New Equipment Quality Questions

[SlanginDueces]

I just spent a pretty decent amount of money to upgrade my fermentation setup with a conical complete with all the bells and whistles. I'm no stainless steel expert so I wanted to post some pictures and see what others thought. Is it normal to see indentations and the outline of exterior welds on the inside of the Fermentor? This is from a very reputable company but I also have a Blichmann and the inside is completely smooth. Are these manufacturing defects or not a big deal?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463196286.503121.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463196301.011824.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463196315.247812.jpg


Any opinions are greatly appreciated!

 

[CA_Mouse]

I'm no expert, but I would be greatly concerned about that weld line on the inside of a conical.

 

[Pantherjon]

While only cosmetic it shows a lapse in QC at the manufacturer..I would be on the phone asking for a replacement if I paid a ' pretty decent amount of money' and something that looked like that showed up..It should be as smooth as a baby's butt..

 

[Brentk14]

Where did you get this from? Is the reputable company you bought it from the maker, or the seller? If you know who made it, call them. Either way, QC needs less beer breaks.

 

[SlanginDueces]

I'm going to contact the company and let them deal with it before I put them out on here. My only experience with SS is a Blichmann Conical I have had for years and it does not have ANY interior markings so wanted to see if this was actually a normal thing. By the comments so far I guess it is not.

 

[SlanginDueces]

And they are the maker...I bought it direct

 

[Pantherjon]

Shoot even my cheapo kettle I got at Walmart when I first started doing extracts is smoother then that at the welds..so, yeah, contact the company and 'stick to your guns' on a replacement..

 

[SlanginDueces]

Just to follow up...this is an SS Brewtech 14gal BM Edition Chronical. I contacted them and received this response.

"We use penetrating welds on our Chronical’s legs so there is no chance of a breakage from weight or stress. All weld locations are 2B ground and sanitary polished from the inside to insure sanitary conditions. The only way that it would not be sanitary is if there was a pit or splatter at the point of the weld, which would be easily seen or identified by our QC team. We have thousands of these units out there that are finished the exact same way yours is, and never experience any reports of infection. The same treatment is done to the blow-off cane, we will guarantee every part as being sanitary."

After some back and forth, I am going to take them at their word and hope they honor their guarantee should it turn out to be a problem. I sent them plenty of pictures and they assure me that all of their conicals come out looking like this. The features on it are pretty awesome for the price but just beware if you buy one that it will look like this.

 

[CA_Mouse]

The shop I work for has the brew bucket the 7 gallon chronical and had 2 of the 14 gallon chronicals. None of them looked even remotely like that.

 

[Cyclman]

I would send it back and demand a refund. Stainless buckling like that doesn't necessarily mean it will fail / fail to work, but it's pretty shoddy for $800.

If they won't take it back, contact your credit card company.

 

[ViciousFishes]

I agree. Demand a refund and send that back. I, eagerly awaiting Spike's new conicals coming this summer:
http://spikebrewing.com/collections/fermenters/products/1-2bbl-stainless-steel-conical-fermenter

 

[jmark]

I have a 14gal Chronical too and the inside is as smooth as silk... Nothing like that at all.

 

[bonecitybrewco]

Sadly, you're not the only one commenting on their QC as of late. A few other threads (likely buried by now) have talked of other similar issues.