ea58b5d684a0ef435193bea03beca
And yes - these images are for the B+ (B20+).
http://brewieforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=56&sid=6f2ea58b5d684a0ef435193bea03beca
And yes - these images are for the B+ (B20+).
c06u
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Just completed an order with the boys in Taiwan via PayPal, I buy and sell worldwide and from what I have seen of them they seem legit, one give away is they are charging true shipping rates not the usual Chinese free shipping or lowball price, they seem to be fairly good in English so communication is not bad, they are new to this outside sales stuff as it has taken them a while to get up to speed with PayPal etc
PayPal covers if you don't get what you ordered... took them about a week to send me an invoice with there Paypal contact address
PayPal covers if you don't get what you ordered... took them about a week to send me an invoice with there Paypal contact address
c06u
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I have tested Three units and they all run those same temps on the boil side, note I have a feeling they are set up to run the below max boil temp, a full out boil can cause an overflow so the cycling temps make sense, also after 15 brews through my original B20 all have come out right on the numbers OG FG and have been perfect brews! something that is a real challenge with my old Keggle/propane/immersion chiller set up, also I I have feeling when they cranked up the heat on the B20+ major problems showed up to what benefit? I am happy with the lower boil tank temp so far
c06u
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for parts try here https://univision-taiwan.wixsite.com/univision/store I just placed an order with them...
HarkinBanks
Well-Known Member
It might depend on what software is running? I got to 209F on my ebay B20 unit running 3.0. Or it could be the thermal cutoff switch cycling. I have by-passed the boil tank switch in my B+.
Will you please keep us updated? I.e. do you get your stuff, how long did it take, dis it clear customs (or what were the hassles?).
Also, how much was shipping? Thoose prices look really good but i worry shipping could kill it.
Thanks!
Qunaki
Well-Known Member
Yes I have seen that link. But thanks, now we now more more that it is ligit, because you have ordered there (but yet not received it yet). Please let us know, when stuff arrives.
I ment: We here in Europe can't buy a B20 on the cheap, as US-ppl can. (I've a B20+)
Thanks Ajes, No login needed. Good link for us non Facebookers (and good to know I'm not alone out there).
Qunaki
Well-Known Member
Did a full clean (with dishwasher tablets - same as provided with the machine), and yet again Brewie leave a lot of the tablet both here and there (but most in hop #1 and #2).
Previous time it didn't even disolve the one in #2.
Have someone else had this problem? I'm on the last official sw (3.1.1 I think it was - the one with dev-mode)
Left Brewie with a Santizing clean, will look at the result tomorrow,
Previous time it didn't even disolve the one in #2.
Have someone else had this problem? I'm on the last official sw (3.1.1 I think it was - the one with dev-mode)
Left Brewie with a Santizing clean, will look at the result tomorrow,
Qunaki
Well-Known Member
It is not in the boil start stage? Because there it tries to avoid boil over with a heat on/off stage to reduce boil over.
On my B20+ I have a good rolling boil over 100C (212).
Didn't know that. That can also be a part of the cause for the US B20+ burning the cables.
As far as I know, this is not the problem on the 230/240v versions - we use lower amp (we normally have 10A, i.e 2300w, but today we can crank the fuses up to 13A and thus get 3000w on our normal 1.5 sq-mm cables [ca 15 gauges]).
At my fist full clean, I used two tablets, and as mentioned elsewhere, I did see some leftover stuff, although it may also have been limescale. (there's a lot of chalk in our groundwater.)
Last full clean, I added some coffee machine descaler (that ought to be food safe stuff, and it's odorless) and that seemed to help.
I'm going through the internals of my Brewie, to get better aquainted, get funny ideas, and maybe do preventive hacks.
One thing that caught my eye, was the hose going from the plate chiller to the outlet connector on the back panel.
Where the hose was attached to the backpanel, it looked rather dark inside - similar to if there had been a lot of wort there - but no wort should be at that point!
I've taken it off, and it looks like corrosion to me. The plate chiller is copper, and the connector on the backpanel looks like steel...
So I'm wondering if there might be a future issue here, and whether others have noticed such corrosion?
One thing that caught my eye, was the hose going from the plate chiller to the outlet connector on the back panel.
Where the hose was attached to the backpanel, it looked rather dark inside - similar to if there had been a lot of wort there - but no wort should be at that point!
I've taken it off, and it looks like corrosion to me. The plate chiller is copper, and the connector on the backpanel looks like steel...
So I'm wondering if there might be a future issue here, and whether others have noticed such corrosion?
Still Brewn
Well-Known Member
They did not change the operating temp higher it was a manufacturing/ design error. 1800 watt heaters should have been set up for a 20amp 120v circuit not 15 amp. Most high current appliances will only go up to 1750 watts on a 15 amp circuit and most space heaters now days will only use 1500 watts for safety reasons. That was the design error, the manufacturing error was using inferior spade connectors and the cheapest labor you could find.
Additionally they reworked the software to improve the antiboilover routine so that may be what you are actuzlly seeing during your boil.
Back plate is stainless which can really cause problems with a dissimilar metal like copper..... I have had mine apart around a dozen times and never noticed it on mine.
A couple of things.... sometimes wort can leak though to the water output during cooling and gets worse if you mess with the water flow while chilling and that may be where the residue came from.
..... double check that you are looking at the right hose
..... if all else fails... disassemble and isolate the parts. I thought that there was plastic isolating the plate chiller from the assembly plate in back but I could be wrong.
The two hose connectors for water out are both welded on to the backplate...
The hoses connecred to the cooling side of the plate chiller both are somewhat green inside....
The water out on the plate chiller also has some corrosion, but the wort side seems fine.
Just wondering whether Im better off to simply bypass the internal chiller, and make external connections instead, and use my own trusty old plate chiller.
The hoses connecred to the cooling side of the plate chiller both are somewhat green inside....
The water out on the plate chiller also has some corrosion, but the wort side seems fine.
Just wondering whether Im better off to simply bypass the internal chiller, and make external connections instead, and use my own trusty old plate chiller.
Still Brewn
Well-Known Member
If it is just the cold /fresh water side I wouldn't worry about it. It probably came from a place that has unusual water chemistry. Just flushing it should take care of any issue. The leakage I was talking about comes from the pinch valves leaking a little bit sometimes when I mess with the water flow during cooling. Very mild leakage, a few ounces at most during the cooling process.
If I remember, my chiller is attached to the back plate by hoses only
If I remember, my chiller is attached to the back plate by hoses only
Well, I took it apart - took off the backplate and removed the chiller and hoses.
The hoses going to the fresh water side where both quite green inside, and there was evident corrosion on the chiller-drain connector on the backplate. There is also some corrosion evident on the cooling output of the chiller.
Since these connectors are welded into the backplaste, I'm guessing it's galvanic corrosion between the copper and steel.
I've punched out those connectors, and will try to find some plastic ones instead. Preferably food-grade for the wort outlet.
Anyone know of a place to get that in EU?
The hoses going to the fresh water side where both quite green inside, and there was evident corrosion on the chiller-drain connector on the backplate. There is also some corrosion evident on the cooling output of the chiller.
Since these connectors are welded into the backplaste, I'm guessing it's galvanic corrosion between the copper and steel.
I've punched out those connectors, and will try to find some plastic ones instead. Preferably food-grade for the wort outlet.
Anyone know of a place to get that in EU?
I finalized more order tonight in part because this may be the only shot at parts for the two ebay b20’s I picked up. Of nothing else I’ll have parts others might need in the future. Agreed that I could have picked up another ebay unit but felt like I had already pushed my luck and didn’t want to get one covered in mold just for spare parts.
Have the folks experiencing water measurement issues updated their sd card with a new version?
I'm wondering if the water issue is related to a mismatch between the software version (sd card) and the firmware (microcontroller) version. There is an update script on the SD card image that can flash a new firmware onto the microcontroller but it requires some manual intervention (from a computer on the same Wi-Fi network as the brewie). If anyone wants to try it I have some instructions typed up in a PM that I can put here.
I'm wondering if the water issue is related to a mismatch between the software version (sd card) and the firmware (microcontroller) version. There is an update script on the SD card image that can flash a new firmware onto the microcontroller but it requires some manual intervention (from a computer on the same Wi-Fi network as the brewie). If anyone wants to try it I have some instructions typed up in a PM that I can put here.
CircleGetSquare
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I'd definitely be interested in seeing the instructions. I just got an ebay unit and want to take a shot at updating it to 3.1.2. I'm also not convinced my original unit which was updated to 3.1.2 OTA has updated firmware.
I defined would like some help getting the firmware updated. I have swapped out the sd card in one of my ebay B20’s to get up to 3.1.2 however I can’t get the book temp above 200. It cycles on and off all through the test recipe even during after hopping. Yet I can stop the brew go into developer mode and get it up to 213 (yeah I know al about boiling points but this is the displayed temp in dev mode). So I know it’s not the thermal cut off switch but something software related. Winscp and putty are my friend....
Very interesting - I hadn't realized that there was a firmware in there also.
I upgraded to 3.1.2 on the sd card, but haven't touched the firmware....
Do we have the latest firmware available??
after flashing the sd card i just popped it in and it booted up fine. I'd play with it for a bit like this before going on to the next stage. maybe a test brew.
To fix my other issues (update the microcontroller) here are the steps that worked for me:
These are windows based instructions. If you're familiar to run Linux you probably know enough to skip most of the Windows stuff and just ssh into the brewie and type the commands.
It'll make it go better if you can verify file names and locations since you may have a different build than i do. download a program called winscp. once installed it should ask you to login. enter fields as shown below but use your brewies ip for the host name (in the brewie-settings-wifi menu). password is 'terminatorottvagymeg'. in here you can dig around and verify files and names in a windows-like way.
once open on the right side of the screen you'll see something like this:
the firmware update files should be here:
/usr/share/brewie/
the files should end in *.hex
now pop back up using the top folder (..) til you get all the way to the main directory.
now go to /usr/bin/
you should see the update files. the update script won't work because their update servers are down (this is what they use to remotely update your machine). the upload-fw is what will flash the microcontroller but we have to do it manually.
1) open command prompt:
start -> type 'cmd' (no quotes), hit enter
2) in the window, type 'ssh root@[brewie ip address (found in brewie wifi settings)]
3) type 'yes' if your computer complains about authenticity whatnot
4) type 'terminatorottvagymeg' for the password (it won't move the cursor when you do this, just hit enter when done, if you get the # you win!)
5) type 'cd /usr/bin' [this will get you to where the upload-fw files are]
6) type 'brewie-upload-fw /usr/share/brewie/control.ino.brewie1.hex' (i used the file typed here, make sure the second part matches the directory/file that you saw earlier in winscp) - i think the brewie1 and brewie2 files deal with slightly different b20 hardware (I know they charged the weight sensor board at some point). I used 1 and it seemed to work fine for me. 2 would probably work for most as well (is a bit larger file though, maybe more updates). I'm guessing the mega is an older version (smaller and dated much earlier). If you use one file and things are weird you can pretty easily try again. Maybe 1 is for serial numbers < a certain number and 2 is after that.
7) this will show some dialog and indicate whether it wrote succesfully. it may crap out on the verification. Once the write is 100% complete, if it craps out halfway in verify, hit ctrl+c a few times until it gets back to the command line (#).
8) now you could run the temp fix if you think it'll help (you could always wait and see if its a problem first as i'm not sure exactly what it does).
9) the temp fix is here:
type: cd /usr/share/brewie/updatetemp_hw2/
type: install.sh
10) i didnt' get a any feedback on whether this did anything, so maybe it didn't.
11) after I did both of these, when i went over and checked my machine i had a red x in the top right corner of the screen. (scared the crap out of me at first)
12) i rebooted and it came up normal and things were doing what they should.
Good luck!
To fix my other issues (update the microcontroller) here are the steps that worked for me:
These are windows based instructions. If you're familiar to run Linux you probably know enough to skip most of the Windows stuff and just ssh into the brewie and type the commands.
It'll make it go better if you can verify file names and locations since you may have a different build than i do. download a program called winscp. once installed it should ask you to login. enter fields as shown below but use your brewies ip for the host name (in the brewie-settings-wifi menu). password is 'terminatorottvagymeg'. in here you can dig around and verify files and names in a windows-like way.
once open on the right side of the screen you'll see something like this:
the firmware update files should be here:
/usr/share/brewie/
the files should end in *.hex
now pop back up using the top folder (..) til you get all the way to the main directory.
now go to /usr/bin/
you should see the update files. the update script won't work because their update servers are down (this is what they use to remotely update your machine). the upload-fw is what will flash the microcontroller but we have to do it manually.
1) open command prompt:
start -> type 'cmd' (no quotes), hit enter
2) in the window, type 'ssh root@[brewie ip address (found in brewie wifi settings)]
3) type 'yes' if your computer complains about authenticity whatnot
4) type 'terminatorottvagymeg' for the password (it won't move the cursor when you do this, just hit enter when done, if you get the # you win!)
5) type 'cd /usr/bin' [this will get you to where the upload-fw files are]
6) type 'brewie-upload-fw /usr/share/brewie/control.ino.brewie1.hex' (i used the file typed here, make sure the second part matches the directory/file that you saw earlier in winscp) - i think the brewie1 and brewie2 files deal with slightly different b20 hardware (I know they charged the weight sensor board at some point). I used 1 and it seemed to work fine for me. 2 would probably work for most as well (is a bit larger file though, maybe more updates). I'm guessing the mega is an older version (smaller and dated much earlier). If you use one file and things are weird you can pretty easily try again. Maybe 1 is for serial numbers < a certain number and 2 is after that.
7) this will show some dialog and indicate whether it wrote succesfully. it may crap out on the verification. Once the write is 100% complete, if it craps out halfway in verify, hit ctrl+c a few times until it gets back to the command line (#).
8) now you could run the temp fix if you think it'll help (you could always wait and see if its a problem first as i'm not sure exactly what it does).
9) the temp fix is here:
type: cd /usr/share/brewie/updatetemp_hw2/
type: install.sh
10) i didnt' get a any feedback on whether this did anything, so maybe it didn't.
11) after I did both of these, when i went over and checked my machine i had a red x in the top right corner of the screen. (scared the crap out of me at first)
12) i rebooted and it came up normal and things were doing what they should.
Good luck!
Thanks for your walkthrough!!
Yeah, I’m familiar with linux, and the procedure you documented isn’t foreign to me.
But my machine is the B+, and I wonder what the newest firmware version is - whether it is available, or whether someone would need to extract it (if thats even possible).
Yeah, I’m familiar with linux, and the procedure you documented isn’t foreign to me.
But my machine is the B+, and I wonder what the newest firmware version is - whether it is available, or whether someone would need to extract it (if thats even possible).
The b20+ likely has its own hex files on its SD card image. I have a feeling if you dig in the same directory you'll find analogous files (you can compare file dates and sizes as a sanity check). I doubt they changed that much of the command and control scheme (Linux image sends very basic instructions over a uart to the arduino side of things) between the systems.
Yeah, it actually makes sense that they would include the firmware in the full update file.
The files are where you mentioned. I ssh'd into the machine and ran the command you wrote.
However, it gives me a timeout:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
Any suggestion on how to proceed?
The files are where you mentioned. I ssh'd into the machine and ran the command you wrote.
However, it gives me a timeout:
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
Any suggestion on how to proceed?
I've only done it on a b20. I would try opening the brewie-upload-fw file itself in a text editor. They may have changed it a bit for the b+. On the b20 it basically calls the avrdude programming files with a few options and uses a config file to set the serial parameters. There may also be a b20+ specific upload-fw file that has a slightly different command/format.
I would also make sure it's on a fresh reboot.
I would also make sure it's on a fresh reboot.
Another thought is if you go to the Google drive's repair docs I think there are images for both the b20 and b20+. You could try uploading the latest b20+ files to your brewie and trying again with one of those. There may also be some b20+ specific instructions on those files - I haven't dug through them yet.
This is the image that was posted on brewieforum.net. There is no 3.1.1 or 3.1.2 image on the google drive for B+
It seems noone has done this for the B+ yet, so I guess I have to experiment. I am a little worried about bricking it though.
Anyways, thanks for your inputs
It seems noone has done this for the B+ yet, so I guess I have to experiment. I am a little worried about bricking it though.
Anyways, thanks for your inputs
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