Grainfather!!

[skleice]

My pump has failed. It was struggling on the last brew. Making noise but flowing well. Would not pump for cleaning cycle. I've done multiple pbw soaks, but it won't kick on. Seems like the center cylinder won't spin freely. Sounds like a car with a bad starter. Just can't kick on fully.

I've sent my email, we'll see what happens...

Just to follow up...

Had to send pics and description. My new pump will be here tomorrow. EZPZ.

 

[Frilock]

Oops. I forgot one problem I had. I added a pound of dextrose with 10 minutes left in the boil. After the addition, I no longer had a boil and it took about 10 minutes to regain any sort of boil at all. Next time, I will just pause the timer until my boil comes back, I guess.

You could also pull out a bit of wort and warm it on your stove with the dextrose. then, add it back in.

Same if you have to add any extract. Especially liquid extra. Dilute, preheat, then mix in. I did an extract brew with the GF a few months ago, went fine til I added the liquid extract. It fell right to the bottom, stuck, and tripped the cutoff. Ended up having to pump out most of the wort then dump some boiling water from the stove in to break it up before it would let me reset the button on the bottom.

 

[JD17]

Thanks for sharing. Still on the fence between this and brew boss. The 110v is what's holding me back due to the boil issues some have reported. But because it's 110v I would be able to brew right in the kitchen like you appear to be doing. Very convenient! I only do 5 gallon batches because I like variety so the larger size of the brew boss is not an advantage for me.

Any idea how high in gravity the Grainfather can go with a 5 gallon batch?

You can do up to a 20 lb grain bill, so you can calculate the gravity from that. I love my Grainfather.

 

[cheesebach]

Same if you have to add any extract. Especially liquid extra. Dilute, preheat, then mix in. I did an extract brew with the GF a few months ago, went fine til I added the liquid extract. It fell right to the bottom, stuck, and tripped the cutoff. Ended up having to pump out most of the wort then dump some boiling water from the stove in to break it up before it would let me reset the button on the bottom.

Why bother with diluting it? Any reason you couldn’t just cut the power for a minute while you add the extract and get it mixed in? Turning off the heat when adding extract is standard practice, so not sure why the grainfather (or electric in general) would change that.

 

[Jag75]

Does anyone that has the grainfather wish they bought the robobrew? I’m trying to decide if the difference is worth it. It’s not that I can’t afford the difference, but could use it to buy another fermenter or two. I like that the robobrew has handles, but I think the cf chiller on the grainfather would be more efficient. Winter is coming. And brewing inside would be so choice. I’m just having a hard time deciding, robobrew or grainfather.

I guess it’s like buying a car. And you’re trying to decide between a Hyundai and a Honda. They both do the same thing, but one is more expensive than the other.

I was in your shoes . Trying to decide . I went with the GF and couldnt be happier . I would have went RB but just to many issues people have with them for spending 500$

 

[jlinz]

I was in your shoes . Trying to decide . I went with the GF and couldnt be happier . I would have went RB but just to many issues people have with them for spending 500$

I’ve had both. The element failed in the RB, and I went to GF. Could have just beenna fluke with the RB, but I will say, it wasn’t as easy getting my money back as I would have liked. I hear GF customer service is a treat but haven’t had to use it yet.

The other thing is the GF chiller and connect alone make the price worth it in my opinion.

 

[thehaze]

I've brewed 55 batches with the Garinfather in almost 2 years and I have no regrets: the mash, the sparge, the boil, wort chilling, transfer, ease of use, etc. All make me believe I made a good choice. And the beers were not shabby either.

There was a question about batch size and boil off: I usually aim ( https://www.grainfather.com/brewing-calculators ) for 28 L batches / 7.4 gal. I do this as I want to end up with 6-6.4 gallons in the bottles. 6 gallons for moderately hopped beers and 6.4 gallons for Hefeweisens/low hopped beers. The boil off is around 2.5-3 L per hour.

 

[xandersaml]

Does anyone that has the grainfather wish they bought the robobrew? I’m trying to decide if the difference is worth it. It’s not that I can’t afford the difference, but could use it to buy another fermenter or two. I like that the robobrew has handles, but I think the cf chiller on the grainfather would be more efficient. Winter is coming. And brewing inside would be so choice. I’m just having a hard time deciding, robobrew or grainfather.

I guess it’s like buying a car. And you’re trying to decide between a Hyundai and a Honda. They both do the same thing, but one is more expensive than the other.

I have brewed on GF quite a bit with friend's machines. I went with Robobrew v 3 and could not be happier.

 

[Oh_Papi]

My grainfather connect suffered the infamous melted plug problem, 3 weeks before my 2 year warranty was up. Grainfather sent me an entire new unit, chiller and everything as a replacement. Good thing I kept my old controller, I now have two fully functioning GF's.

Great warranty, would like to see if Robobrew users get that.

Mine melted a couple days ago. It melted the heater plug inside the connect controller. I had to use a screwdriver to pry it out. I was able to finish 3 brews in 2 days but the plug is fried now.

 

[jlinz]

Mine melted a couple days ago. It melted the heater plug inside the connect controller. I had to use a screwdriver to pry it out. I was able to finish 3 brews in 2 days but the plug is fried now.

That sucks! Interested to see if they still just replace the unit. Fingers crossed.

 

[Oh_Papi]

That sucks! Interested to see if they still just replace the unit. Fingers crossed.

Yeah it sucks. Fortunately I managed to brew 15 gal Monday and Tuesday. That should hold me over for a little while. I hope they take care of the issue properly. I had an issue with the Graincoat jackets where they wouldn't fit. They kept sending me new ones until one fit. So the company did good to make things right in the past. I sent photos and a description of what happened. I haven't heard back from them yet.

 

[hedgie57]

Williams Brewing has 20% off grainfather.

 

[mord4z]

Hey guys, someone can post a photo of the reset switch electrical installation? I need to replace this but forgot to take a shot before unmount lol. Yes, I was a total idiot.

 

[jlinz]

Well, now my plug melted.

 

[Jag75]

Dang melted plug ! Have there been issues with these plugs burning up? And if so is it on the 240 or 110 v models?

 

[jlinz]

Dang melted plug ! Have there been issues with these plugs burning up? And if so is it on the 240 or 110 v models?

Yes, 120v.

 

[Kampenken]

Hey guys, someone can post a photo of the reset switch electrical installation? I need to replace this but forgot to take a shot before unmount lol. Yes, I was a total idiot.

Wait, I've been a long time GF user (and too many posts way back!), but didn't see that this switch has been replaced? My brothers GF is crapping out now at about 180-200 and I've heard about the switch being at fault (he's going to test by bypassing it). I can't find what is a replacement switch and am going to email GF for the switch to buy elsewhere unless that's already been discussed here? If so can you point me to it?
Thanks!

 

[LongEZBrew]

Monday I sent an e-mail asking about plans for 240v units in the USA. I mentioned that I would buy one right now if it were available. The response basically said that (the customer service rep) had heard of no plans to offer 240V in the USA but that they had received quite a bit of feedback on it. Also in the reply was that they would pass my “feedback onto our developers in hope that this speeds up the process, if this is an option they were thinking of.”

Well, dang if I didn’t see 20% off (+ free hop spider + free grain kit) at my LBS. So I bought one anyway. Looking to pick it up today.

 

[jaymosbeershack]

Monday I sent an e-mail asking about plans for 240v units in the USA. I mentioned that I would buy one right now if it were available. The response basically said that (the customer service rep) had heard of no plans to offer 240V in the USA but that they had received quite a bit of feedback on it. Also in the reply was that they would pass my “feedback onto our developers in hope that this speeds up the process, if this is an option they were thinking of.”

Well, dang if I didn’t see 20% off (+ free hop spider + free grain kit) at my LBS. So I bought one anyway. Looking to pick it up today.

Just add a Hotrod from brewing hardware and its as good as a 240 unit. I get a great rolling boil with the grainfather at 30% power and the 1650watt submersable element.

 

[skleice]

Just add a Hotrod from brewing hardware and its as good as a 240 unit. I get a great rolling boil with the grainfather at 30% power and the 1650watt submersable element.

You can only do this during the boil right? I'm assuming it won't fit with the basket in place. I do a lot of step mashes, so more power would really move things along.

 

[jaymosbeershack]

You can only do this during the boil right? I'm assuming it won't fit with the basket in place. I do a lot of step mashes, so more power would really move things along.

I use it when heating up strike water, then move it to heat my sparge water, then use it to boil. It does not fit with the basket though, correct. The only other thing to consider is that it does have to run on a seperate circuit or the breaker will pop.

 

[mord4z]

Wait, I've been a long time GF user (and too many posts way back!), but didn't see that this switch has been replaced? My brothers GF is crapping out now at about 180-200 and I've heard about the switch being at fault (he's going to test by bypassing it). I can't find what is a replacement switch and am going to email GF for the switch to buy elsewhere unless that's already been discussed here? If so can you point me to it?
Thanks!

@Kampenken, my GF's switch failed, I got the part code, it's a KSD301-PR 125c - it's the GF 220V part, sorry don't know if is the same for GF 110v, maybe it is because the part is 100 ~ 240v, but it's better to check the GF itself.
I got the service manual too:

 

[Jag75]

I went GF because I heard less bad things about em. I hope I dont have issues with the switch or plug . Imo when you pay 1 grand for something like this it should almost be indistructable. Of course if it's used in the proper way you shouldn't have any issues .

 

[jlinz]

I went GF because I heard less bad things about em. I hope I dont have issues with the switch or plug . Imo when you pay 1 grand for something like this it should almost be indistructable. Of course if it's used in the proper way you shouldn't have any issues .

I wish the best for you, but the plug issue at least has nothing to do with user error. It is a defect that they may have or may not have found a solution to.

 

[Jag75]

I wish the best for you, but the plug issue at least has nothing to do with user error. It is a defect that they may have or may not have found a solution to.

As long as they make good on their product . I've heard of people having 100s of brews on them with no issue. Hopefully mine stays good .

 

[mord4z]

I went GF because I heard less bad things about em. I hope I dont have issues with the switch or plug . Imo when you pay 1 grand for something like this it should almost be indistructable. Of course if it's used in the proper way you shouldn't have any issues .

I had a bad luck, maybe the cause is the use of a 110-220v transformer, I don't have 220v in my house, but it's the only issue till now and was very easy and cheap to fix.

 

[jlinz]

As long as they make good on their product . I've heard of people having 100s of brews on them with no issue. Hopefully mine stays good .

I hear they do back up the warranty. Waiting to hear back on mine. 100s of brews on the American version? The ones I have experience with (not a big sample size, 3) got anywhere up to 40 before the plug melted.

 

[Jag75]

I wonder what causes the plug to melt

 

[jlinz]

I wonder what causes the plug to melt

It’s a good question, but I’m just not sure. There are a few ideas but probably just speculation.

 

[Knkbrand]

My controller just failed as well. 2 years old, 3 emails to grainfather, and 0 replies in 2 weeks. I explained that I knew the product was out of warranty and that I would purchase a new one if needed, but was there a fixable solution, no reply. I went ahead and ordered the new controller since mine was out of warranty and i get it today. Seems like they are quick to deliver and very slow on customer service. I wonder if I will ever receive a reply to my emails. I guess we will see if this one fails. Love the grainfather, disappointed in the customer service.