FastFerment Conical Fermenter Problem

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

NEDJARRETT

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
PLAINFIELD
I just purchased the FastFerment 7.9 Gallon Conical Fermenter and I am experiencing a problem on the first batch. For four days, there was no bubbling in the bubbler, so I pitched more yeast. It's now been a week and still no bubbling. Today I took a hydrometer reading and discovered it was at the final gravity. Apparently I have an air leak in the cap. I broke in the threads according to the instructions, and tightened it as tight as it would go. I don't think the thin gasket in the top of the cap is sufficient to form a seal. Has anyone else had this problem? What solutions are there? I'm thinking about getting some thick sheet rubber and cutting my own gasket.
 
Faced the exact same issues with it. I never managed to get an airtight seal by sanding down the excess/uneven plastic and eventually resorted to applying a thick layer of antibacterial silicone around the edges on the inside of the lid (basically making a big o-ring).
That helped but ended up being such a mess that I binned the FastFermenter and replaced it with a SS fermenter.
Never going to buy plastic fermenters ever again.
 
Teflon tape the lid with a couple passes-- I have two and they work great.
Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Yeah the lids need a lot of work to get to seal. Even with the treads cleaned up mine was still leaking. Set it upside down on a flat surface and see if it rocks at all or you can see light gaps. If so you can take a utility knife or other sharp blade and try to shave the high spots. Doing this made mine pretty air tight but then I applied Teflon tape and now it's completely sealed. The other option would be to find some rubber as said and make a thicker gasket. Just make sure it's food grade as krausen can touch the lid
 
I occasionally ferment small brews (1.5 gallons) in a Yorkshire 2 gallon glass ice tea jug. The lids on these don't seal at all, so I use a strip of black electrical tape, and tape the lid to the glass. This works very well, and creates a great seal............ It's simple and cheap. I don't have a FastFerment, but the photos suggest that this probably wouldn't work. My normal fermenters are 3 gallon ice tea jugs from Walmart....normal batch size 2.5 gallons. My newest one is the ice tea jug with the ice core... which I of course removed... It unfortunately does not have the great seal that the other model does. I remedied this by buying super large rubber bands from a supplier called Dykema Rubber Band (Dykemarubber.com)

This may or may not work for you......... I ordered 15" long (folded length) rubber bands that were 2" wide......... they are great! They have many dimensions available.

H.W.
 
I took 120 grit sandpaper and a block of wood to flatten the top of my FastFermenter. The manufacturer really needs to add a machining step to flatten the top as the airtight seal is so critical.

Chris
 
Thanks everyone, for your suggestions. I sanded the top smooth and applied Teflon tape to the threads. It works fine now. I just purchased a second one. It looks like Fast Rack may have changed manufacturers. The new one has a smoother top, the fittings were a different color, and the instruction sheet has changed. But the gasket for the screw-on lid was still the same thin, fiber one, so I once again applied Teflon tape to the threads just to be on the safe side.
 
Quick question - I'm about to use my first fastfermentor for the first time for a batch of caribou slobber. When I first put it in the ff, should I wait a couple of hours to pitch, let it settle out a bit, clear out the collect bulb of the solids, the pitch, or just pitch as normal?
Brew is on the stove so any advice is welcome. Thanks
 
Pitch as normal. That stuff will get stirred up and settle down after ferment. Best to get the yeast doing their thing ASAP if possible.

AND, if everything goes right, it will be several hours before the yeast really get going, so you may pitch now, and in a few hours, collect what gunk you can, and still not have the yeast stirring it all up.
 
I pitched my yeast right away as normal, but I had run my wort through a strainer bag to remove most of the trub. IPA turned out great.
 
The problem I faced, last night it came to bottling. I do not like using that larger hose with hose clamp. Too much foaming and dripping. I wound up draining it to my bucket with a smaller hose barb and used that wand that you person to the bottom of the bottle and fill it that way. Is their a better way???
 
The problem I faced, last night it came to bottling. I do not like using that larger hose with hose clamp. Too much foaming and dripping. I wound up draining it to my bucket with a smaller hose barb and used that wand that you person to the bottom of the bottle and fill it that way. Is their a better way???

I always rack to a bottling bucket. Makes it easier to prime and more control when bottling.
 
I'm pretty sure I just ruined a perfect ESB with this piece of ****. I'm so pissed right now. Worse effing product ever. I'll take my $15 glass carboy over this piece of ass anyday. OMG I am so angry right now. I don't even care about the money spent on the conical. I'm pissed because this ESB was PERFECT and now I'm sure I may as well dump it with all the GD tinkering I'm doing to get this POS to work right. Did I mention I'm angry?:mad:
 
This conical is bad news man. I have the blood, sweat and finally tears in my brew. This ESB was PERFECT. This conical is bull****. I can't get a positive seal anywhere. It's leaking like a siv. I'm sure I can fix it but my beer is already in it and being ruined every minute it's in there. I'm so pissed and sad. I've waited a while to brew this beer and now it's likely ruined. All this tinkering is BS. I know how to apply teflon tape. That was part of my job for years in plumbing and in gas applications. If the tolerance in their threads is that bad, they have to refine that ****. The lid bearing edge has to be refined as well, if there is a silicone gasket and I can not get a seal on it, there is a massive issue that has clearly gone past there quality control for years, if they have QC. From what I've been reading online in the last 24 hours, the issues I'm having have been going on as long as 2012. So they are to cheap to upgrade their molds and dies and are just cashing in on a cheap product. I don't care about the money I've lost on the product. My beer though. Won't anyone think of the children! I mean beer!
 
This conical is bad news man. I have the blood, sweat and finally tears in my brew. This ESB was PERFECT. This conical is bull****. I can't get a positive seal anywhere. It's leaking like a siv. I'm sure I can fix it but my beer is already in it and being ruined every minute it's in there. I'm so pissed and sad. I've waited a while to brew this beer and now it's likely ruined. All this tinkering is BS. I know how to apply teflon tape. That was part of my job for years in plumbing and in gas applications. If the tolerance in their threads is that bad, they have to refine that ****. The lid bearing edge has to be refined as well, if there is a silicone gasket and I can not get a seal on it, there is a massive issue that has clearly gone past there quality control for years, if they have QC. From what I've been reading online in the last 24 hours, the issues I'm having have been going on as long as 2012. So they are to cheap to upgrade their molds and dies and are just cashing in on a cheap product. I don't care about the money I've lost on the product. My beer though. Won't anyone think of the children! I mean beer!

I am experiencing the same problem. Not sure what I have in there right now. I will check tomorrow on gravity reading. I tried to talk to them and they asked me if I did a water test by holding it upside down before using it with some water in it... I asked them why they didn't do it before they shipped it to their customers. Then he told me to sand it... I had to laugh.
 
I have two of them, purchased 4 months apart. I've not had any issues with the lid not sealing. I do have a small leak at the thermowell connection in one, but that is a small enough issue that I can take care of after my barleywine comes out.
 
I have two of them, purchased 4 months apart. I've not had any issues with the lid not sealing. I do have a small leak at the thermowell connection in one, but that is a small enough issue that I can take care of after my barleywine comes out.

I had the same problem after about 24 hrs after pitching yeast. An extra 1/4 turn to tighten has seemed to take care of it for me.
 
This conical is bad news man. I have the blood, sweat and finally tears in my brew. This ESB was PERFECT. This conical is bull****. I can't get a positive seal anywhere. It's leaking like a siv. I'm sure I can fix it but my beer is already in it and being ruined every minute it's in there. I'm so pissed and sad. I've waited a while to brew this beer and now it's likely ruined. All this tinkering is BS. I know how to apply teflon tape. That was part of my job for years in plumbing and in gas applications. If the tolerance in their threads is that bad, they have to refine that ****. The lid bearing edge has to be refined as well, if there is a silicone gasket and I can not get a seal on it, there is a massive issue that has clearly gone past there quality control for years, if they have QC. From what I've been reading online in the last 24 hours, the issues I'm having have been going on as long as 2012. So they are to cheap to upgrade their molds and dies and are just cashing in on a cheap product. I don't care about the money I've lost on the product. My beer though. Won't anyone think of the children! I mean beer!

I'm a little late to the discussion, but these fermenters work very well. Did you leak test it before you used it the first time? Seems not. There are 2+ years worth of discussions on HBT about this fermenter, and how to fine tune it. Given the cost, you can't expect High End performance. The FF people have publicly commented on the issues with the first batch of units, and that they have addressed them in subsequent units.

You need to use lots of teflon tape on all the threads, and if you have an early one, replace the lid gasket with the new style.

It's a shame that you may have wasted a good beer, but with proper equipment preparation it would have been fine. You need to disassemble for cleaning periodically and replace the teflon tape -completely-, not pile on more. AND leak test it!!

Happy Fermenting!
 
You need to use lots of teflon tape on all the threads, and if you have an early one, replace the lid gasket with the new style.

Happy Fermenting!

Both of the ones I bought have the new gasket and it works really great (too great on one of them). I wasn't getting yeast to drop out of the cone into the collection ball. As soon as I released pressure from the lid, everything dumped just the way it should. So if you aren't seeing trub or yeast drop out as expected, release a little pressure from the lid/air lock. :mug:
 
I'm a little late to the discussion, but these fermenters work very well. Did you leak test it before you used it the first time? Seems not. There are 2+ years worth of discussions on HBT about this fermenter, and how to fine tune it. Given the cost, you can't expect High End performance. The FF people have publicly commented on the issues with the first batch of units, and that they have addressed them in subsequent units.

You need to use lots of teflon tape on all the threads, and if you have an early one, replace the lid gasket with the new style.

It's a shame that you may have wasted a good beer, but with proper equipment preparation it would have been fine. You need to disassemble for cleaning periodically and replace the teflon tape -completely-, not pile on more. AND leak test it!!

Happy Fermenting!

My first post! I've brewed for 25 years in my trusty glass carboy. The extra capacity, ability to easily capture the yeast, and easily clean the FastFerment is appealing. However, I had same experience as Dennis and can't get the top to seal. I should have stopped when it leaked as I cleaned it. I've taped it 3 times and still doesn't seal. Fast brewing has a quality problem they could easily measure by adding a gallon of water and shaking it upside down. If it leaks then don't ship it and go fix the manufacturing process. Based on the posts they are shipping too many defective fermenters. I named this batch "House Ale" because it will ferment with whatever was in the room with it!
 
My first post! I've brewed for 25 years in my trusty glass carboy. The extra capacity, ability to easily capture the yeast, and easily clean the FastFerment is appealing. However, I had same experience as Dennis and can't get the top to seal. I should have stopped when it leaked as I cleaned it. I've taped it 3 times and still doesn't seal. Fast brewing has a quality problem they could easily measure by adding a gallon of water and shaking it upside down. If it leaks then don't ship it and go fix the manufacturing process. Based on the posts they are shipping too many defective fermenters. I named this batch "House Ale" because it will ferment with whatever was in the room with it!

Taping the threads won't fix this issue. This sealing issue is the thin gasket that seats between the lid and the top of the fermenter. Taping the threads will only help a little. :mug:
 
Totally agree. Taping the threads is only a bandaid to get through the current batch. I've transferred the beer and looked closer at the FastFerment. Upside down on a flat surface, I can see a gap where the seams come together. The top dips on either side along the seams. In fact, I can rock the fermenter back and forth on a flat surface indicating the top isn't flat. This is a manufacturing problem and I could either file the top flatter or get a thicker gasket to take up the gap. Haven't decided which path to take.
 
Totally agree. Taping the threads is only a bandaid to get through the current batch. I've transferred the beer and looked closer at the FastFerment. Upside down on a flat surface, I can see a gap where the seams come together. The top dips on either side along the seams. In fact, I can rock the fermenter back and forth on a flat surface indicating the top isn't flat. This is a manufacturing problem and I could either file the top flatter or get a thicker gasket to take up the gap. Haven't decided which path to take.

I would give them a call. I had the same problem and they are very willing to work with you to make you happy. I was pissed when I first started and found out there was an issue. The issue is the top of the vessel is not flat. I took the vessel and glued down 100 grit sandpaper to my work bench, grabbed the vessel with rubber gloves and just kept sanding the top until you could see all the areas meet with the sand paper thus making everything flat and smooth. They also upgraded the gasket and they will send you one I am sure. I have nothing to do with the company but I will say they have stepped up to the plate and did everything to make me happy.Send them an email from the web page and let them know.
Good luck!
 
How do you know if you have an older gasket for the lid. I purchased mine last summer but the gasket sometimes doesn't stay in the lid (fell into the wort one time placing the lid on). Also my last couple of brews have had no airlock activity but they ferment just fine. Purchased from NB. Thanks in advance!
 
How do you know if you have an older gasket for the lid. I purchased mine last summer but the gasket sometimes doesn't stay in the lid (fell into the wort one time placing the lid on). Also my last couple of brews have had no airlock activity but they ferment just fine. Purchased from NB. Thanks in advance!

The older gasket was a silicone gasket. The newer one is more of a Styrofoam type material. Your right, my first batch wasn't air tight but I had the best results I ever had in my life. Maybe beginners luck... Who cares, I'm having fun drinking it. Yes my old gasket fell in twice.
 
The older gasket was a silicone gasket. The newer one is more of a Styrofoam type material. Your right, my first batch wasn't air tight but I had the best results I ever had in my life. Maybe beginners luck... Who cares, I'm having fun drinking it. Yes my old gasket fell in twice.


I have the silicone gasket. Maybe I'll contact the manufacturer to see if they will send me a new one. Or maybe I should contact NB since I bought it from them. Thanks for the info!
 
Going to jump in here because I have a full set up on the way from FF. They are sending me a set up to do some testing and give full report on what I think. I am glad I have found this thread as I now have a few things to look at and try and address before I begin using it.

Thanks for the heads up guys..

Cheers
Jay
 
Going to jump in here because I have a full set up on the way from FF. They are sending me a set up to do some testing and give full report on what I think. I am glad I have found this thread as I now have a few things to look at and try and address before I begin using it.

Thanks for the heads up guys..

Cheers
Jay


Nice!! Wish I could do some testing for them (or any other company) and get some equipment to use & report back. [emoji106] I would gladly do that.

Please keep us posted on your findings Jay.
 
Going to jump in here because I have a full set up on the way from FF. They are sending me a set up to do some testing and give full report on what I think. I am glad I have found this thread as I now have a few things to look at and try and address before I begin using it.

Thanks for the heads up guys..

Cheers
Jay

Wish I could get free stuff to try and/or experiment with... :D Of course at this point it would have to be 1BBL or larger for equipment, but hops and yeast would be great too!

Let us know if you have any questions Jay. I've had 2 FFs for nearly a year now.
 
Wish I could get free stuff to try and/or experiment with... :D Of course at this point it would have to be 1BBL or larger for equipment, but hops and yeast would be great too!

Let us know if you have any questions Jay. I've had 2 FFs for nearly a year now.

Yeah..Now if I could get Mitch and gang at Ss to let me "TEST" that 14 gallon Chronical they offer...LOL

Did you mount yours in a freezer, fridge or is it mounted to a wall or something?

Shoot me some picts of your set up with 2. I would love to see the twins and how you are using them.


Cheers
Jay
 
Gentlemen - Why the obsession on the fermenters sealing?

I own two, old style 25 gallon Mini-Brew Conicals. They are plastic. The lids are not threaded, by design. No gasket. No seal. I got a screaming deal on them from a guy who bought them and never put them together. A friend who brews told me had to seal them, so I freaked out. I used Gorilla Tape to seal it and put on a bubbler, but when I read more from the manufacturer I learned it wasn't necessary. If I get a super active fermentation, the krausen actually pushes the lid up and it flows down the cone and into the base.

Restricting outflow and increasing pressure inside of your fermenter is hard on your yeast. Don't keep it in man - let it out.

Read up on them. The manufacturer modified the design and put a sealing lid/O-Ring on them because people FREAKED OUT that they wouldn't seal.

Fermentation causes pressure, which displaces Oxygen inside the fermenter. CO2 forms a protective layer.

I have brewed nearly 500 gallons using these fermenters - 20 gallons at a time. Never had an infection. Never had a sour beer, freaky taste or any problems whatsoever!
 
Yeah..Now if I could get Mitch and gang at Ss to let me "TEST" that 14 gallon Chronical they offer...LOL

Did you mount yours in a freezer, fridge or is it mounted to a wall or something?

Shoot me some picts of your set up with 2. I would love to see the twins and how you are using them.


Cheers
Jay

I bought the stands for both of mine. This way I can move them to the available space in the bottom of my fermentation chamber depending on what else I have in there fermenting away. Next time I have them both in there fermenting I will snap a couple of photos. :tank:
 
Y'all really need to check out the other thread I posted about already.
That thread has been going on almost since the Fast Ferment was announced not quite 2 years ago, and just about every issue, and resolution, has been covered, as well as features, upgrades, stands, temperature control, sampling port and more. It's a treasure trove of information.

What I'm seeing here was all addressed long ago in that thread, and it sounds like some people may have/got old units. The FF folks were very good about issues found, and changed their production techniques to address them. Mine is from the original 1000 pc pre-order group. I had to clean the 'flash' in the threads of the lid and for the valve (supposedly addressed since then), sand the top flat (also supposedly addressed) and that was it. I had leaks on the valve when I fill tested it, and a few extra wraps of GOOD teflon tape (not $ store crap) solved that. I've not leaked a drop since, and I've cleaned and re-wrapped a few times, no problem. I made my own silicon gasket after finding the foam ones were useless, and finally was able to buy the new one few months ago. I got an email directly from FF when they released them, but it took months to get them into any LHBS near me. They wanted an absurd amount to ship directly. I responded back that they should have sent them out for free cause the original ones were useless. They did not reply to that however.

The seal on the top is a non-issue. If you have the NEW silicon gasket, problem solved. I found a supplier still shipping the foam crap, and when I brought it to their attention, they readily agreed they messed up by shipping the old ones - "You are correct, these gaskets stink". They are only $2.50 retail, and available at many LHBS now.

Are they cranking out inferior ones now? Based on that other thread, I doubt it. It's a very active thread, and I'm sure someone would have weighed in on that, as many are new buyers.
The amount of dissatisfaction here is quite contrary to that. I am very happy with the performance of mine.

I don't harvest used yeast from the ball, as I only bank yeast from clean starters, but the ability to remove the yeast and trub is the real value for me. I have a sampling port, heated wrap, SS thermowell (brewhardware.com rocks!) and soon to have an internal chiller coil (now that you can buy extra lids to drill out).
I won't ever lager in it, but once the chiller is done I can ferment lagers in it, if I want to. Generally I only use it for quick turnaround brews, and wine kits.
 
Gentlemen - Why the obsession on the fermenters sealing?

In the context of the FF, the seal is expected so that ALL air in/out passes through the airlock, not to seal the conical. These are not rated for pressure, and with the exception of a clogged airlock, it's not going to pressurize even with the lid sealed. Clogged airlocks will self resolve at some point.....usually with the evidence on the ceiling.

There are many that agree the seal on the FF is not particularly important, but once active fermentation is finished, and if/when the beer cools down, some air could be drawn in. That's really the only risk of a lack of seal. Aside from temperature expansion/contraction there is little risk of anything getting up around the threads and into the beer.
 
I'm a little late to the discussion, but these fermenters work very well. Did you leak test it before you used it the first time? Seems not. There are 2+ years worth of discussions on HBT about this fermenter, and how to fine tune it. Given the cost, you can't expect High End performance. The FF people have publicly commented on the issues with the first batch of units, and that they have addressed them in subsequent units.

You need to use lots of teflon tape on all the threads, and if you have an early one, replace the lid gasket with the new style.

It's a shame that you may have wasted a good beer, but with proper equipment preparation it would have been fine. You need to disassemble for cleaning periodically and replace the teflon tape -completely-, not pile on more. AND leak test it!!

Happy Fermenting!

What gasket is the new or latest gasket? I have a silicone and a thin foam type. I want to make sure what is the latest.
 
Back
Top