Hambleton Bard to doscontinue s30 refills

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I run two budget PBs each with a basic cap fitted with a relief valve but no gas injection. I have on many occasions got down to the bottom of the PB without running out of puff, but if it does lose too much pressure I simply reprime and off we go again.
So anyone who is thinking of abandoning their PBs due to lack of S30 refills could consider doing what I do. Basic caps cost no more than a fiver (at least for 2" cap PBs) and this will allow you to continue using your PB until it fails and you have to bin it.
 
What really boils my p*ss is that they still extol the virtues of the S30 on their website...

Thousands of homebrewers inconvenienced, and hundreds of suppliers left with worthless stock.

Pah!
 
All homebrew shops should refuse to stock any other of their products and we all should not buy any what a %^$£ attitude to retailers and buyers.
 
Does anyone know the thread specs for the HB valve to bottle thread? If it's M18x1.5, there's an adaptor on ebay that will convert the old HB bottle into a SodaStream (£7.33 inc postage)...

My son's HB bottle is due to run out soon so I'll be checking ;-)
The thread is an odd one, M18x2 I'm afraid.
 
Just checked the thread on the neck of an old HB bottle. Mine is M16x1.5 so no good for the M18x1.5 adaptor on ebay. Think again...
 
All the S30 bottles I have come across have a female M18 x 2mm pitch on them, whereas the standard metric thread is M18 x 1.5 pitch. Soda stream bottles have a weird course male thread on them, and paint ball bottles have a male 5/8" UNF thread on them. Hope this helps.
 
I was looking at the the female thread of the bottle itself after unscrewing the brass S30 valve. I was wondering about replacing the S30 valve with a Soda Stream compatible valve, using the original HB bottle as an alternative to buying whole new Soda Stream bottles.
 
I was looking at the the female thread of the bottle itself after unscrewing the brass S30 valve. I was wondering about replacing the S30 valve with a Soda Stream compatible valve, using the original HB bottle as an alternative to buying whole new Soda Stream bottles.
If you hang on a couple of days, I may be able solve this problem.
 
Surely there's an easier solution to this....? Anything from internet sources like China?
Plenty of information on refilling both soda stream and paint ball cylinders, but none on S30 ones, presumably as they were reasonably cheap. I am just awaiting a crucial adapter to see whether I have come up with an answer to this problem, and typically it was not in yesterday or today's post. Watch this space!
 
I boycotted them over a year ago, and don't think I'm the only one.
I can't see them being around much longer...
Yes, and with an attitude like theirs, I can't think anyone at HB would be stupid enough to think they will. Talk about hitting the self detruct button! Does make me wonder if it is a sign of a more serious underlying problem at HB....
 
My assistant brewer (grandson) and I spent a jolly evening yesterday refilling a load of empty S30 cylinders for our local home brew shop, so they at least will be able to keep their customers happy for a while following Hambleton Bard’s decision not to refill them anymore.

We found that the actual weight of CO2 transferred from the 6Kg donor bottle we used, varied from a bit over the quoted 240gms, to only half that, but beggars can’t be choosers, and if the choice is between no gas, or a ¾ full S30 for ¾ the price, I know which I’d take!

If the new supplier mentioned on Home Brew Life facebook page fails to materialise, I will be happy to tell anyone interested how we filled them, but must warn it cost a bit to set up.
 
If the new supplier mentioned on Home Brew Life facebook page fails to materialise, I will be happy to tell anyone interested how we filled them, but must warn it cost a bit to set up.

Sounds like their could be a little side line there why not get in first as there obviously is demand.

.
 
I've also heard that that the production/refilling of S30's is, in fact, already under way. As yet I have not been told
of any price changes, but wouldn't be at all surprised to see a small increase. I'll let you know when I order some
next week...
 
Sounds like their could be a little side line there why not get in first as there obviously is demand.

.
As the Queen’s grandfather was on the throne when I was born, I’m not really looking for a side line! However our local home brew shop owner seems keen to take it on, at least for local customers.

One of the S30’s pin was rattling around inside it, caused by a retaining tube becoming unscrewed I found. One of the newer stainless ones, the machine work on this fitting is so perfect that it makes me proud to be British (assuming the ‘Made in Britain’ refers to the cylinder, and not just the label, he added cynically).

It just doesn’t make sense that a firm that has obviously spent great trouble perfecting such a good system, should render them obsolete overnight because of a problem with their refilling system, and I suspect there is much more to the story than they are admitting.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top