As I've said before, Chapman Brewing Equipment is a no BS company. And to keep true to my word. Here is a comprehensive list of all the problems we have encountered so far:
- Delays in shipping
- Fermenter volume markings off
- No logos
- Dip tube not sealing properly
- Straight threaded nipple sent out instead of tapered one/fermenter bulkhead not sealing
- Kettle not passivated
- ThermoBarrel bulkhead rusted
- Fermenter clamps not sealing properly
- Insufficient packaging for the ThermoBarrel
Here are explanations of our reactions to those problems. If I have overlooked anything, please let me know.
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Delays in shipping (Won't be an issue in the future)
Since we encountered a lot of these problems in the middle of shipping, we decided to halt shipping until they were resolved. Some people received shipping notifications but had to wait weeks for their gear. We should have made the delays clear to each individual person, but it is hard to coordinate communications when we are working as hard as we can to get all the problems solved.
In the end, a lot was delivered early. Most of the issues have been resolved. And there were less than 5 percent Kickstarter supporters who did not receive all of their equipment by September 30th.
Fermenter volume markings off UNRESOLVED
I've written about this before here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6936149&postcount=119
In short, the problem was too difficult to fix. And because no equipment has 100% accurate volume markings, we accepted the flaw. Many companies would not announce this publicly and would wait for you to find out on your own. In good faith, we are informing everyone to at least tell you how much you need to adjust for.
No logos RESOLVED
This was largely a problem between us and the manufacturer. We have worked something out with them.
Dip tube not sealing properly RESOLVED
We recommend a new configuration for attaching the dip-tube and sent out o-rings to everyone for those that needed them.
Straight nipple sent out instead of tapered one/fermenter bulkhead not sealing RESOLVED
This arose because our fittings supplier (separate from our main supplier) sent us the wrong parts labeled as the correct parts. We didn't catch this right away. We found a local supplier for fittings and will be using them in the future. They are a bit more expensive but it's worth it.
Also, we reconfigured the fermenter bulkhead and sent out hex nuts and o-rings along with the nipple to ensure ease of assembly.
Some kettles were not passivated IN PROGRESS
We are still trying to determine to what extent this has become an issue. At first it looked like an isolated incident, but now its looking like it might be more than just a couple kettles.
The solution is to repassivate the kettles. When we figure out the extent of the problem, we will decide whether to passivate the kettles ourselves or find an easy way for end-users to passivate them.
ThermoBarrel fitting(s) rusted IN PROGRESS
This was brought up by ingchr1, and I've been communicating with him on possible causes/solutions. So far we haven't heard from anyone else. We have not had the time to check each individual ThermoBarrel bulkhead and we plan on doing this over the next few weeks.
Fermenter clamps not sealing properly RESOLVED
This issue has arisen for two people so far. These lids didn't seal all the way because the clamps weren't bent down far enough. One supporter figured out how to bend them down on their own. We exchanged the other one at no cost to the supporter. In the future, this is something we will have to double check before we send it out, but it's a problem we can fix.
Insufficient packaging for the ThermoBarrel RESOLVED
The few supporters who had dents in their ThermoBarrels from shipping were offered replacements. Most decided that free gear or store credit would be enough to remedy the cosmetic damage to the mash tun.
We have reconfigured the packaging for the ThermoBarrel and don't expect any more serious issues from shipping. Furthermore, we are working on custom designs for all packaging.
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Of the nine issues listed above one remains unresolved, and two are in progress. It's still not clear how major those two issues are. All the other issues have been remedied in one way or another. Even with no hassle refunds, only one KS backer who saw the equipment in person asked for a refund (drgonzo2k2).
We are planning on sending out a survey to all the Kickstarter supporters to get more feedback about the equipment at the end of the month. Hopefully most people will have had a chance to use their equipment by then. Even though there have been a lot of issues brought up in this thread, I'm expecting the majority of the feedback on the survey to be positive. We are planning to make the results public, and I will post them here when they are.