Spike... I need a conical

Yakima 728
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Why even do a pre sale if you are out of stock in 1 minute. This isnt a new iphone...
 
You gotta look at it from their point of view. What if all of us were like, "Hell Yeah! I'll buy it" but when it came time for them to tool up get everything and what not, we just didnt buy? They could be left holding the bag on a ton of product that they can't unload.

Or it could also be so that they could build up working capital to get more product. Another will obviously be the buzz and reviews on the equipment prior to the full release. One of us schmucks is going to do a video and forum review. Once the people who weren't 100% sold hear about how great the product is, they might swing by to buy one.

All of this is normal operating practices. Spike makes great products and I'm willing to keep waiting.

Man all that makes me kinda sound like I work there... Spike I hope your listening, A free shirt would be pretty sweet, just sayin... big fan... lol
 
I'm not sure why they encouraged so many people to sign up for the presale if they had such limited stock... disappointing.
 
Im guessing once design was finalized they had to make a minimum order. I don't see a plant doing all kinds of tooling set up to only make a couple of these. After spike did all their in house testing, sent out how ever many to testers and then sent more to be pressure tested they likely had some left over. I bet those are the presale ones. I could be totally wrong.

Also I got one, will report back.
 
Hello all! So the pre-sale kicked off exactly at 8pm CST and we were completely sold out by 8:05pm! :eek: The conical re-design project has been a year in the making and we have A LOT of people that are looking for a pro quality stainless conical.

The reason we did a pre-sale was to help gauge demand for the CF10 and accessories. Unlike other companies we do not ship finished units straight from China. We have multiple OEMs from around the world. The tri-clamp ports need to be sanitary welded by our in house welders, a lot of the accessories are also fabricated in our facility and then everything needs to be QC'd, picked, packed and shipped. Based on the incredible demand we will be hiring at least one additional welder and at least 2 more shop techs. This is in addition to our new inside sales guy Ryan who starts in early July (he'll be handling a lot of the customer service and outreach for Spike going forward). This will help us keep up with demand once we go live in 2 weeks.

We apologize to all but hope everyone understands! We made the decision to limit the pre-sale so we can be confident that our production team can keep up with demand. I think everyone would agree it's better to hold onto your hard earned money and order when product is in stock and ready to ship compared to giving us the funds as we play catch up for weeks/months. We've seen other businesses fail this way and we didn't want to join them.

:mug:
 
Go on their website. They have all the pictures up and details. Its a much improved design over the other. It really looks great.
 
Ruint said:
I used that tab...have not seen a single email...presale notice or anything concerning an update. When I bought my kettles from them, I was eyeballing the conical and I chose to be emailed when items are available...still not a peep from them, other than getting updated by other sources at the homebrew con...
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check your spam folder?

I received a few emails and then unsubscribed eventually as I am interested in one that is still in planning.
 
Question I've always had about conicals from a homebrewing perspective... How do you temp control multiple of these successfully? I think they look awesome, but glycol is not an option most homebrewers can afford.
 
Ashevillain said:
Question I've always had about conicals from a homebrewing perspective... How do you temp control multiple of these successfully? I think they look awesome, but glycol is not an option most homebrewers can afford.
Click to expand...


You use multiple refirgerators for different temperatures

Yes purpose built glycol chillers are expensive. My window unit version was cheaper than any of my refrigerators. Just takes some DIY
 
Ashevillain said:
Question I've always had about conicals from a homebrewing perspective... How do you temp control multiple of these successfully? I think they look awesome, but glycol is not an option most homebrewers can afford.
Click to expand...

Thats not really true if a person is capable of DIY solutions.... My 4 conical glycol system cost less than $200 to build not including the chiller I got for free but many home brewers have made their own chiller using a cooler and window ac unit or dehumidifier...
there is another thread discussing this now rather than take this one too far off topic..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=630527
 
I'm just going to put a gallon or two of glycol (eventually) in my freezer and an aquarium pump attached to a temp controller. I figure that should be a pretty cheap system to do it. I do want to try first with cold water in my refrigerator and see if that works, (something tells me it might not).
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
I'm just going to put a gallon or two of glycol (eventually) in my freezer and an aquarium pump attached to a temp controller. I figure that should be a pretty cheap system to do it. I do want to try first with cold water in my refrigerator and see if that works, (something tells me it might not).
Click to expand...

I think this will work just fine as long as

1. the environment isn't overly warm

2. you aren't trying to control multiple fermentors

3. you aren't trying to cold crash or lager
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
I'm just going to put a gallon or two of glycol (eventually) in my freezer and an aquarium pump attached to a temp controller. I figure that should be a pretty cheap system to do it. I do want to try first with cold water in my refrigerator and see if that works, (something tells me it might not).
Click to expand...

its works but its not very efficient or effective compared to other methods... people have tried it on the aquarium forums to just lower the temp of salt water tanks a few degrees and it has varying results but thats a larger mass of liquid as well in most cases..

Its much better to buy an old ac unit on craigslist and remove the cooling coil and install it in a cooler full of water...
 
I got mine. It was a email they sent to you that had the link to do the pre sale.
 
augiedoggy said:
its works but its not very efficient or effective compared to other methods... people have tried it on the aquarium forums to just lower the temp of salt water tanks a few degrees and it has varying results but thats a larger mass of liquid as well in most cases..

Its much better to buy an old ac unit on craigslist and remove the cooling coil and install it in a cooler full of water...
Click to expand...

I actually have an A/C unit just sitting around. So you are saying to just literally take the cooling coil off and submerge it in water? I must research this...
 
I know I may get flamed to no end but kudos to Ben and his crew as I am involved in manufacturing and I know first hand what a PITA it can be to develop and roll out a new product. It has been interesting to watch. I have some Spike equipment and get frustrated with response time sometimes but I also know that they must have hundreds of requests each day. Just be glad they sell to the end user and are not 100 percent channel driven like Blichmann. They could easily move the channel and then you deal with the retailer and never with the manufacturer. My IT equipment is mostly this way and it sucks.

Mark
 
How do you trick the AC Unit to stay on. Also don't you have to continuously circulate water? I was reading a little bit on some of the forums and it doesn't seem super involved, but some said you need to put a incandescent bulb near the temp sensor to make it turn on when the temperature set inside the cooler goes above the set point.

Im then guessing you would need to have a pump connected to another controller set for the temperature in the conical desired. Or could this be attained with just 1 controller?
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
How do you trick the AC Unit to stay on. Also don't you have to continuously circulate water? I was reading a little bit on some of the forums and it doesn't seem super involved, but some said you need to put a incandescent bulb near the temp sensor to make it turn on when the temperature set inside the cooler goes above the set point.

Im then guessing you would need to have a pump connected to another controller set for the temperature in the conical desired. Or could this be attained with just 1 controller?
Click to expand...

This is where it varies on you level of DIY edness.

-Mine I pulled the evaporator fan blade.
-Gently bend the copper liquid and suction lines to move the evaporator coil out and submerge into a cooler holding water/glycol.
-pull all the window units controls and sensors and just hardwire fan high and compressor through an STC-1000 or similar.
-put the STC probe in your glycol bath and it will bring the unit on and off.
-use individual temp controllers to bring on either separate pumps or to control valves (depending on you configuration)


not a tutorial really but gives you the idea

https://youtu.be/PTwuO2Tpdd0
 
That totally helps. I am totally able to do that. I have the knowledge.. Just wanted to make sure I could remove the control boards. Wife is going to hate this. lol
 
If you check that video out on their Facebook page it looks like they had about 40 units. That's more than I would have expected for how short the sale lasted.
 
Neens_ said:
If you check that video out on their Facebook page it looks like they had about 40 units. That's more than I would have expected for how short the sale lasted.
Click to expand...

That is true assuming people didn't buy multiples per order and they showed the whole list of orders
 
The glycol chiller was $800 so compared to the $3K my 2 1bbl fermenters it seemed pretty cheap.

My fermenters and the chiller sit right in the living room (SWMBO thought the fermenters were too pretty to hide) paying more for a chiller than DIYing one was also prudent. Plus I'm lazy.

IMG_20170618_093128.jpg
 
akthor said:
The glycol chiller was $800 so compared to the $3K my 2 1bbl fermenters it seemed pretty cheap.

My fermenters and the chiller sit right in the living room (SWMBO thought the fermenters were too pretty to hide) paying more for a chiller than DIYing one was also prudent. Plus I'm lazy.
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Son. Sit down. We need to talk about your drinking problem . ;)


Cheers :mug:
 
They asked if they could use my pic didn't realize it was on the website. Cool. I think it chills down to 5 degrees according to the specs???
 
akthor said:
The glycol chiller was $800 so compared to the $3K my 2 1bbl fermenters it seemed pretty cheap.

My fermenters and the chiller sit right in the living room (SWMBO thought the fermenters were too pretty to hide) paying more for a chiller than DIYing one was also prudent. Plus I'm lazy.
Click to expand...

I bet your chillers working pretty hard with no insulation on those conicals no? I know mine was before I insulated mine... it also stopped the sweating and dripping condensation in the summer..
 
Tuttdog said:
Judging by the fact that it is the same picture on the http://www.penguinchillers.com/product/12-hp-glycol-bath-chiller/
's website, I going to say a penguin chiller. There is another thread here in equipment/sanitation area. Just was recently released, and I want one. :)
Click to expand...
That looks to be about the same size as the chiller I use on my three conicals without breaking a sweat... I have it plumbed for 4 conicals and have no doubt it can handle it... im not so sure it would ever stop running if there was no insulation however...
 
Auggiedoggie, How did you insulate your conicals? I have a spike one on the way and they don't have a premade jacket as of yet.
 
If they are building a nice fitted one eventually for a reasonable price in the future and you want temporary without much cost I would just custom cut some reflectix insulation wrap you can get at lowe's or home depot
 
So.....Interesting development. SS Brewtech just announced release this Sept of a 14 G version on their 1BBL nano conical. If you add up all the accessories and features it looks pretty comparable in cost ($999 with all accessories included). Few more features too.
 
Not if I was only going to keep them at fermenting temps. The were filled with 100F water and starsan (passification) I set the FTS to 60 and went to bed when I got up 5 1/2 hrs later they were at 60. Lets not forget these are 1bbl conicals filled with 40 gallons of water a piece. No sweat on them. BUT this was with the AC running in the house so minimum humidity. Now when I dropped the temp to 40 on the FTS yes they did sweat. At 60 the chiller wasn't coming on often, chiller was set to 45, when I took the fermenters down to 40 I set the chiller to 25, yup it ran a lot up until the fermenters got to temp.

The SS Conicals come with insulation, neoprene jackets, I just didn't put them on cuz they look prettier without them and they are in my living room. But I will put them on.

This chiller is a 1/2 HP one the SS one is 1/3 HP. SS says theirs will do 3 1bbl fermenters. Since my eventual plan is the 2 fermenters and 2 bright tanks the Penguin also made more sense to me since theirs will do 4.



augiedoggy said:
I bet your chillers working pretty hard with no insulation on those conicals no? I know mine was before I insulated mine... it also stopped the sweating and dripping condensation in the summer..
Click to expand...
 
I saw that e-mail. I was like... OOOH nice...

1: Love that its a unitank with all Tri Clamp fittings and a coil
2. Has a few more features than what the Spike has and a larger opening at the top.

Lets see as far as price and features. This is a good value. It has all the feathers you could possibly want (Will obviously need either a stand up fridge or a glycol chiller for it.
Price is pretty competitive for the features.

Spike is a conical with some pressure capabilities, but this can totally operate as a serving vessel. The added prices makes sense for the price point.

But if you don't plan on using one as a serving vessel then the Spike is a good bargain for the price they are offering it at.

I see the SS Brewtech as a serious competitor to the brewers hardware conical, possibly even better.
 
SS Brewtech just announced release this Sept of a 14 G version on their 1BBL nano conical.
Click to expand...

Actually its going to be a 14g Unitank, so it can also carbonate while its fermenting. Thats pretty nice.
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
I saw that e-mail. I was like... OOOH nice...

1: Love that its a unitank with all Tri Clamp fittings and a coil
2. Has a few more features than what the Spike has and a larger opening at the top.

Lets see as far as price and features. This is a good value. It has all the feathers you could possibly want (Will obviously need either a stand up fridge or a glycol chiller for it.
Price is pretty competitive for the features.

Spike is a conical with some pressure capabilities, but this can totally operate as a serving vessel. The added prices makes sense for the price point.

But if you don't plan on using one as a serving vessel then the Spike is a good bargain for the price they are offering it at.

I see the SS Brewtech as a serious competitor to the brewers hardware conical, possibly even better.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It truly is a great time to be a home brewer with all the options given.

My opinion is spike needs to be double quick on a fermentation temp control setup and start offering customization like the do on their kettle. Not sorry I bought my spike though.
 

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