Cheap(ish) Brewing equipment

[akr71]

http://www.brewhardware.com/

I stumbled across this site today. The guy has a limited selection of stuff, but the prices are better than MoreBeer (the only place I checked them against) and will ship to Canada by USPS.

A refractometer for $32.99, weldless siteglass for $24.95 (tho' my calibrated metal rod seems to work just fine).

[LiverDance]

I've bought from Bobby before, he has good stuff.

[mr x]

Yeah, I'm happier with the metal rod for my keggle. But I do like the SG for the HLT. I've told Bobby_M before that I don't like his design though - no isolation valve incase the rod leaks/breaks. And they do...

I can source some of that stuff for us anyway if you wanted to go without the isolation valve.

[akr71]

I could really use a refractometer and have given some thought to a site glass on my HLT. I'll leave it for a coulple of weeks and if there is enough interest maybe we can put together a group order.

LD - did you pay the extra for priority/trackable shipping?

[mr x]

You can build that yourself for probably half what it will cost to buy it from the US...and refracts are cheap on eBay.

[LiverDance]

I just got my stuff shipped regular USPS

[akr71]

I've often though that building a site glass would be a fun and simple little project, it just hasn't been a priority.

Wow, just checked ebay - definitely the route I'm gonna take. Anybody ever ordered from Hong Kong (and got what they thought they were ordering)?

[mr x]

Yup, all the time. That's where my refract came from. Even after dousing the lens with wort and ripping it apart to clean it, it still reads bang on with my hydrometer.

[akr71]

Would you buy this one? I fail to see why one for 'grape wine' wouldn't be acceptable for wort, especially if it measures 0-40 Brix. Plus it looks like I ould get a cheap pH meter and calibrating buffer from the same supplier.

[KMcK]

I could really use a refractometer and have given some thought to a site glass on my HLT. I'll leave it for a couple of weeks and if there is enough interest maybe we can put together a group order.

I'm interested in a refactometer too and would be interested in going in a on a group order at that price. Alternatively if you find a better deal on eBay and can get two, please let me know.

Anybody ever ordered from Hong Kong (and got what they thought they were ordering)?

I ordered from Hong's Kitchen once and got what I thought I was ordering (but sometimes with Chinese food you never know).

[mr x]

Would you buy this one? I fail to see why one for 'grape wine' wouldn't be acceptable for wort, especially if it measures 0-40 Brix. Plus it looks like I ould get a cheap pH meter and calibrating buffer from the same supplier.

Looks like the one I bought, lol. There are some other ranges out there as well, that would be good if you are under 1.080, but they cost a bit more IIRC. I like this one for RIS/Barleywine, etc., and it's been pretty easy to read to the accuracy I need.

I can get you a kick ass pH meter and all the buffer you need...

Edit: This one might have the range I use:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Brix-Refractometer-0 ... 3a636ad4d1

[moxie]

I've been mulling over Bobby's sightglass kit (The T one specifically since I've already got a weldless thermometer in my pot. I've corrosponded with him a bit over at HBT, and he will accomodate some special orders.

As for Hong Kong, well, I ordered a digital thermometer from over there once for $1.00. I recieved the right item in the mail shortly thereafter, but I also had about 10 phantom charges attempted on my credit card. So no, I would not recommend ordering from Hong Kong.

[mr x]

Use paypal. I've order literally dozens of items with not one issue.

[akr71]

Use paypal. I've order literally dozens of items with not one issue.

I've never had any issues with ebay or paypal (well, a couple items took a long time to ship, but I got them) and I've bought tons of stuff from a bass guitar to (vinyl) records to fossils. If the seller has a low rating or less than stellar feedback, they don't get my business - and always on a card with a relatively low limit. I've never bought any sort of calibrated or scientific instruments though, so I just wanted to know if I could expect acceptable quality.

Now, about that pH meter...

[mr x]

Dow Corning lab quality unit. I came across a bunch that were thrown in the garbage. They have a bunch of used probes that should be good enough - and I think you can actually still get the probes new. You can try it anyway.





I've used cheap pH meters before - never again. Even the higher prices cheap ones, like Hanna didn't last long.

[KMcK]

Dow Corning lab quality unit. I came across a bunch that were thrown in the garbage.

If you have a few I wouldn't mind one, too.

[moxie]

Use paypal. I've order literally dozens of items with not one issue.

The transaction was through paypal, so it's not invincible. I am not sure how it happened, but TD solved the issue instantly, blocking all pending transactions, while Paypal gave me a hard time for their error. I ended up just closing my paypal account outright. I would rather keep my money local if possible, anyway. Like I said, TD knew something was up immediately and blocked about 10 strange transactions worth about 5k.

[mr x]

I've never heard of anybody getting CC fraud though paypal before, but I guess anything's possible. Was it though eBay as well?

[mr x]

Dow Corning lab quality unit. I came across a bunch that were thrown in the garbage.

If you have a few I wouldn't mind one, too.

I'll see what I can do. You'll need your own dc transformer (9 or 12v IIRC).

[moxie]

I've never heard of anybody getting CC fraud though paypal before, but I guess anything's possible. Was it though eBay as well?

Yes. One small payment went through, then a barrage of expensive transactions were halted immediately by TD, but went through on PayPal. Just be aware and keep an eye on your statement! Sometimes these thieves will just make infrequent and small transactions so you don't even notice if you don't pay close attention.

[mr x]

Wow, I was under the impression that the receiving party never sees the credit card number when using paypal. That being said, I've always used sellers with high ratings and never had an issue.

[ratchet]

the recieving party doesn't see your CC info.... unless Paypal has changed something that I'm not aware of.

[moxie]

I have no idea how it happened, PayPal was not willing to give me any details about it. My account was inactive for about 2 years, used to make the Hong Kong transaction, and boom, within 3 hours, phantom charges on my CC.

[ratchet]

I would suspect that it's either a freaky coincidence... you have spyware on your PC... or paypal had a security breach.

[derek]

I've never heard of anybody getting CC fraud though paypal before, but I guess anything's possible. Was it though eBay as well?

Yes. One small payment went through, then a barrage of expensive transactions were halted immediately by TD, but went through on PayPal. Just be aware and keep an eye on your statement! Sometimes these thieves will just make infrequent and small transactions so you don't even notice if you don't pay close attention.

Do you have a credit card tied to your paypal account? I always make a one-time credit-card payment into paypal when I make a purchase. I've found the system to work well enough that I use my real credit card, as opposed to the one we use for Internet purchases (which we have to keep fighting the bank to not raise the credit limit over $500).

And I use TD, too, so I definitely want to know! We've been very happy with their ability to track unusual purchases. My wife does keep close track of the billings - probably checking online every couple of days - and they caught somebody using her card number before she noticed, just a couple of weeks ago. And then there was the time she went to Toronto, and I knew about the fur coat she bought before she got home! ["Sir; Has your wife charged $X at so-and-so Furriers in the last hour." "Er, I didn't know she was going there... but I'm not surprised." It was her sister's fault.]