Robobrew V3

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ackes
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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by ackes » Thu Aug 30, 2018 3:46 pm

LeafMan66_67 wrote:
ackes wrote:
McGruff wrote:If you have a milk crate around put the unit on it for much needed ventilation. I am looking for a fan to strap underneath to suck out some hot air. Computer fan?
Sounds good. Thanks for the heads up. Will do.
I’m gonna use some sturdy work benches to put mine on and they’ve got some holes / places for airflow - so that should help too. But will do the milk crate as well.

How’s everyone dealing with the evaporation / humidity from boil? I know a range fan is ideal (venting directly outside) - but not quite set up for that in basement yet. Plan on doing by open window with a fan sucking all moisture out the window.

Seem problematic? Anyone else doing similar?


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I have a removeable 450CFM inline fan I got through Amazon fitted into my basement window in the room with the RoboBrew. No moisture issues, no smells in the house. If I do a permanent setup, i I may put in a custom hood but so far, no need. Boil off on a 60 minute boil is approximately 2L.
Great. Thanks !


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Kegged: House honey wheat, Honey Brown ale.
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On deck: Mad Elf Clone to age until Winter
In the hole:: NEIPA / Honey Wheat./ Sour season !
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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by ackes » Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:57 am

Thought I'd post this here so we don't hi-jack the "What's everyone brewing?" thread.

Looks like an awesome option for sightglass on the robobrew.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFqiNu_jfRg
Kegged: House honey wheat, Honey Brown ale.
Fermenting: West Coast IPA
On deck: Mad Elf Clone to age until Winter
In the hole:: NEIPA / Honey Wheat./ Sour season !
Kegged and aging:: RIS

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:04 am

My temp probe malfunctioned on my 2nd brew with robobrew. Kept reading 197 F. OBK is sending me a temp probe and a circuit board. They gave up on the Grainfather and must be wondering about the RoboBrew.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:35 am

Replaced the probe and circuit board. Space is kind of limited, but not that bad to work with. Once you take a look inside, you can see there isn't much to this.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by jason.loxton » Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:24 pm

I got a V3 from Dave. Haven't had the chance to brew on it yet, but one of the clamps that holds the lid down came off the first time I tried it. It's held on by a few little spots of weld. Looks like only one of the three actually connected, however. Not a big deal, as the lid fit snugly on its own (honestly don't understand why you would even need those clamps), but might be an indication of build quality.

Regarding the accuracy of the internal markings, I checked with only the bottom perforated plate in and they seem pretty good, with the following caveat: the lowest marker (10 l) reads high by ~330 ml. (Readings taken with water sitting at the top of the line.) At the 18 l mark it was off by an additional 100 ml. and was more or less constant in terms of error after that (very slight creep). I am going to just assume it always reads ~400 ml high and keep it at that. (I did not check the gallons.)
Anyone else check?

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by Ruby » Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:18 pm

I picked one up at the start of the year. I've only managed 4 brews so far, but i'm hoping to do more during the fall. I've been hitting some pretty good numbers very accurately thanks to the BeerSmith RoboBrew equipment profiles and mash profile. It's great for the apartment. Small and efficient.
Give a man a beer, and he'll waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he'll waste a lifetime.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:36 am

The clamps are for the add on still lid. You don't need to use it for beer. I didn't measure, but boiled 7.5 gallons and got around 5.5 gallons in my 6 gallon carboy.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:42 am

I installed a bathroom fan underneath my unit and it definitely worked compared to my first brew. The lower part was not hot at all.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by Bluefin 774 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:07 pm

I did my first brew with the Robobrew I got on sale at Everwood a few weeks ago. I will post my results when the beer is ready.
Take care, Bluefin.

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Fermenting:

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ackes
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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by ackes » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:27 pm

Image

Just got finished calibrating and leak testing (water only) the sight glass modification. Works perfectly.
Can’t wait to give er a whirl with an actual brew!


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Kegged: House honey wheat, Honey Brown ale.
Fermenting: West Coast IPA
On deck: Mad Elf Clone to age until Winter
In the hole:: NEIPA / Honey Wheat./ Sour season !
Kegged and aging:: RIS

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by jason.loxton » Sun Oct 21, 2018 7:12 pm

Couple of updates. Tried my first brew today. Had leaks in a couple places. Replaced an o-ring to fix one, but the other was at the welded on "nut" below the valve on the recirculating arm. Will have to get Dave to replace. Other weird thing is that the temp reading above sparge is cracked out. Was setting up for boil and it was reading 248 f when it had only hit 175 f. Instructions say to set to 120 c for the boil (=248 f) but it shut itself off well below boiling at that setting. Reset it at 140 c and it's heating again. Overall a bit concerned about build quality so far...

Update: well into chilling and the temp is reading an impossible 117 c. Tried turning unit on and off and it still thinks it's over boiling. :(

Totally chilled and drained and it's "118 c". Huh.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Mon Oct 22, 2018 7:59 am

Mine was doing the same thing. Needs a replacement circuit board. I also replaced the temp probe. Got an E2 error message soon after it was giving me wrong temp readings.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by jason.loxton » Mon Oct 22, 2018 12:46 pm

Given that the Robobrew might be prone to failure, it's worth adding that most credit cards automatically double a manufacturer's warranty for a year. Not a lot of people know that, and fewer it seems take them up on it, but I've done it and they refund the purchase price or replace/repair the product without hassle. Good reason to always by anything electronic on credit card, rather than with cash/debit.

That said, replacement parts are remarkably cheap, which lowers risk: https://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/RoboBre ... _s/749.htm
Last edited by jason.loxton on Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:18 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by brulelager » Mon Oct 22, 2018 8:12 pm

Picked one up today at Maritime Wine and Beer on Lady Hammond Road, Halifax, they still had another one on the shelf, still at that great intro price. Didn't know it came with an immersion chiller, was ready to retro fit my old plate chiller so nice surprise. Looking forward to 1st brew.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by jason.loxton » Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:09 pm

What sort of efficiencies are people getting on the Robobrew? Beersmith estimated 75%. I ended up adding an extra liter at sparge and still beat by estimated extraction by 5 points, which seems crazy.

EDIT: Should have read the first part of the thread. I am hitting somewhere around 90% too on brew one.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by jason.loxton » Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:41 pm

UPDATE: Everwood sent me a new circuit board. It was an easy swap out and machine is reading correct temp again.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:31 am

My warranty is up next August and am wondering what am in for after that? Constantly buying replacement parts? I have heard that the new circuit board handles the wattage better than the old one. The brewers from Australia don't seem to have the problems with circuit boards like we do.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by Swine » Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:31 am

I tried my first brew with mine Sat night. As I mashed and turned the pump on for re-circ, it stopped working. I can hear it kick in, just won't push the fluid. There isn't a blockage, I can blow in the sparge arm and get bubbles out the bottom.
I took the pump off and I do believe it was stuck. Tried again, no go. So will be contacting OBK for a pump this morning.
I had tested the pump several times for leak tests leading up to the brew and I had also used it to re-circ the mash water so I made sure that all water at same temp.
I got no grain in it, it just stopped working.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by jason.loxton » Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:31 pm

MacGruff: If you bought your Robobrew on your credit card, check your extended warranty coverage if it dies after your one year. Most cards will automatically refund the full purchase price of any electronic product up to a year after the expiration date of the original warranty.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by PMackie » Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:14 pm

Mine just crapped out 30 minutes into the boil on my Advent beer. Both elements cut out and I could smell burning. It also heated up so high before that, that it turned the whole beer which was a pale to gold color black. Pretty crazy, everwood are pretty great though, they think we can have it fixed today, just sucks I lost this beer. Hopefully I can brew again tomorrow or Thursday to make the Calendar on time.
Kegged: Maritime Fog (NEIPA), All Ryell'ed Up (Rye APA)
Fermenting: Seltzer Water
On deck: Something over the Holidays
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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:49 am

jason.loxton, thanks for the tip with the credit card warranty. I will certainly check it out.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by PMackie » Wed Nov 07, 2018 4:58 pm

PMackie wrote:
Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:14 pm
Mine just crapped out 30 minutes into the boil on my Advent beer. Both elements cut out and I could smell burning. It also heated up so high before that, that it turned the whole beer which was a pale to gold color black. Pretty crazy, everwood are pretty great though, they think we can have it fixed today, just sucks I lost this beer. Hopefully I can brew again tomorrow or Thursday to make the Calendar on time.
Update on this, my board was totally burned up. Replaced that and was getting E3 error. Ended up being the temperature probe fried as well, as soon as I replaced that today I am back up and running.

Everwood were awesome as usually and I thank Geoff for the quick help two days in a row.

Back to brewing my advent beer in the am.
Kegged: Maritime Fog (NEIPA), All Ryell'ed Up (Rye APA)
Fermenting: Seltzer Water
On deck: Something over the Holidays
In the hole: ...

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by elreplica » Wed Nov 07, 2018 7:04 pm

Ughhhhh...wondering about how the Grainfather fares against these clones...some HomeBrewTalk US forum users reporting similar issues...I’m not hearing nearly as many GF fails as I’m hearing for RB...yes...some Connect burns and element toastings but I’m seeing a lot of shyte here and there about the Robo...perhaps it’s true about you get what you pay for...thoughts?
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On tap: Propeller Pils, Festa Cream Ale

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by McGruff » Thu Nov 08, 2018 8:14 am

Maybe. I am hearing that Kegland is shipping out new and improved circuit boards. We will see.

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Re: Robobrew V3

Post by Swine » Thu Nov 08, 2018 9:11 am

I think it is too soon to tell how the robo lines up. And from what action I have seen on sales, movements of robo and grain father, I think there is a MUCH higher volume of robo in Canada/US than Grain father. I could be wrong on the volume estimates, but that's my impression.
That and because the demand has been so high for robo, they have been working double time in factory, bound to be some deficiencies... Hope it is all sorted out prior to warranties being expired.

Yes, they are shipping new boards. Not sure what is the reason old ones are burning up, likely a under rated component.

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