Kickstarter for SS Mash Tun, Kettle and Fermenter

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Yeah a scratch.. or a valve wont bug me.. One that is really dented up and bent like a few of these pictures might though
 
I guess my expectations are higher than some.

Once they let us know the volume markings were off I asked for (and received) a full refund. No worries on that score. Thanks @Chapmanbrewing

Bad packaging, although not a damning indictment could point to a similar attitude toward quality in the factory. all these ding up pots, questionable dip-tubes and the like does not make me regret getting the refund.

I was disappointed to miss out on 2 SS fermentors at a great price but SS without accuracy seems pointless.

I don't care if I pay kicksatrter price or full retail for something, I expect the product to arrive ding and scratch free and be suitably packaged. if that's not the case then it's going back.

To each their own of course. Hopefully these are indeed all teething problems and this company will go from strength to strength in the future.
 
k47k said:
right, once the water level goes below the port it sucks air, which would leave over a gallon of wort in the tun.
Click to expand...

20 gallon tun was delivered in good shape. Terrible packaging but I got lucky.

I shoved a red keg O-ring in the dip tube nut and it sealed very well.

Thermometer threads are loose but enough tape sealed it up. Thermometer was accurate within a degree but was easily adjusted with the nut on the back.

8 gallons of tap water in, drained in 4 minutes 47 seconds with a wide open valve. The dip tube sits flush against the bottom and is a small diameter.

Without touching the tun it emptied and left 24 ounces behind (3/4 of a quart).
 
Got my fermenter, but could not for the life of me get the bulkhead to be drip free... Ordered what I needed from Bobby at Brew Hardware and expect everything to be great after that...
 
Also my nipple on the barrel won't thread into the provided ball valve more than one thread, so it leaks a little regardless of tape.
 
drgonzo2k2 said:
What was wrong with the bulkhead, and what did you have to order to correct it?
Click to expand...

It's probably my experience with those types of bulkheads...

The "nipple" is a straight nipple instead of a tapered like I'm used to. The actual problem I was getting was leaking between the valve and the nipple. I couldn't get the right amount of Teflon on it to get it to stop leaking and get it tight.

I just ordered a close nipple from Bobby. I already had a lock nut and O-rings.
 
chigundo said:
Also my nipple on the barrel won't thread into the provided ball valve more than one thread, so it leaks a little regardless of tape.
Click to expand...

I have the same experience but was able to get it to seal.
 
just brewed my first batch on the 15 gallon thermobarrel 7 gallons of 1.87 Baltic Porter. overall it went pretty well:

1. temperatures held very well, the same or better than cooler mashtun (<1degree drop over an hour)

2. i had some issues with grain getting past the false bottom initially which clogged the line and prevented the pump from priming. i was able to get it to flow by blowing in the tube to unclog it several times. once the flow got going it was fine.

brewing 2nd batch as we speak, 1.093 Doppelbock.
 
So got home last night and unboxed my 3-piece 10 gallon "triple threat" or whatever that combo was called. I got the 7 gallon fermenter, 10 gallon kettle, and 10 gallon MLT. Like some have said, the packaging left a little to be desired. The boxes themselves were quite thin, which led to a small bit of shipping damage, but inside most stuff was layered between either styrofoam or bubble wrap.

For me I only had one of the small "latch clips" or whatever the proper term for those is bent on my thermobarrel, and I was able to fix that pretty easily. I think just using a thicker outside box or putting some styro around those parts would avoid this in the future. Seems like a cheap fix to keep people happy.

Overall I'm initially impressed with the quality. Definitely a big step up from the Bayou Classic kettle and cooler MLT that I'm using now. The first thing that struck me was the weight of the kettle compared to the Bayou Classic one. When I first picked up the lid I thought "wow, that's pretty heavy," and for SS I generally equate heavy/thick as good.

Next I took a look at the fermenter, which while nice, really seems to me to be more of a SS bucket. I was kinda surprised there was no sort of gasket or seal on the lid. It's just metal on metal, held tight by some clamps. It might be air/water tight, but I've not had a chance to check yet. In all honesty this was the one piece I figured I'd pick up during the kickstarter and probably wind up not using and selling, which is still what I plan to do (so if you're interested send me a message!). I'm just a huge fan of the Spiedel tanks, and I'll probably stick to those for the forseeable future.

Lastly I checked out my thermobarrel, which is what I was most excited about. Again, overall quality appears good. It's nice and heavy and appears to be well insulated. I do have to say though, when I saw that dip tube/false bottom I literally said, "what the *%#* is this!?" I have so many questions... What's up with this flare at the end which is supposed to marry up to the SS nipple, but it's not quite the right size, and there's only this nut to make a steel-to-steel connection, with no sort of O-ring or gasket. Why doesn't it just attach normally?? Why isn't it 1/2" just like everything else? Why go down to the smaller size? It really just sits on the bottom of the tank? It doesn't connect to the false bottom at all? The more I look at it the more questions I have! I was expecting basically the same sort of thing you get when ordering a false bottom kit for the cooler tuns, so I was really surprised by all of this. I really wish it was just a 1/2" connection all the way through, and I may look into ways to mod mine as such (so if you have any suggestions I'm all ears).

Unfortunately with 2 kids I didn't have a ton of time to mess around with things last night, so that's about as far as I got. I'll obviously reserve final judgement for when I've got everything connected, done my water tests, and have actually brewed with the gear. My initial assessment would be that I'm generally impressed overall but there are a few "WTFs" that I still need to check out.
 
drgonzo2k2 said:
Next I took a look at the fermenter, which while nice, really seems to me to be more of a SS bucket. I was kinda surprised there was no sort of gasket or seal on the lid. It's just metal on metal, held tight by some clamps. It might be air/water tight, but I've not had a chance to check yet. In all honesty this was the one piece I figured I'd pick up during the kickstarter and probably wind up not using and selling, which is still what I plan to do (so if you're interested send me a message!). I'm just a huge fan of the Spiedel tanks, and I'll probably stick to those for the forseeable future.
Click to expand...

Strange... My fermenter has a silicone gasket inside the rim of the lid... You might want to check with Chapman on that.
 
dirkomatic said:
Strange... My fermenter has a silicone gasket inside the rim of the lid... You might want to check with Chapman on that.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks! I'll double check mine when I get home. I was looking over things pretty quickly last night, so it's possible I could have missed that, but I hadn't even had a beer yet!

If it is definitely missing I'll be in touch with them.
 
k47k said:
2. i had some issues with grain getting past the false bottom initially which clogged the line and prevented the pump from priming. i was able to get it to flow by blowing in the tube to unclog it several times. once the flow got going it was fine.
Click to expand...

Well that definitely sounds sub-optimal. After numerous batches with my cooler mash tun, I've never had to blow into it to clear a grain clog. Do you think it got in because the tube is not attached to the false bottom, so it came in from the gap between the tube and the bottom, or are the holes on the false bottom too big?
 
drgonzo2k2 said:
Well that definitely sounds sub-optimal. After numerous batches with my cooler mash tun, I've never had to blow into it to clear a grain clog. Do you think it got in because the tube is not attached to the false bottom, so it came in from the gap between the tube and the bottom, or are the holes on the false bottom too big?
Click to expand...

not sure where it come from but i just started recirc on my 2nd batch and didnt have the same issue.

The Thermometer does not appear to be sealed in any way, after first mash there is condensation inside the glass. not sure this is normal as i dont usually use this type of thermometer.
 
k47k said:
not sure where it come from but i just started recirc on my 2nd batch and didnt have the same issue.

The Thermometer does not appear to be sealed in any way, after first mash there is condensation inside the glass. not sure this is normal as i dont usually use this type of thermometer.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for letting me know. I was already starting to look into something like this (or at least some of the parts from that) to eliminate that dip tube setup and change everything over to a 1/2" diameter.

I'm not sure on the thermometer. In my current cooler mash tuns I used the "Cool View" thermometers from William's and they never get any condensation on them.
 
drgonzo2k2 said:
What was wrong with the bulkhead, and what did you have to order to correct it?
Click to expand...

The female 1/2" threads on the bulkhead seem to be straight as well as the straight threads on the nipple.
I ordered some true bulkheads from Bobby.
https://www.brewhardware.com/category_s/1838.htm
 
KevinP said:
The female 1/2" threads on the bulkhead seem to be straight as well as the straight threads on the nipple.
I ordered some true bulkheads from Bobby.
https://www.brewhardware.com/category_s/1838.htm
Click to expand...

Interesting, so you're basically attaching a weldless bulkhead to the one that's already welded in, or you're some how swapping them out? Sorry, I don't quite get what you're saying there.

Also, I love how so far for every problem that's come up the answer has been a link to some item on Bobby's page.
 
drgonzo2k2 said:
Interesting, so you're basically attaching a weldless bulkhead to the one that's already welded in, or you're some how swapping them out? Sorry, I don't quite get what you're saying there.

Also, I love how so far for every problem that's come up the answer has been a link to some item on Bobby's page.
Click to expand...

Sorry. No the supplied bulkhead fittings are not welded in. They are weldless so all I am doing is not using them, drilling the holes out and installing different ones.
 
KevinP said:
Sorry. No the supplied bulkhead fittings are not welded in. They are weldless so all I am doing is not using them, drilling the holes out and installing different ones.
Click to expand...

Ahh, got it, thanks! I was a bit confused, as there are threads in the ports. So basically you're just drilling out those existing threads and replacing it with a weldless bulkhead from Bobby?
 
drgonzo2k2 said:
Ahh, got it, thanks! I was a bit confused, as there are threads in the ports. So basically you're just drilling out those existing threads and replacing it with a weldless bulkhead from Bobby?
Click to expand...

No its not the threads Im drilling out. The threaded parts are not welded in. They are removable. I'll get a picture when Im home unless someone beats me to it.
 
KevinP said:
No its not the threads Im drilling out. The threaded parts are not welded in. They are removable. I'll get a picture when Im home unless someone beats me to it.
Click to expand...

Ahhhhh.... ok, I got it. Sorry, I only took a quick look at mine last night and saw the threads in the ports. I would have probably realized they were removable once I actually tried to put things together this evening.
 
Hmm, yeah @ChapmanEquipment was pretty responsive during the campaign and afterward addressing concerns, so I imagine they'd come along here at some point and respond to some of these concerns.
 
Just a update.
I did email chapman brewing soon after I saw the damage to the thermobarrel on Sunday. He replied Monday morning and we exchanged a few more emails.
Steve chapman did offer to replace the unit and apologized for the damaged thermobarrel. He is also aware of the shipping issues. He mentioned they were working on how to go about returns of the damaged thermobarrel and return labels. As they want to prevent any further damage to the unit on its way back to chapman. He also mentioned that they were looking into new packaging methods to avoid any further damage.

I refused a replacement. I just feel that I got a great deal. After all I was funding a first run of a product. Hopefully this will help them learn a few things.
At first I was a bit upset to see a dent on the thermobarrel. Will it affect its performance? Doubt it.

I do understand the frustration with the initial shipment, damages and the lack of response. I can only imagine what his inbox looks like and stress level is like.
 
Yes, he has been very open and helpful during the whole thing... I emailed him a while ago to change my shipping address and he got it worked out for me. That's really the reason I'm not bothered about the bulkhead and the incorrect volume labels. I can deal with the volume markings and the nipple cost me $5. It's not worth bothering him about. I still got a good deal on a nice piece of equipment
 
as long as the actual buckets are in good shape, I'm not too worried about anything else. With the price we paid for them, I can upgrade just about everything on it, and still be doing well. My one and only concern is the bends and dents in the steel. Maybe I'll be lucky and get gentle mailmen handling it lol.
 
I guess I was lucky in the shipping regard... Mine made it all the way to VA with no visible shipping damage.
 
lol wife just emailed me and said they arrived.. I'll have to wait for her to get time to check them out for damages.
 

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