Brewzilla Gen 4 - Struggling to get to boil point

[The Baron]

I agree i cannot remember any members saying they cannot get to 100C other than in the thread i linked to.

It's actually not fit for purpose so I can see a full refund or replacement should be made

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I got my yoga mat at second hand store.
Held on by a bungee, I take it off for cooling stage.
Brewzilla jacket is difficult to fit apparently.

I would look and post on this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/posts/10279724/
Kegland watch this and contribute.

Even 110 V users are getting to a boil albeit slowly.

Robobrew and gen 3 had switches to turn 500 and 1000 watt elements on.
I'm not sure if this is the case with Gen 4.

Having followed the above thread I wouldn't touch a gen 4 with a barge pole.

 

[dcbrookes]

As the title says, it's my first brew with it and I've been trying to get the thing to 100 C for about an hour. I don't have the jacket which I figure I obviously now need, but am I doing something wrong ? Anybody else had a similar problem ?

I've wrapped it in 2 fleece blankets and I've gone from being stuck at 94 c to slowly rising and I'm now at 96.5 c

Thanks

Did you check that the power was on full (2400W)? It is very easy on the Gen.4 controller to accidentally adjust something as the upper button on the right cycles between power, temperature and pump percentage. I have a Gen. 4 and the boil on 2400W (full power) is pretty ferocious.

 

[dcbrookes]

Having followed the above thread I wouldn't touch a gen 4 with a barge pole.

Having switched to a Gen. 4 from a Grainfather G40 I found the BZ took a bit of getting used to, but now I have its little foibles sorted out I find it an excellent machine.

 

[ruskythegreat]

I had a similar problem with the 3.1.1 when using it in auto mode it wouldn't get over about 90C and even started to drop. I switched to manual mode and it was fine.

 

[allotment_fox]

I know david Heath made a video on the gen 4 but I found this Video from Mickey Bee's Brewhouse using the PID control some decent details of the heating control you might find of use

 

[Michael Burnley]

Right ! I think i know what the problem was. The heating level in the RAPT Portal was set to 35%, and I'm sure that was my fault, it was my first ever brew with an all in one system and it's certainly going to take some getting used to.

What I as yet do not understand is if I set the temp to say 105deg on the display console, why will it not override the RAPT setting ? It's all a learning curve.

I'm hopefully getting another brew on this Sunday so I can have another go at this.

Thanks everyone for all your great advice

 

[Davegase]

As the title says, it's my first brew with it and I've been trying to get the thing to 100 C for about an hour. I don't have the jacket which I figure I obviously now need, but am I doing something wrong ? Anybody else had a similar problem ?

I've wrapped it in 2 fleece blankets and I've gone from being stuck at 94 c to slowly rising and I'm now at 96.5 c

Thanks

I did my first brew on my new gen 4 last week, I had no problems but I can see how easily you could miss the percentage on the heat control !
Unless there is a fault it should easily reach boil.
It is quite learning curve with a new unit like this.
Make sure that when you set to boil that the heat control is set to 100%, 2400 Watts.
I did a bit of practice over the previous days. It took me a while to learn to use the cycle button to highlight the heat control before adjusting it with the up and down buttons.
I'm one of those idiots who likes to experiment before I've read up.
I hope your unit isn't faulty!!

 

[Michael Burnley]

@Davegase thank you so much, I did not find those settings on the controller, I need to have a play with that, the fog has lifted a little

 

[Empty bottle]

@Davegase thank you so much, I did not find those settings on the controller, I need to have a play with that, the fog has lifted a little

Good luck and i hope you get it boiling like fek.

 

[Michael Burnley]

Did you check that the power was on full (2400W)? It is very easy on the Gen.4 controller to accidentally adjust something as the upper button on the right cycles between power, temperature and pump percentage. I have a Gen. 4 and the boil on 2400W (full power) is pretty ferocious.

I am now fairly certain that my problem lies within this reply

 

[gavp1979]

Hopefully the rapt setting was the issue, I have a Gen4 and have never had a problem reaching the boil even when brewing outside in winter, I do use the insulated jacket though

 

[lmbollinger]

Had a similar problem on a friend’s gen 3 brewzilla. I use a digiboil which is essentially the same device (even same manufacturer) but without a recirc pump. I never have trouble boiling even in the garage with no insulation. I’m guessing there’s an issue with one of the heating elements. If you (like me) don’t have a voltmeter, try heating some water with each element independently (and combined). It should give you an idea of which (if either) element is malfunctioning

 

[MashBag]

A cheap way to test the element would be with an energy meter.

Power Meter Energy Monitor

Find the wattage of each element. Turn them on independently read the meter.
Then you know if it's the element(s) or the controller.

You also have something to photograph for the supplier when it goes back.

 

[Michael Burnley]

Anybody know how to turn the elements on/off independently?

Many thanks

 

[MashBag]

If you can't don't worry.

Check the total wattage against the label when boiling. You will know.

 

[Davegase]

Anybody know how to turn the elements on/off independently?

Many thanks

This is a fairly good guide on YouTube.


There are quite a few other informative videos from the likes of David heath.
Gash on (The HomeBrew channel).
I said before it is a learning curve, I've only done one brew on it myself.
I created a couple of profiles and downloaded to the Brewzilla.
It might be better to do a couple of brews manually before you go down that route. I hope this helps good luck Michael.
P.S. where would we be without YouTube

 

[jdunn]

Just to bring this one back alive as I am looking for some help.

I did my first all grain brew yesterday in BZ gen 4 without heat exchange dish and the mash temps were all over the place but this pay have been the PID settings as I assumed it would come out the box correct and they weren't but brew is done now do too late. My main concern which I'm really unsure about is the boil as above. I had it to 100% heating power gets from mash out of 75 to 98 in about 15 minutes so don't think the element is faulty but then sits at about 98.5 and will just not go above. Is this settings or is this a fault do you think?
Thanks

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Just to bring this one back alive as I am looking for some help.

but then sits at about 98.5 and will just not go above. Is this settings or is this a fault do you think?
Thanks

Was the wort boiling? ie you saw it boiling?
If you are at altitude your boil point will be lower.
If you did have boil and aren't high there is a way to calibrate/ correct the sensor offset.
Mash temps all over the place seems common with bz4 due to poor flow across the base sensor. Hence the aftermarket diffuser to help this.
My AIO became consistent once I'd modded so I could mix the wort between malt pipe and wall plus the wort in base of kettle whilst mashing and was using the pid.

 

[jdunn]

Was the wort boiling? ie you saw it boiling?
If you are at altitude your boil point will be lower.
If you did have boil and aren't high there is a way to calibrate/ correct the sensor offset.
Mash temps all over the place seems common with bz4 due to poor flow across the base sensor. Hence the aftermarket diffuser to help this.
My AIO became consistent once I'd modded so I could mix the wort between malt pipe and wall plus the wort in base of kettle whilst mashing and was using the pid.

It did look like it was boiling but not very vigorous. Does it matter that much as long as the water is bubbling a little? If this is fine then I will need to get the mod for the bottom plate and maybe recalibrate the sensors.