Well I guess I have to be the bad guy...
This quote from the update "...having Zymatic customers perform the more complex repairs themselves was unrealistic under almost all circumstances, and the machines would need to be sent in for service. Even for our experienced service technicians, repairing Zymatics was labor-intensive and required quite a bit of time and expertise, along with specialized tools and equipment. Repairs also needed several hours of follow-up quality control tests to ensure that the repaired unit's parameters were back to our design specifications." appears to be Picobrew trying to downplay the grumbling from those of us who did tear down our machines and got placed in "time out". At no time did Pico ever mention that with the right qualifications I could open my machine....and there are not any special tools required (PEX is not special and neither is a socket extension) nor is it labor intensive.....ha ha that's a joke, I can break down my Zymatic fix it and have it back together in a couple of hours as I'm sure most of you could too.
"proprietary glycol mix"...who are they trying to fool or disuade from fixing their Zymatics? I have done the glycol replacement, as I know several of you have with the procedure I wrote. You can use a 33% mix of proplylene glycol and that works perfectly well in the Zymatic. Are they doing something different? Maybe. But the manufacturer of the food safe glycol that's out there, gives their recommended solution mix/temp, so it's best to follow their advice, but we know Picobrew ignores specs...see wort pumps.
"...so if our customer service technicians determine a component has failed, they can send a replacement to swap out the old part" - I'd be very surprised if they actually allow anyone to replace any of the "major" components of the Z series, I see PEX clamps all over that wort loop. Doug at Picobrew also told me one of the reasons they don't allow in-field repair of boards, pumps, sensors, etc... was that they required a calibration procedure and quality testing. Now on this one, I am seriously hoping I am wrong, in fact, would love to be wrong, but the pessimist in me says I'm not.
So, while this update was actually very informative and I am glad they got something out with some actual content in it, I see it as a way to try and extinguish the smoldering fire of all of the cancellations...not just here but all over the web I've read grumblings and heard of cancellations.
I do like the idea of sending out a schedule and showing where everyone is in the list, so folks can determine if they are in it for the long haul, but alas, I fear the Z2's are way, way, out there. Maybe I'll be wrong about everything and that's okay, I can handle that, I'll even concede that I am a bit disgruntled at what Picobrew says, but the proof will be in the product and if they actually hit the schedule. I can overlook bad service if its a quality machine and won't hesitate to publically show praise.
Black Friday can't come soon enough.