The Beer Engine arrived!

[geepmaley]

They are for the most part made in England, and for whatever reason, It costs a boat load to ship any thing from england to the US. I think for the most part too is there is not a ton of demand for these. Only a few companies make them, and as far as I know...no Chinese manufactures.

the best price I have seen for a new one is through Northern Brewer, + they sell pins and Firkins.

BSquared, can you share the shipping method that was used? I have soem friends in England and might be able to get them to find/ship one to me, but I have no idea what method to use?

 

[Bsquared]

They had it shipped through the English postal system, the problem we ran into was with declaring its value, so it got sent back to England once before finally arrived. You might want to contact UPS of Fed ex too, and see what there rates are. If your friends are shipping it for you, they will be able to ship it with out declaring a sale price so you might get the shipping down that way.

 

[geepmaley]

BSquared,
Scored an engine on ebay.uk.com and have a friend coming over from London next month so having him bring it as luggage (Saves a ton of cash)

Assuming all is well (guy I bought it from says it is in working order), I am curious how the engine connects up. In other words, what size beer line from the keg/pin/whatever to the engine. Any help will be appreciated.

Also, do you have a check valve (or does the engine) between the keg and the engine to prevent backflow? I see you put a check valve on the gas in to prevent losing CO2 to atmosphere (I plan to do the LPG "breather")

Have a triple chocolate oatmeal milk stout (ain't that a mouthful) waiting to be pulled through this

 

[Bsquared]

Awesome score!

My beer engine has a 5/8" barb connection, and I use a 5/8od hose to a 5/8x1/4 nylon adapter i got at homedepot.I dont have a check valve but I can see howe this would be a good ides especially if you are not planing on drinking the whole keg in a day or two.

 

[geepmaley]

Engine should be here next week. Hope it works. Bought a LPG regulator as a breather. Cheapest I found was here:
https://secure.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=447324

Free shipping (have to pay tax). $9 all in

 

[geepmaley]

Got the engine. Last week when my mate visited

Its a Homark Engine. Company has been out of business for some time.

The seller did a totally s**ty job packing this and so the handle is chipped (porcelain at the top) and the entire inlet tail was broken straight off and beat up, so now trying to figure out a new input. CFBS has one, but its ~$40 shipped to the US. Looking to cobble something together with local parts. John Guest makes a BSPT fitting that should fit the cylinder and start the whole thing.

Pump works however. Before I removed the broken piece from the cylinder I managed to wedge some vinyl tubing into the hole and was able to pull water from a bucket below.

Fairly ticked off, but the return shipping cost negates trying to send it back. Caveat emptor I guess

 

[Bsquared]

Ugh...that sucks.sure hope you can get it up and running.

 

[geepmaley]

BSquared,

Gonna buy a new inlet tail, but it has a 1/2" barb on it ( and built in check valve). Wondwring wher in teh line you made your restriction/reduction in line size? Close to the engine? or close to the keg (assuming you are using Cornies)

 

[Bsquared]

I put the reduction in the middle, I dont think it matters too much because the system is not under pressure like keged beer is.

 

[Jaysus]

@geepmaley Reach out to Alex Hall... he may have some HoMark parts

 

[geepmaley]

Jay,

Already tried Alex. No joy.,.....

But found Collin Farris Brewing Supplies in the UK can help out. Just trying to nail down what I need to buy.

 

[Jaysus]

Good news! I am excited for you (and just a little bit jealous )

 

[geepmaley]

Got my new regulator (Taprite 742 $35 delivered via ebay) and my LPG regulator 'Cask breather'. Waiting on the parts from Jolly olde England to repair the pump (seal kit plus new inlet tail), then its off to the races.

Questions:

Do you have poly pins and if so, where do you get them?

My triple chocolate oatmeal milk stout is ready to go waiting the pump

 

[Bsquared]

I got a stainless pin from Northern brewer at NHC almost two years ago, but have not used it yet. Having a little one and lots of house projects has put the brewing on hold. The time I did try and use it, i put in priming sugar and ended up blowing out the bungs and spraying 5 gallons of beer all over my brew room!

 

[geepmaley]

Got my parts from England today. Now have to figure out how to hook it up to the keg.

Yo usaid you had a 5/8 to 1/4 reducer. I guess I need to fine one.

My inlet tail is 1/2", though, so need 1/2 to 1/4" tough to find.

What 1/2" beer line did you use?

 

[Bsquared]

I got a Nylon reducing barb from ACE, and used vinyl tubing for 1/2" line.

 

[geepmaley]

I got a Nylon reducing barb from ACE, and used vinyl tubing for 1/2" line.

Just straight vinyl from ACE or actual beer lien from some place?

 

[Bsquared]

Yes, just regular tubing. Its a short length so I paned on replacing it each use or so. also because there is no (or little) CO2 you don't have to calculate resistance like you would have to do with a draft system.