Fermzilla

[Davegase]

Ok forget that question lol. Myself and the husband have just spent the best part of 2 hours fighting to get the bottom bottle off, so not gonna use it now (it’s still not off but we’ve had to go out). Will use it for something else and just use the unit without it. What a waste of money. My husband wants to throw the whole thing in the bin. Stupidest contraption I ever came across. Anyone that wants to buy one, be warned, it’s a massive hassle.

Problems usually stem from over tightening in the first place.
When assembling the unit use keg lube on the thread as well as the seal. And when removing make sure you depressurize before shutting the dump valve. If the collection jar is pressurized it will make it more difficult to loosen, and you may be showered with yeast and trub

 

[Brew_DD2]

I hope he gets commission.

 

[itry]

Fermzila is a good product you just have to learn it. Granted I have moaned about it. But for the money it's good. Bare in mind I've melted one , I've sent one back and I've blown one up. No **** looked like an opened boiled egg. Emergency valve failed massively. But I just replaced all the parts and kept on going. I have a full stainless brew builder set up also that I use. But I still use it

 

[fgoulding]

I decided against the big Fermzilla with the dump jar and bought an AR because the of the reviews from people who found the jar difficult to remove. And whilst I would love a way to remove trube and dry hop, my brews don't stay in the AR too long (thanks to Kveik) and I use magnets with muslin drawstring bags to dry hop (just slide them down the side).

But the All Rounder isn't a bed of roses either. The lid can be a real pain to remove and so I depressurise the AR first, loosen the collar a bit with the rubber lasso and then use CO2 to pop the lid. Works like a charm but you have to be careful not to loosen the collar too much and have the lid hit you!

And by the way, I have nothing against the KegLand snubnose, it's that they are hard to find in Ireland, they are too tall for my fermentation chamber and they're twice the price of the AR. Sure, they might be better quality but I saw the AR as a low cost way into pressure fermentation and I'll probably end up buying some shinny expensive steel unitank in the future (assuming a get a buyer for my kidney)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I had a different problem with my FermZilla straight out of the box had a huge dent in it would not push out read up why it is because air was trapped between the mould and the preform, took it back the second one had stress fractures from the manufacturing process around the neck. Took that back for a refund. Purchased the snub nose with no problem now have moved on to the Apollo's twice the thickness of all the other PET fermenters.

Sounds like the company that sold them need to change courier

 

[hoppyscotty]

Problem with the jar regarding trub removal is the volume of it is too large. Its a litre, so you remove trub and a litre of beer drops in which you can't get out unless you start tilting the vessel to pour it out then you just end up mixing up with whatever settled trub is in the fermenter. I just leave the trub and close off the butterfly valve when transferring beer out to prevent it being mixed up as I do tilt the fermenter a bit to get the last dregs of beer out. If I needed or wanted to remove the trub I'd probably use the screw cap closing off the butterfly valve. Its a shame some company doesn't come in and create an aftermarket product that screws in the the bottom but has a clever valve like the Grainfather conical fermenters have. That would be awesome. Would have to remove the butterfly valve but would be a great little addition.

I've never had an issue removing the jar with the proper too; Works great for me. I never tighten it up much either, just firmly with my hand (not using the tool to tighten up) and it has never leaked even when pressurised. I'm convinced people just tighten things up too tight and that causes the problems. The only thing I tightened up as much as I could was the left hand thread on initial assembly.

 

[foxy]

Sounds like the company that sold them need to change courier

The box it came in was perfect, just a big dent which wouldn't come out!

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Success! At FIL’s house and he put it in his vice along with a sweeping brush handle through the holes! Not chewed up at all, just badly designed ha ha!

 

[Davegase]

Success! At FIL’s house and he put it in his vice along with a sweeping brush handle through the holes! Not chewed up at all, just badly designed ha ha!

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Success! At FIL’s house and he put it in his vice along with a sweeping brush handle through the holes! Not chewed up at all, just badly designed ha ha!

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Just over tightened ha ha !!

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

No it wasn’t actually, but you keep trolling away there.

The conflicting information they give you doesn’t help. On one hand you have to do it up hand tight, and on another hand they tell you to make sure the threads are covered.

 

[Davegase]

No it wasn’t actually, but you keep trolling away there.

The conflicting information they give you doesn’t help. On one hand you have to do it up hand tight, and on another hand they tell you to make sure the threads are covered.

Definitely not trolling, just trying to be helpful , the seal is in a groove around the circumference which means it is not compressed when when tightening , it's the same on the lid assembly. The lid is in 2 parts, 1st part has the seal 2nd part is only a threaded retaining ring.
There is a video on kegland website about assembly.
I really hope you get the hang of it and have success !

 

[Brew_DD2]

Definitely get some lubricant for the moving parts. Makes life a lot easier and should be seen as an essential purchase for anything like this (and that includes kegs).

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Success! At FIL’s house and he put it in his vice along with a sweeping brush handle through the holes! Not chewed up at all, just badly designed ha ha!

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brilliant - well done you

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Thanks TETB! All the FIL’s doing though, can’t take the credit for that!

We’ve put the black bit back on the fermenter but not the bottle, and it fits in the fridge nicely. So we will have this and the all-rounder to use now, along with the method you showed me

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Is there a tube running down to the bottom from one of the disconnect posts? I can‘t see one in the photo

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

At that point there wasn’t no. But we were just trying it for size. It’s now sat pressurised with the dip tube in it and we’re giving it a couple of days to check for leaks and what not.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

It’s now sat pressurised with the dip tube in it and we’re giving it a couple of days to check for leaks and what not.

excellent - of course as I’m sure you’re aware, the internal pressure will drop as the water absorbs CO2 :-)

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I tend to check for leaks on my Cornys by wiping the gap round the lid with a cloth soaked in a strong solution of washing up liquid

 

[dcbrookes]

I spray no-rinse sanitiser to check for leaks - it bubbles up nicely if one is there.

 

[Neil Whittaker]

Long term, you want to find a way to replace your CO2 with compressed air for testing / cleaning. I'm lucky and have an air compressor, but i bet you could also use a bike pump too. Save you loads of CO2 going forward.