Brewie

[HarkinBanks]

Looks like there is also a Thermal switch in the element itself. If I was in your situation, I would bypass the tank thermal switch and see if it's this one the cause of the problem, if not it's the switch in the element itself, whitch can be bypassed too (only for diagnostic)

Thanks Iron. Bypassed the tank thermal switch and got full power. So my switch is definitely bad - this switch did get hit by a short previously when the power hit the mounting posts. Did a 10 min test boil and 100% power throughout but maxed out at 206F. Not sure if the element is limiting or just the best the element can do. Will replace it all when Brewie sends me new parts but nice to know I can brew if I want. With the muffin fan I suppose the tank thermal switch is no longer needed?

Not a great pic of the boil, there were many more bubbles, camera didn’t pick them up.

 

[Ironcyberia]

Good to hear. This kind of thermal transfer from the element to the tank (radiation) have it's limit, I'm scared it's the maximum boill as we can ever get from an infrared source transferring heat to a black body surface. personnaly I think it's enough for what we have to do here. l also didn't put yet a Killawatt meter on the Brewie to see if the computer is sending max power to the element when boilling, it's possible the element is not at max power, in any case it was enought to burn all terminals and switch without ventilation. If I was brewie, I would offer a little more expensive version with induction heating option ;-)

This switch have a specific fonction, and it is not limiting the boilling, it is cutting power to the the element in case of malfonction, like

-no water in the tank and element on
-SSR burned in closed state and no more water in the tank
-Program bug or error heating the element without water in the tank.

for your switch, yep the short can have damaged it fore sure, as well as the heat around it. I would buy one on Digikey, maybe a 140C if I was you lol, Marcel wrote me back but never had news from a technical person.

Happy new brewing years guys

 

[HarkinBanks]

Thanks again Iron. Great info. Mate asked me to check watts but I don’t have a killawatt meter. He says it should be 1700 watts during the boil. All of the killawatt meters I have seen are 15amp limit and I didn’t want to push it.

I’m finding a lot of these parts on AliExpress. The ceramic heating elements for example are 1850 watts and cost about $6.00 each.

 

[Nate R]

Gents- great thread, thanks for sharing updates.
Is anyone seeing this on an original brewie (b20)? I need to fix my memory card, but dont want to deal with these issues. Sounds to me like this is only on b+ machines?

 

[HarkinBanks]

Gents- great thread, thanks for sharing updates.
Is anyone seeing this on an original brewie (b20)? I need to fix my memory card, but dont want to deal with these issues. Sounds to me like this is only on b+ machines?

Based on this thread I haven't seen the epoxy issue, but I'm not on the facebook page. If you are opening up the machine, definitely go take a look at the element and connections and snap some pics. It will be easy to tell if there is an issue. Based on Iron's calcs there will be a heat issue regardless so you might as well check it out.

 

[padair519]

I have been emailing Mate, Marcel and Brewie Support at the same time, every day now. Eventually Mate responds. The last email he offered to send me new wires, element and thermal switch. I asked him to send them to me immediately, for both the boil and mash tun sides. In the meantime I have ordered the muffin fan Iron used from Digikey and I will wire it in like he did and see what happens. Always the overkill, I also ordered a Hot Rod Heatstick from Bobby and a variable speed fan controller from Amazon to throttle it. I figure I can use the Hot Rod with my Brewie and my Robobrew if I want.

@Paidair, what caused the second failure? Have you opened up the machine again to check? Also, the fan supplement that Iron is using is about a $10 fix; I thought it was a cheap chance to fix the issue permanently.

@HarkinBanks - I've emailed several times, starting early Dec for my 2nd failure... and for past several weeks. All without our reply. My last reply I requested either a new unit be shipped to me with all the bugs and repairs done at the factory or my money back. That too went without response. I did however just received an email from Marcel this morning claiming they are still moving HQ offices and Mate should "get to me soon". Whatever....

I haven't opened up the machine a second time because I have not been asked too. I agreed to the first time with written confirmation my warranty would not be void. I'm not going to do it a second time. I'm seeking a full refund, nothing less.

 

[HarkinBanks]

@HarkinBanks - I've emailed several times, starting early Dec for my 2nd failure... and for past several weeks. All without our reply. My last reply I requested either a new unit be shipped to me with all the bugs and repairs done at the factory or my money back. That too went without response. I did however just received an email from Marcel this morning claiming they are still moving HQ offices and Mate should "get to me soon". Whatever....

I haven't opened up the machine a second time because I have not been asked too. I agreed to the first time with written confirmation my warranty would not be void. I'm not going to do it a second time. I'm seeking a full refund, nothing less.

Understood. Mate emailed me this morning and said he will send me replacement parts, FWIW. I have opened up my machine about a dozen times now, I feel like a Ninja. Glad to help if you want to open it again, understand where you stand though.

 

[Ironcyberia]

Marcel reply to me after a direct email (no answer from the ticket system on their web site) I asked for parts and will wait for it, meantime I replaced burned parts with third party parts, since it's a prety simple machine to maintain. I'm not affraid about this warrenty issue, as we will all have to open the machine once in a while to unplug all those hoses and pumps and clean em troughly. the only time we will really need brewie team is if there is a controller failliure.

 

[Still Brewn]

I have been following this thread for about a month and a half now. I was however about to send my Brewie back before the assembly PDF showed up, thanks for posting that. I had sent 6 emails about different things over the last month. The first being Dec 5th and no response until last night. All of my issues were addressed except the one hi sent about a "Notes" tab in the Brewie software. I also noticed today as I was entering a few more recipes that honey needs to be added to the fermentables tab and oak needs to be added to the fermentation tab (Oak chips) and to the container tab (Oak barrel).
Did anyone else see there are quality control issues in the assembly while doing repairs? I found 4 loose screws during my repair process. 2 were on the bottom cover plate (one stripped) and both screws holding the heat exchanger brackets were loose enough that they were both just flopping around in there. They were loose enough that there was actually a small dent in the edge of the heat exchanger. That was the subject of another email I sent them. They are aware of the issue and are addressing it. I want to thank everyone for the useful information.
Overall I'm really happy with the machine and allows me to brew without someone else babysitting me. I'm stuck at home most of the time so repairing it was a nice change of pace for me. It took me 3 days but that is because I'm very slow and it took a full day to find the spade connectors. Most people could do it in a couple of hours as long as you have the parts. Máté is sending wiring, heater and switch. I'm not sure if for both sides of just the boil tank. I did open the mash side and it has the same issue it is just not as bad yet because the lower use and temperature but it will eventually need the same repair.

Oh... almost forgot to mention, they did not address one other question I had. The $500 discount for signing up for the brewers club thing didn't work. I still bought anyway from Amazon but it would be nice to get a refund of the $500.... lot of brewing with that. Did anyone else get it to work?

 

[Ironcyberia]

Mate just answer back, looks like I didn't see his mail of the dec 20th, so my fault, Brewie answered in time.

 

[HarkinBanks]

When this little devil works, man is it awesome. I brewed yesterday with my 600 micron basket and everything was perfect. I definitely recommend getting the basket in the 600 micron mesh. Flow was better, efficiency was better and cleanup was easier. I stirred at mash in and at the beginning of the sparging process. Achieved a reported 86% efficiency but I suspect my machine needs a calibration again for water volumes. Efficiency was definitely up though. Recipe was 6.7 total water volume into 8.8lbs yielding 5.64 pre boil at 1.050. Post boil was at 1.059, which was really nice to see. I need to mark a brewing spoon for volumes or etch markings on the inside of the boil tank.

Iron-I can’t thank you enough for your electric help. The fan worked great and I got a decent boil. Thanks again man. Here is a pic right before hot break.

 

[Nate R]

When this little devil works, man is it awesome. I brewed yesterday with my 600 micron basket and everything was perfect. I definitely recommend getting the basket in the 600 micron mesh. Flow was better, efficiency was better and cleanup was easier. I stirred at mash in and at the beginning of the sparging process. Achieved a reported 86% efficiency but I suspect my machine needs a calibration again for water volumes. Efficiency was definitely up though. Recipe was 6.7 total water volume into 8.8lbs yielding 5.64 pre boil at 1.050. Post boil was at 1.059, which was really nice to see. I need to mark a brewing spoon for volumes or etch markings on the inside of the boil tank.

Iron-I can’t thank you enough for your electric help. The fan worked great and I got a decent boil. Thanks again man. Here is a pic right before hot break.

View attachment 605953

Harkin you nailed it- when this thing works it is awesome!! I cannot wait to get a basket (and stop cleaning bags!!).

I have actually been looking at other options for brewing here... Grainfather, 3 vessell, and biab.
I really like electric as i hate to burn thru propane and hmbe stuck outside.

I stumbled on a "is biab best" thread here. Seems like the messy bags and cleaning of bags is an issue. Brewie solves this, especially with your new grain basket.

Fingers crossed brewie can make it... i feel like with a few tweaks this machine can be a rockstar.

 

[gamerc]

@HarkinBanks - great update, and it sounds like you have worked through most of the issues - awesome.
So - help me understand the differences between this generation and the previous?

 

[Robbie/the/Bruce]

Guys i'm four brews in "Call me Grainy" "Rusty Rex" "Hopcus Pocus" and yesterday was "Exo-Zaic" the last one bubbling away, two of them going through secondary, and the other given to a friend. Just performed the big clean today, anything that I should watch out for i'm still really nervous around it after the mixed feedback but as yet it hasn't missed a heart beat?

 

[Nate R]

Guys i'm four brews in "Call me Grainy" "Rusty Rex" "Hopcus Pocus" and yesterday was "Exo-Zaic" the last one bubbling away, two of them going through secondary, and the other given to a friend. Just performed the big clean today, anything that I should watch out for i'm still really nervous around it after the mixed feedback but as yet it hasn't missed a heart beat?

Are you Brewie original (B20) or Brewie+ (the new model).

Both models- always always always update software!! Every brew!! Best to calibrate if you move it at all.

Brewie+ read the above on melting wires etc. I am b20 so can't comment. My internal sd card is fried, so i need to fix that. Just need time. Darn holidays and family gettin' in the way!! And now playoffs, so need a free day

 

[kh54s10]

They say that someone unhappy will tell 10 people, an someone happy will tell 1. I hope this is the case, and the number of good units is far greater than it seems. But in reading this thread I would say that this product is well away from being truly marketable. The second generation unit seems to have as many if not more serious problems as the first. If their fried wiring causes a house to burn down I don't see them surviving much longer.

My opinion only: But if the manufacturer of an electronic device said to open it up and check the resistance etc of a circuit and if it is such and such they would send parts...... I am not an electronic engineer! I would want a total refund. And the only way I would return the defective device is if they sent packaging and a return label.

 

[HarkinBanks]

@HarkinBanks - great update, and it sounds like you have worked through most of the issues - awesome.
So - help me understand the differences between this generation and the previous?

From what I have read and seen inside the two machines, they improved the pumps, increased the memory, cut overall weight, changed the circuit board, better heating elements, changed the water measurement method from weight sensors to a pressure sensor, eliminated the toggle power switch, changed to barbs on the exit hose connections, and cleaned up the rats nest of wires inside. Overall brewing time was cut down.

I've been rather honest in my posts about my experience with Brewie, sometimes I love the thing, and sometimes I want to throw it off my roof. But there is no other machine on the market that does what it does. As a first adopter, I knew there would be bumps along the way. I have a Robobrew v3 as a backup system for when Brewie is down. No system is perfect, I accept that.

 

[Ironcyberia]

When this little devil works, man is it awesome. I brewed yesterday with my 600 micron basket and everything was perfect. I definitely recommend getting the basket in the 600 micron mesh. Flow was better, efficiency was better and cleanup was easier. I stirred at mash in and at the beginning of the sparging process. Achieved a reported 86% efficiency but I suspect my machine needs a calibration again for water volumes. Efficiency was definitely up though. Recipe was 6.7 total water volume into 8.8lbs yielding 5.64 pre boil at 1.050. Post boil was at 1.059, which was really nice to see. I need to mark a brewing spoon for volumes or etch markings on the inside of the boil tank.

Iron-I can’t thank you enough for your electric help. The fan worked great and I got a decent boil. Thanks again man. Here is a pic right before hot break.

View attachment 605953

That's nice boilling! Happy my knowledge had helped fiew of you guys. your basket hack is realy nice, I might built one since I'm in canada. Thanks for sharing. don't forget to replace your thermal switch ;-)

About brewie in general, I'm realy pleased with the machine. The element issue will never cause a house fire, everything is contain inside a stainless enclosure with no combustible around. At my point of view this is a simple problem that will be fixed in a near future. car maker do recall for way worst design issue. The machine is not perfect but it do correctly what it is designed for, brewing ''standard'' beer, just buying all equipment (tank, heater, pump, valve, tubes etc) is not way cheaper that the whole machine. With the heater issue solved, I would still recomand the machine to beginer/intermediate brewer.

 

[Nate R]

From what I have read and seen inside the two machines, they improved the pumps, increased the memory, cut overall weight, changed the circuit board, better heating elements, changed the water measurement method from weight sensors to a pressure sensor, eliminated the toggle power switch, changed to barbs on the exit hose connections, and cleaned up the rats nest of wires inside. Overall brewing time was cut down.

I've been rather honest in my posts about my experience with Brewie, sometimes I love the thing, and sometimes I want to throw it off my roof. But there is no other machine on the market that does what it does. As a first adopter, I knew there would be bumps along the way. I have a Robobrew v3 as a backup system for when Brewie is down. No system is perfect, I accept that.

Throw it off the roof?!?! I guess maybe with a B+ at only about 50lbs... but my B20 is never going up ladder with me!!! Lol

 

[lschiavo]

They say that someone unhappy will tell 10 people, an someone happy will tell 1. I hope this is the case, and the number of good units is far greater than it seems. But in reading this thread I would say that this product is well away from being truly marketable. The second generation unit seems to have as many if not more serious problems as the first. If their fried wiring causes a house to burn down I don't see them surviving much longer.

My opinion only: But if the manufacturer of an electronic device said to open it up and check the resistance etc of a circuit and if it is such and such they would send parts...... I am not an electronic engineer! I would want a total refund. And the only way I would return the defective device is if they sent packaging and a return label.

I'm with you. It's sad that people are accepting such a failure of a product as normal now days. Unfortunately, many things I've bought lately are as bad or worse (all have been returned). Stop accepting this junk as a real product people . Get your money back and demand a working, well designed product for your hard earned dollar!

I'd love to get a free one. I bet I could make a brewery out of it with a little thought and effort.

 

[Ironcyberia]

I'm with you. It's sad that people are accepting such a failure of a product as normal now days. Unfortunately, many things I've bought lately are as bad or worse (all have been returned). Stop accepting this junk as a real product people . Get your money back and demand a working, well designed product for your hard earned dollar!

I'd love to get a free one. I bet I could make a brewery out of it with a little thought and effort.

What you say is thru, those day our expectation of a product are high, and I am ok with that most of the time, when you pay 40k$ for a car you expect it to perform as expected and it to be reliable as much as possible. In brewie case I would say it's a little different. When I procede the order for the Brewie I accepted the fact that it was a kind of startup, with probably less than 150 machine sold (I got the B+ 63 of the first batch). This machine is still today the only full auto brewing system, so no other system to compare to and no possibility to chose the best one. I wanted it, I bough it. This heating element problem is not a deep problem and will surely be solved within the first batch of B+. For people who are not willing to gamble a little with their earnings... just don't buy beta product

I read some book on how to launch a product lately, and every book I read said that trying to launch at first a 100% perfect product is a waste of time and money, while waiting the release the product you loose sale and meantime someone is probably builtding one too. You still need to support and respect customers or else the future get darker, but first customer of everything are kind of beta tester, even for first year of a new car model, that's what we are right now. As buyer we see only the defect on what we buy, but we olften forget to see what is actualy working great on what whe have, sometime way more complex than the issue itself. the brewie machine work well (when the element issue is fixed). I accepted the risk when buying the machine and I still accepted it. Now that the issue is fixed in my machine and that I tested and explained to everyone here a quite simple solution, I'm happy with the product I bought.

 

[Blazinlow86]

What you say is thru, those day our expectation of a product are high, and I am ok with that most of the time, when you pay 40k$ for a car you expect it to perform as expected and it to be reliable as much as possible. In brewie case I would say it's a little different. When I procede the order for the Brewie I accepted the fact that it was a kind of startup, with probably less than 150 machine sold (I got the B+ 63 of the first batch). This machine is still today the only full auto brewing system, so no other system to compare to and no possibility to chose the best one. I wanted it, I bough it. This heating element problem is not a deep problem and will surely be solved within the first batch of B+. For people who are not willing to gamble a little with their earnings... just don't buy beta product

I read some book on how to launch a product lately, and every book I read said that trying to launch at first a 100% perfect product is a waste of time and money, while waiting the release the product you loose sale and meantime someone is probably builtding one too. You still need to support and respect customers or else the future get darker, but first customer of everything are kind of beta tester, even for first year of a new car model, that's what we are right now. As buyer we see only the defect on what we buy, but we olften forget to see what is actualy working great on what whe have, sometime way more complex than the issue itself. the brewie machine work well (when the element issue is fixed). I accepted the risk when buying the machine and I still accepted it. Now that the issue is fixed in my machine and that I tested and explained to everyone here a quite simple solution, I'm happy with the product I bought.

No doubt it may cost alot more of the company's time and money to make a fully functioning product. No idea how thats seen as a acceptable from your view as a consumer however

 

[JamieP]

No doubt it may cost alot more of the company's time and money to make a fully functioning product. No idea how thats seen as a acceptable from your view as a consumer however

I think the views you guys are discussing is pretty representative of the wide range of reactions from the owner community. Some went in eyes wide open understanding the risk of supporting a startup with an incredibly aggressive agenda. Others felt they were buying a polished, off the shelf product. In general, I think the frustrations have been highest when it comes to communication and support times as opposed to the quality of the machine itself. The initial shipping delays with limited communication were the peak of anger IMO.

The other factor is the experience of the owner. Brewie follows a pretty traditional process and a more experience brewer can intuitively work through things pretty quickly. Newer owners struggle with water volumes, recipe creation, etc. If they expected the Nespresso of home brewing, it isn't that despite offering an incredible level of automation.

 

[Still Brewn]

Harkin thats it, it finally clicked for me....Pressure sensor! That's how they are measuring the water. When I had mine apart I was looking for the weight sensors on the boil tank and couldn't figure out where they were.... got it now. They are using the pressure sensor on the boil tank drain tube to measure for weight. Weird though that we need to recalibrate so often though. It shouldn't change value by moving it or anything. The only time it would (or should) change is if there is a buildup of gunk on the sensor itself.
On another note I completed my third brew with it last night.... I have mine hooked up to my kitchen faucet. During the cooling process I was using the sprayer attached to the kitchen sink and when I quit using it and the water started flowing to the Brewie again I noticed that the waste water from the cooling plates got darker. Either the plates are leaking or a valve is leaking..... anyone have the same issue or ideas? My guess is that some particles got caught in the valve and allowed some wort to pass on the pressure side of the circulating pump when there was no pressure on the other side of another valve. I didn't make a diagram when I had it apart so I'm not sure which valve would be leaking.... any suggestions? I may run a test brew with some food coloring and camera scope so I can check it out. Does anyone know if these valves are adjustable? I'm more worried about getting some cross contamination from the tap water than anything else especially since this happening during the cooling. 12 years of brewing and 0 infections, hate to have it start happening now.

 

[Ironcyberia]

Thoses valves are not realy valves, it's a RC servo motor who pinch a silicone tubing. I would say it's a pretty good idea, easy to clean and simple, no contact with the fluid. At first when I opened the machine I did a quick check at the valve system, and I noticed 2 dishwasher like water valve at the water inlet, so one going to the boill tank and the other looks like going straight to the exchanger. those ''pinch valve'' can't handle much pressure. My guest is that one of your valve is trying to pinch a tubing that is bend or curled by an other element in the brewie. there is not so much space down there and if the silicone tubing is bend or twisted or anything under the pinch point of a valve, the motor may have trouble to pinch it properly. that's what I think. on an other point, when done, after the brewing, be sure to hold the power boutton and power off the machine by the software, this will release pressure on all tubing from all 10 valves. then unplug the machine (the supply is always on inside.)

 

[Still Brewn]

When you had your machine apart did you notice how disgusting the inside of the tubes were? I did 2 short cleans on mine before taking it apart the first time and it was still gross . I did the long clean before brewing with it again. I will probably do that every time from now on until they update the short clean. I did mention that it needs to be reworked in my last email to them.
On a lighter note I still love the machine.... 3 brews down and for the first time in 5 years I didn't have to have someone helping/watching me.

 

[Ironcyberia]

I did 6 brews with it and I did only short clean after and before brew. I disscued on a post with Harkin of this dirty hose and he told me he do the satitizing clean along with Oxyclean, that should do the job since those deposit require heat, emollient and oxydation. I also plan to unplug every hose, pump, T and exchanger once in a while and clean em throughly.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Working through my element issue I ran about 5 test brewing sessions ranging from 15 min boils to 60 mins and that helped clean the hoses quite a bit. My hoses are colored but clear of debris now. So sanitizing cleans help for sure.

 

[NewJersey]

oops.

 

[Ironcyberia]

or maybe not the right thread ;-)

 

[volx]

This is off-topic but in case any of you are interested: I used my B+ in an attempt to make a non-alcoholic beer. I posted results here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...-i-neutered-my-beer.39433/page-3#post-8489026

 

[cubsfan16]

Anyone know if Brewie is addressing any of the overheating/wiring issues on new units? I am considering canceling my Z preorder and going with a Brewie +

 

[Nate R]

Anyone know if Brewie is addressing any of the overheating/wiring issues on new units? I am considering canceling my Z preorder and going with a Brewie +

I do not. My guess? Brewie may be about to die (brewie pods done, lack of response, etc.) I hope i am wrong!!
I strongly suggest getting the version 1 (B20) machine as thoose "problems" can be more easily fixed (though mine is down as i have to hopefully reflash the sd card.). Just update the software a few times.
Or if you see above issues with B+ but can do these imo rather complicated fixes you get a lighter machine.

 

[Ironcyberia]

I'm 100% certain Brewie will solve this issue, had a chat with Maté and he is aware of all this and also about the test I did. I'm convinced Brewie is there to stay and this issue will be fixe on new machine for sure

 

[Nate R]

I'm 100% certain Brewie will solve this issue, had a chat with Maté and he is aware of all this and also about the test I did. I'm convinced Brewie is there to stay and this issue will be fixe on new machine for sure

Iron- i jusy gotta ask... call me paranoid... you sure know A LOT about the insides of Brewie! Any chance you work for or with them? I see you only joined dec 2018 and only post in brewie thread.
I do not want to throw shade or get this thread shut down, but it has been bugging me for awhile. Dont care either way- you have been a huge help!! Thank you for that!
I have defended brewie for a while. Waited a year to buy. Want it to succeed at all costs. But i have had to replace a fuse and now re flash an sd card. That is about the limit for me. I dont want to disasemble further to get to heating elements.

Other than a little more memory and 15 pounds less, and pressure sensors vs. Weight sensors, i say go b20. This issue with b+ scares me.

 

[Still Brewn]

The new machines are suppose to have the issues fixed. As I understand from the email I got from Máté the company assembling the machine used inferior spade plugs that do not make a full contact connection with the spade. This is causing higher heat at the connection which causes higher resistance which causes higher heat which causes higher resistance and on and on until you have failure. The new machines have the proper parts but I have no idea how many have already been made with the inferior parts and are already in the product stream waiting to be purchased.
My UPS guy that delivered it stoped by today while I was working in the yard today and wanted to know how it was working. We spent about 20 minutes talking about it because he is thinking about starting the hobby. I told him about the issues but how it has made for the best brew days I have had in years.

 

[cubsfan16]

I have a Zymatic now and have had good luck with it. I did have to send it in once for pump replacement but never spent a dime of my own money on parts or shipping. After buying the Zymatic (which got me into the hobby) I bought a 240v BIAB setup which I love. I have 3 young kids so when I do have time I brew with my BIAB setup and when I don’t the Zymatic. I’m worried the zymatic my loose support once the Z is in the market so I decided to go with the Z1 and either sell or trade my Zymatic. I do however wish it did 5 gal...I can get 3.5 gal low gravity batches out of it but still wish it was a full keg. I’m also not a fan of the plastic step filter and inability to clean the machine with PBW. I do not like the Z2 concept or price and always liked the Brewie design better. The horror CS stories from the initial B and B+ launch kept me away but it sounds like things are getting better?

 

[Still Brewn]

When I made the repair on my machine I also installed the fans as iron suggested as an added safeguard. I will be taking it apart in the next few days to inspect my repairs and will update after I do it. I have done the test brew and a full brew and a full clean since I did my repairs. I'm confident in the work I did but I want to be safe and double check. I have full confidence in the company getting things right and I am in no way affiliated with them. And even if the company does go belly up (which I doubt) I believe that there enough people out there that can make or help you make appropriate repairs if ever needed. Other than a couple of control boards everything I saw inside was things you could get off the shelf somewhere. Even the power supply could be replaced. Everyone that has disassembled comments on how tight space is in there but as a guy that use to own his an auto repair shop I can tell you, things could be a lot tighter as in you could probably cut a good half inch or more from the height of the machine.

 

[Ironcyberia]

Lol, nope, I would not built a beer making machine since I bough it to brew for me. I joint the forum for this element issue. If this pic can't convince you, nothing I can do.

I'm a technical person, working for 18 years in a buisness who built sofisticated equipment for the heavy steel industry, I do the engeniering of fully automated heavy equipment (electrical, automation, sensors etc) way more complex than a beer brewing machine. I have also a small buisness at home doing electronic and automation, I have a CNC router and a PCB making machine along with any need equipement required to do PCB assembling. We are unlucky to have been those first people trying a new design but this kind of things happen to me also sometime on my machine design and I can understand my customer when this happen, exept that when it happen to me on my systems it cost way more pesos to send me to china or anywhere to fix the problem cause a whole productionline is stoped. I can easily imagine those guys at brewie, who worked hard to develop this nice machine, who work wel and look nice, trying to satisfy many people with some issue. they will solve those issue, i'm certain, or else all their work will be history, and I'm more of a half full glass personne.

Slice of life, To go foward in life and creating something new, we have to take risk, we should not let fear run our lifes. When I spent 500+houres designing a new industrial system with 300000+$ of Allen Bradley or Siemens PLC and electrical components and I push the ORDER MATERIAL bouton... I always have doubt about what could happen when everything will be assembled, will it work, is the motor and drive well sized for the job, did I forgot something essential, etc... risk, in life we take risk, and when we are unlucky, we get up and fix the thing, that's my way of living.

Have a good WE guys, friday, I will take some beer!! ;-)

 

[cubsfan16]

Thanks for the quick feedback! I’m also in manufacturing and used to dealing with startups of custom equipment. I think that is why I am a little more patient than some with delays and early issues. It’s most comforting to see a strong community of users that are sharing best practices and solutions. I’m going to ponder my cancellation over the weekend. I have noticed Amazon has had them at sale price since the holidays. Think it would be better to order direct (maybe new stock with correct electrical components)?