Plaato Keg Management System (Keg Scale) Users Thread

[J2W2]

Hi,

I've seen a few posts on the Plaato Keg Management System in this forum, including a couple of mine, but not many.

I'm hoping to get a thread started so members that are already using this product can share tips, issues, etc., and also provide information to members that may be thinking about making a purchase.

 

[J2W2]

I currently have seven of the scales; five for the kegs in my keezer and two for my gas tanks (CO2 and Beer Gas). I've been using them for about four months now, and here's a few of my observations.

1) It is not easy to use them for gas tanks, at least not for my 5lb Beer gas and 10lb CO2 tanks, mainly because the tanks don't balance well on the curved surface of the scales. I resolved that issue by cutting a couple of pieces of 1/8" fiber board to a circle the same size as the scale. That sits on my scales and the tanks sit nicely on that.

2) I initially had issues with my scales reverting to factory settings. This only happened on scales for my kegs, inside the keezer, not for the scales for my gas tanks located outside the keezer. I attributed this to a weaker Wi-Fi signal (sometimes under 25%). My Wi-Fi provider recently upgraded my router to Wi-Fi 6, which has a stronger signal. I'm now getting signals of 60% or better (my scales vary by up to 15% signal strength, even though they are right next to each other) and I have not had a single scale reset since.

3) As mentioned, I have a five keg keezer, and the fit is tight - the kegs almost touch each other. Getting the scales setup was rather frustrating. I positioned the scales and then put the kegs on top. Getting the kegs centered on the scales was not easy. My kegs have the rubber tops and bottoms, so they don't slide on the scales. And the scales don't slide since they have rubber feet. Several times I had to pull a keg and reposition the scales, which is not at all easy, bending over in a collared chest freezer.

It would be much easier if I never had to move the scales again, but that won't happen. My keezer builds up water from condensation, and I have to pull the false bottom and dry it out once or twice a year (even with a number of Damp Rid containers). Because of the tight fit, I also need to pull one of the two kegs in front when I replace one of the three kegs in the back of the keezer. So I'm guessing I'll always be repositioning scales.

I've been kicking around ideas on how to make the process easier. Knowing exactly where the scales need to sit would definitely help - I've thought about trying to mark their location on the floor of the keezer with tape, contact paper or something. Being able to slide the kegs around on top of the scales would also be helpful. I've been trying to think of something I could attach (tape?) to the bottom of the kegs for that purpose. The fiber board I use for my gas tanks came to mind, but that material absorbs water like cardboard, so it isn't a good choice. I've been trying to think of a plastic material or something.

That's all that comes to mind for now. I wanted to post this information to hopefully get this thread started.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Fr8Dog]

Great information, thanks.

What are you using for he power source for your Plaato Kegs? I read that they require 5v at 2 amps each.

 

[enkamania]

I've stopped using it because of it reverting to factory settings. I do have a wifi extender, but that thing is picky. As for power source, just use a good old fashioned wall plug in.

 

[J2W2]

Great information, thanks.

What are you using for he power source for your Plaato Kegs? I read that they require 5v at 2 amps each.

I'm using this USB wall charger. I have five keg scales and a USB fan on it; no issues so far. I have it attached to the back of my keezer with Velcro.

 

[J2W2]

I've stopped using it because of it reverting to factory settings. I do have a wifi extender, but that thing is picky. As for power source, just use a good old fashioned wall plug in.

I never got to the point of trying a wi-fi extender, since my provider upgraded us to wi-fi 6, but I haven't had any issue since then. A reliable, strong signal is definitely important.

 

[TkmLinus]

Mine likes to increase and decrease the recorded beer volume when the compressor kicks on and off. Anyone have a fix or ideas for this? Seems weird that it doesn't register a ghost pour and records the volume going up and down. No problem with the factory settings, but the thermometer was off to begin with and I am unsure if I have it calibrated correctly.

 

[day_trippr]

Well...I imagine the Plato system combines the load cell readings with that thermometer reading to calculate volume. I don't know that there's anything wrong but looking at the curves and imagining how typical kegerators and keezers cycle it sure looks like it's trying to do the right thing...density being a function of temperature and all...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Mine likes to increase and decrease the recorded beer volume when the compressor kicks on and off. Anyone have a fix or ideas for this? Seems weird that it doesn't register a ghost pour and records the volume going up and down. No problem with the factory settings, but the thermometer was off to begin with and I am unsure if I have it calibrated correctly.

Well...I imagine the Plato system combines the load cell readings with that thermometer reading to calculate volume. I don't know that there's anything wrong but looking at the curves and imagining how typical kegerators and keezers cycle it sure looks like it's trying to do the right thing...density being a function of temperature and all...

Cheers!

Temp inside the keezer and the strain gauge varies more wildly than that of the beer. And the Plaato doesn't know the temp of the beer, it only knows the temp of the strain gauge, (is that the same as what you call load cell?) which have far lower mass than the kegs/beer.

 

[day_trippr]

Yes, load cell = strain gauge.
Yes, the mass of a measuring device is likely two or more orders of magnitude lower than the keg of beer one is trying to quantify. That's actually "goodness" when it comes to "resolution"...

Cheers!

 

[jseyfert3]

It would be much easier if I never had to move the scales again, but that won't happen. My keezer builds up water from condensation, and I have to pull the false bottom and dry it out once or twice a year (even with a number of Damp Rid containers). Because of the tight fit, I also need to pull one of the two kegs in front when I replace one of the three kegs in the back of the keezer. So I'm guessing I'll always be repositioning scales.

Damp Rid uses calcium chloride to remove water. This forms a saturated salt solution which you need to occasionally drain off. Saturated salt solutions have a limit to the relative humidity they can lower air too, so depending on that specific point for calcium chloride and any temp variations in your kreezer it’s entirely possible there are points below the dew point still.

You may try a silica gel desiccant instead. I have one of these canisters from Amazon, and assuming I remember to regenerate it as required the single canister can keep my entire 14 cubic foot kreezer free of condensation. You regenerate by putting it in the oven for a few hours.

Why do you have a false bottom?

 

[Brooothru]

Saw a nifty keg volume indicator recently that looked to be simple and foolproof. The fool, however, turned out to be me since I didn't bookmark it and can't remember the name.

Anyway, it used two small rare earth magnets. One magnet was mounted on a floating ball inside the keg, like a floating dip tube ball, and a small ball bearing sized magnet that would be held in place magnetically on the outside of the keg by the 'floating' magnet inside. The outside magnet would rise or fall with the level of the internal magnet, thus indicating the level of beer inside the keg. Brilliant in its simplicity.

Apparently the field strength of the two magnets to each other is greater that of the steel (iron) in the keg, so the inside magnet ball floats freely rather than being stuck to the keg wall? That's my only explanation. I might have seen it on the Kegland website, but haven't been able to find it recently.

 

[J2W2]

Mine likes to increase and decrease the recorded beer volume when the compressor kicks on and off. Anyone have a fix or ideas for this? Seems weird that it doesn't register a ghost pour and records the volume going up and down. No problem with the factory settings, but the thermometer was off to begin with and I am unsure if I have it calibrated correctly.

The Plaato site has a number of documents on their products. This section is on the keg scale. And this particular document is on Phantom Pours.

 

[Legoodest]

I have 6. I occasionally experience the phantom pour issue when the compressor kicks on and off. When it's happened, I just changed the sensitivity setting for that keg. This seems to have fixed the issue.

I've also noticed that it takes a long time for them to reconnect to wi-fi after resetting my router. This has sometimes resulted in no pour notification at all. This typically resolves within an hour or so.

In my experience over the last 6-8 months, these are pretty accurate. Not exact by any means (too many factors) but definitely close enough to serve my intended purpose. Overall very happy.

 

[J2W2]

I have 6. I occasionally experience the phantom pour issue when the compressor kicks on and off. When it's happened, I just changed the sensitivity setting for that keg. This seems to have fixed the issue.

I've also noticed that it takes a long time for them to reconnect to wi-fi after resetting my router. This has sometimes resulted in no pour notification at all. This typically resolves within an hour or so.

In my experience over the last 6-8 months, these are pretty accurate. Not exact by any means (too many factors) but definitely close enough to serve my intended purpose. Overall very happy.

Good to hear!

My previous method of tracking pours is writing them down in a book and then entering them into a spreadsheet which begins with the keg's initial full weight and calculates the remaining beer. Certainly not exact either. I haven't dropped this method yet as I'm kind of comparing them side-by-side. Three of my four (still waiting to install the fifth scale) are very close - perhaps 0.1 gallon off - and no way to know which is more accurate. The fourth scale shows a few pours more than my book - I'm kind of guessing I missed a couple in my book. Once a keg gets to a half-gallon or so, I drain it into 16 oz bottles and then replace it, so I don't need anything too exact either.

Do you have any issues getting your six scales/kegs set up? As I mentioned in my original post, that's a pain point for me in getting everything arranged just so. The collar on my keezer is fairly high, so it's a deep reach to the bottom. And I can't adjust a keg's location very easily without bumping the scale out of position. I'm still trying to think of something that I could attach to the bottom on my kegs so they'd slide across the top of the scale. I also plan to measure each keg/scale location (inches from back, left-side, etc.) so hopefully I can get the scales located where they need to be right off the bat in the future.

 

[Legoodest]

It was a PITA placing mine at the bottom of the keezer as well. Especially with getting the power cords where they needed to be. I've thought about making a plywood false bottom where all of this could be set up outside of the keezer and then lowered in all at once. I haven't devised a way to mount the scales to it, however. It would be nice to be able to do so.

 

[J2W2]

It was a PITA placing mine at the bottom of the keezer as well. Especially with getting the power cords where they needed to be. I've thought about making a plywood false bottom where all of this could be set up outside of the keezer and then lowered in all at once. I haven't devised a way to mount the scales to it, however. It would be nice to be able to do so.

I would not use plywood, if you get any moisture in your keezer, unless you really seal it well first (a marine paint on exterior plywood perhaps?) My keezer has a false bottom, keeping everything level with the top of the compressor hump. Initially I used particle board, well sealed (I thought) and 2x4s for the frame beneath it. Long story short, the particle board warped badly and the 2x4s developed a black mold on them. I have a friend that worked for the railroad repairing box cars. He made me a new false floor out of 1/4" aluminum sheeting and I made a new frame out of PVC. No more warping or mold!

I bought this braided sleeving and used that to help organize the cords. I have five kegs, so I made two bundles, one with two cords and one with three. I looped those and secured them with velcro ties, so at least the cords weren't such a pain. I've also color coded each end with sharpies; just so I know which goes where. I have more info on how I made them, if you're interested.

I wish they would have just used USB power cords in the outside edge; then I might be able to attach the scales to the bottom of the kegs somehow and just plug them in after they are in place

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, as an alternative to plywood, one could use low-profile FRP floor grating...

Cheers!

 

[J2W2]

fwiw, as an alternative to plywood, one could use low-profile FRP floor grating...

Cheers!

Not sure how the Plaato scales would like sitting on that. They have three rubber feet (maybe 1.5"x1.5") on the bottom. I think the keg weight would press them into the grating. I assume the load sensors may be located inside them?

You always seem to come up with good solutions. Any thoughts on something that could be placed between the rubber bottom of a keg and the top of the scales to let them slide easily? As I've mentioned, one of the big issues, for me anyway, is getting the kegs centered on the scales. The scales are 9" in diameter, and I have the shorter Coke kegs, which are also 9" in diameter. I've thought about having 9" discs cut out of something like 1/8" aluminum, but I haven't checked around to see about pricing. My kegs sit three in the back, two in the front, almost touching, so it would need to be something right around 9" for me.

 

[day_trippr]

If I had a notion of the physical geometry of the actual scales I could provide a higher-fidelity possible solution, but off-hand, I'd say placing a thin section of say sheet FRP sized to be acceptably larger than the actual scale without taking excessive space would resolve positioning challenges to "moot" FRP can be obtained quite inexpensively. I used a 4x8' sheet to make a big drip pan under my 3v2p single tier herms rig. I think it cost me like $20? Though you'd likely want to use something a bit thicker than the ~1/8" stuff I used...

Cheers!

 

[jseyfert3]

You can buy sheets of PVC, well actually maybe not right now after I looked it up. Like this, but it's unavailable. COVID may have affected things. Could be you could find it in some stores though. That was just a 4'x8' sheet of the cellular PVC used for trim boards. I used PVC trim boards to make the collar for my kreezer as it can't absorb water like wood can.

I've bought a 4'x8' sheet of PVC in the past and used it to make an air duct when I mounted a window AC on a pop-up camper and wanted something more resistant to water than plywood. This PVC cuts with any power tool that cuts wood just as easily as wood cuts. It's not as stiff as wood, but would be great as a platform on top of the yellow grates posted above.

 

[TkmLinus]

The Plaato site has a number of documents on their products. This section is on the keg scale. And this particular document is on Phantom Pours.

Repositioning the keg on the scale solved the issue. Thanks!

 

[J2W2]

If I had a notion of the physical geometry of the actual scales I could provide a higher-fidelity possible solution, but off-hand, I'd say placing a thin section of say sheet FRP sized to be acceptably larger than the actual scale without taking excessive space would resolve positioning challenges to "moot" FRP can be obtained quite inexpensively. I used a 4x8' sheet to make a big drip pan under my 3v2p single tier herms rig. I think it cost me like $20? Though you'd likely want to use something a bit thicker than the ~1/8" stuff I used...

Cheers!

I grabbed some of the images off the Plaato site. This first one gives the dimensions.


This shows an angled overhead view. Hard to tell, but the top is not flat. It curves up form the outside, then down toward the middle.


This shows a sample of what multiple scales would look like in a keezer. Of course, theirs is super organized, and they haven't put the kegs in!


And this is a closeup of one of the rubber feet on the bottom.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, so modestly larger than an actual corny keg (closer to pin lock than ball lock, and that's probably A Good Thing). Not going to cost much in materials or tax DIY tools to cut out some flats disc a bit larger than whatever the Plaato feet need to sit comfortably atop a low-profile plastic grid

If anything the optimal effort will come down to material acquisition - which likely favors a larger configuration than smaller, dealing with sheet goods and all. I would look around the DIY constellation to see if any of the stores sells partial panels for this stuff if dealing with small - like 2 keg keezer - setups...

Cheers!

 

[TkmLinus]

Just wondering, how does everyone else handle changing keg sizes on the scale? I have a couple of 1.5 gallon kegs and it feels a little silly having to reprogram the interface each time. Is there a way to save keg profiles on the app that I am missing?