PicoBrew Zymatic

[cheesemonster]

Also I think the glycol loss is from the HEX actually beginning to leak. It got worse for me as time went on. If I had a zymatic still I would replace the plate chiller.
This is a pic of the one that was in my machine. I am sure you can find something equivalent.

 

[Yaowei]

Mike might know better as he has probably done this more recently, but from what I recall you need to have a Philips screw driver, and for the front there's nuts that are pretty far up to keep the machine top on to near the display. I think the nuts might be 5/16 or 3/8. I forget if you have to remove that part though I think you can take the whole lid off with top. A long extension is good. Also a hex key set because one of the bolts holding the drip tray and case on is hex. In addition if you have it a pex clamp cutter but some strong cutters would work as well to remove their pex style hose clamps. Get some hose clamps too because you are going to have to replace those clamps. The hoses to the in and out ports on the machine on the inside need to be removed to get the lid totally off. The heating element is all the way in the bottom along with glycol pump. I found it easiest to fill a cup with glycol and run the 12v pump with extra hose to get all bubbles out. It is kinda a pain. Be careful too because the sheet metal in there is unfinished and sharp. It can cut you.

Thank you so much for the information! I will give it a go and see.

 

[Mike Howard]

Thank you so much for the information! I will give it a go and see.

I have a complete step by step procedure with photos that will walk you through the process so you don't mess up your Zymatic. I pm'd you.

 

[Yaowei]

I have a complete step by step procedure with photos that will walk you through the process so you don't mess up your Zymatic. I pm'd you.

Thanks a lot!

 

[TallDan]

What’s a zymatic worth now? I found an ad for one not too far away for $100. Allegedly never used. Worth it for something to play with, or not even worth that?

 

[Mike Howard]

I'd take it for $100....

 

[TallDan]

I'd take it for $100....

So, it appears that it's never been used at all, not even unpacked. Also doesn't appear to come with a keg.

Any important pieces that I need to make sure are in there? I'm assuming that no keg is included but I have corny kegs. Based on my quick reading in this thread and elsewhere, it looks like i should be able to create an account on picobrew's website and get going?

Am I crazy for spending any money on this right now, or am I crazy to not get it for $100?

 

[Mike Howard]

Its a great buy at $100... Did it come with the two black hoses hat attach to the right side? That is also an older machine, as you can see by the faceplate, the newer machines did away with the fermenter image.

Not sure about the account setup, as I'm not sure support is still around and I'm not 100% sure, but I think they need to match your username with the machine id.

However, very soon you will have a couple of options to avoid Picobrews servers altogether, so if you can't get it going right now, you soon will.

 

[Mike Howard]

FYI, I've got an Alpha version of my offline software I am developing controlling my Zymatic (with the exception of the stepper arm) and I am nearing the Beta testing phase. The software reads in the Zymatic beerXML file and mimics the process flow from there. It all looks good right now and the operation seems to be smooth. It's not ready for other user testing at this point but I am nearing that. It will be fully open-sourced and it is written in Node.js running on a Raspberry Pi. I'll have a complete write up on the mod and installation for anyone who wants it, once I have completed my internal testing.

 

[TallDan]

Its a great buy at $100... Did it come with the two black hoses hat attach to the right side? That is also an older machine, as you can see by the faceplate, the newer machines did away with the fermenter image.

Not sure about the account setup, as I'm not sure support is still around and I'm not 100% sure, but I think they need to match your username with the machine id.

However, very soon you will have a couple of options to avoid Picobrews servers altogether, so if you can't get it going right now, you soon will.

Picked it up today. It has the hoses. Seller says it was never used, but it looks kinda like it was used once, cleaned and put away. Went to register it on picobrew's site, and it says that it's associated with another account, so I put the info in a message to picobrew support. Guess I'll find out soon if anyone answers!

 

[chiefwigms]

anyone have a wireshark capture of a recent zymatic session by chance? I based my code off Tom's github zymatic server, but I'd just like do to a replay and make sure mine works... the capture i thought I had from my last brew a while ago is corrupt.

 

[Mike Howard]

...Went to register it on picobrew's site, and it says that it's associated with another account, ...

Wonder if the seller has the old log in credentials...?

 

[Biff]

Hello Mike Howard. I was going to give up on my Zymatic, but your efforts to make offline brewing a reality have re-energized me to keep it around and get it going again. Can you send me your procedure on the Zymatic repair/upgrade for the glycol loop? Many thanks in advance!

 

[Mike Howard]

@Biff I pm'd you about the procedure...

I am hoping to have offline mode up and fully operational in the next few weeks.

 

[Joe T]

Hi Mike. I'm also getting the error 1 message. Could I get a copy of your repair procedure? Thanks!

 

[chiefwigms]

FYI - added zymatic support for firmware 1.1.14 (tested!). If you have an old laptop, just wire it w rj45 and add "127.0.0.1 picobrew.com" to your hosts file- no wifiz/pi needed
https://github.com/chiefwigms/picobrew_pico

 

[BlaneG]

@Mike Howard , can you please send me your glycol replacement procedures. Thanks

 

[Mike Howard]

@BlaneG I sent you a PM

Also, for anyone new who searched the web for Zymatic Errors and ended up here, there is a lot of good information in this thread beginning with my troubleshooting post back in 2018 here: Zymatic Troubleshooting

 

[David I.]

FYI, I've got an Alpha version of my offline software I am developing controlling my Zymatic (with the exception of the stepper arm) and I am nearing the Beta testing phase. The software reads in the Zymatic beerXML file and mimics the process flow from there. It all looks good right now and the operation seems to be smooth. It's not ready for other user testing at this point but I am nearing that. It will be fully open-sourced and it is written in Node.js running on a Raspberry Pi. I'll have a complete write up on the mod and installation for anyone who wants it, once I have completed my internal testing.

Wow, incredible work Mike. This is exciting

 

[jmorrell80]

After letting my Zymatic sit on the shelf for almost a year since moving, this thread has helped me greatly in getting it going again, and fighting fatal error #1. There have been several mentions of the nylon washers going from the machine to the hoses. Mine are still in place but I'm wondering if it might help to replace them. Does anyone know what a suitable replacement is?

 

[Mike Howard]

After letting my Zymatic sit on the shelf for almost a year since moving, this thread has helped me greatly in getting it going again, and fighting fatal error #1. There have been several mentions of the nylon washers going from the machine to the hoses. Mine are still in place but I'm wondering if it might help to replace them. Does anyone know what a suitable replacement is?

Probably this: Flare Fitting - Washer

But I've never had to replace them....yet.

 

[chagtie]

Is there any updates as to if PicoBrew has closed its doors? If so does anyone know what will become of the website and the server to run the machines?

If they close could we all set up a cloud funding site to purchase the site and server?

I see that great work is being done on creating stand-alone software (thank you so much !!) is there away to download and upload all the public recipes, as I am kinda novice and find tremendous value in them?

 

[macgyuver]

We have about six months before the mothership goes dark. Once that happens you will have to have a personal server to use your machines. I doubt they will sell the server and domain name due to it being part of the IP Portfolio. Someone may purchase it and put it back online but if so I am certain it will be a paid service. The personal server is the way most will go. There is a way to upload recipes from my understanding. They are still working the bugs out of everything at the moment.

Is there any updates as to if PicoBrew has closed its doors? If so does anyone know what will become of the website and the server to run the machines?

If they close could we all set up a cloud funding site to purchase the site and server?

I see that great work is being done on creating stand-alone software (thank you so much !!) is there away to download and upload all the public recipes, as I am kinda novice and find tremendous value in them?

 

[Mike Howard]

There are two Facebook groups actively working these issues: PicoBrewingTaskForce and Picobrewers

Information on progress is also on GitHub for the projects and likely will be posted here.

 

[MW_Maverick]

@Mike Howard Fantastic work! I've also started receiving the fatal error #1 but was able to push through with preheating the strike water. I'm interested in pursuing the long term fix of replacing the glycol - can you send me your procedure? Thanks for everything you're doing!

 

[Mike Howard]

@MW_Maverick I PM'd you

 

[MVazquez]

@Mike Howard Thank you for the useful information in this thread. My Zymatic has had the fatal error #1 for some time now. There is a large gap between the wort temperature and heat temp and a gurgle. It now also has developed a leak. I am guessing that it has a glycol leak.

Could you please send me some information on how to open the unit and resolve the glycol leak. Thank you in advacnce.

 

[Mike Howard]

@MVazquez I PM'd you

 

[memphisbrews]

Mike, do you mind posting the glycol solution? I am having the same issue as MVazquez and am currently having to preheat my water to make the Zymatic work.

 

[Stephane Jeffrey]

I can't help but think of all the people here that were asked to do several deep clean cycles when the solution was to top off glycol.
Sure the fix might no be easy to do by everyone but at least they could have offered instructions like Mike has done. I bet all of these machines were already out of warranty when they first got the error anyway.

 

[Mike Howard]

@memphisbrews I PM'd you

The procedure is too lengthy to post here and it would just get lost in the shuffle. If you need it, PM me.

 

[Mike Howard]

I can't help but think of all the people here that were asked to do several deep clean cycles when the solution was to top off glycol.
Sure the fix might no be easy to do by everyone but at least they could have offered instructions like Mike has done. I bet all of these machines were already out of warranty when they first got the error anyway.

Their service department had no clue this was an issue...I broke the news to them, among other things.

 

[puzzledspring]

@Mike Howard , could you please send me your glycol replacement procedure? Thank you

 

[Mike Howard]

@puzzledspring I PM'd you

 

[DCAK]

@Mike Howard Can you also send me the Glycol Replacement Procedure? I am a new member so can't PM you. Thanks!

 

[Mike Howard]

@DCAK I PM'd you

 

[Mike Howard]

OFFLINE SOFTWARE UPDATE:

I've got the Stepper Arm working for each position finally and I am working on synchronizing it to the encoder so it can rehome itself and allow for fine tuning of positioning. Once that is complete I'll move on to water testing to make sure the PID is working and determine the default values. I added process blocking to the RIMS unit so it could not activate without the Glycol pump running or the Wort pump running and I added a new chart to monitor the STD DEV of the three temp sensors. The warning and error values still need to be determined after some trial runs along with some other process blocks to prevent system damage and common mistakes. The controller works off of BeerSmithXML files or Picobrew Recipe Crafter beerXML output but should work with any beerXML file.

 

[TREY206]

Had to tear apart my Z today to solve some issues. Glycol was issues for the Z also. 6 hours to figure it out and 5 minutes to fix. My brain is still smoking.

 

[macgyuver]

I thought the Z series was running a closed water system not a glycol system?

I know the original ZyMatic was a glycol system.

Had to tear apart my Z today to solve some issues. Glycol was issues for the Z also. 6 hours to figure it out and 5 minutes to fix. My brain is still smoking.

 

[TREY206]

Lmao. If thats the case its running with 1/3 glycol now! Couldnt find any info so I used the zymatic solution. You have any details about the Z specs?