Brewing Equipment

[Classic Brewing Co]

11 minutes ago, Back Brewing said:

Also it looks like the disconnect is not connected is that right?

No that is just sitting there, it's all hooked up right. I am about to change it over shortly.

[iBooz2]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

When I compare this with the 2.6kg bottle I had filled last week it was a similar scenario, the bottle felt heavy & the gauge was still showing a measure. The internet tells me an empty 6kg bottle wighs 7.3kg - 10.9kg depending on brand, mine are all from KegLand. 

@Classic Brewing Co Phil FYI and also for others, the empty 6.5 Kg Kegland bottle (without regulator / gauges attached) weighs exactly 13.25 Kg.  When it is full, it will weigh between 18.5 Kg and 19.5 Kg.  I weigh mine every time I get them filled so as to not get diddled.    The small 2.6 kg Kegland bottle (again without regulator / gauges attached) weighs exactly 7.0 kg when it is empty and 10.5 Kg when full.

Get yourself one of those travellers suitcase weighing devices.  They are designed to slip the little lanyard through the suitcase handle, and you lift gently, and the digital readout will tell you the weight.  Mine measures the same as the airport scales so pretty much spot on.  You can buy them pretty much anywhere.

Has your gauge setup been in a fridge or a moist environment?

Disconnect it from the bottle and see if the high-pressure dial goes back to zero or very near to it.  Gauge could have been bumped or banged at some stage and is now out of calibration.

 

Edited January 9 by iBooz2

[iBooz2]

42 minutes ago, Back Brewing said:

Looks OK to me I reckon there is something else restricting the flow maybe you have some hop matter in the out post restricting the draw the gauge is showing there is gas in the bottle

Hop matter will never get into the high-pressure side of the regulator unless he puts hops in his C02 cylinder.  edit (forget that sentence as I miss-read the post about the "out post" - sorry @Back Brewing). 

The high-pressure side is separated from the low-pressure side by the regulator.  I have seen some people use gas thread tape on the threads when there is absolutely no need.  So, if @Classic Brewing Co has used that yellow gas thread tape in the past then yes possibility some part of that has been forced into his high-pressure gauge / regulator.

Edited January 9 by iBooz2

[Classic Brewing Co]

24 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

Hop matter will never get into the high-pressure side of the regulator unless he puts hops in his C02 cylinder.  edit (forget that sentence as I miss-read the post about the "out post" - sorry @Back Brewing). 

The high-pressure side is separated from the low-pressure side by the regulator.  I have seen some people use gas thread tape on the threads when there is absolutely no need.  So, if @Classic Brewing Co has used that yellow gas thread tape in the past then yes possibility some part of that has been forced into his high-pressure gauge / regulator.

Thanks all for your help guys, I think I have fixed it, I have changed the gas bottle & Regulator over & it pours a beer.

In answer to some of your answers, it has not been bumped, no yellow tape, no condensation issues it just sits quietly alongside the keg fridge.

In spite of the 6kg bottle feeling moderately heavy & the gauge showing 500 millipascals I reckon it is just empty.

I will be taking it to the LHBS later in the week so I will know for sure then.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Thanks all for your help guys, I think I have fixed it, I have changed the gas bottle & Regulator over & it pours a beer.

In answer to some of your answers, it has not been bumped, no yellow tape, no condensation issues it just sits quietly alongside the keg fridge.

In spite of the 6kg bottle feeling moderately heavy & the gauge showing 500 millipascals I reckon it is just empty.

I will be taking it to the LHBS later in the week so I will know for sure then.

 

Update on the beer dispensing, all OK ATM, currently running a quality control exercise in the name of a dry mouth, new bottle/reg firing, a little heady but I am doing the obvious to bring  it down for tonight's service.

Thanks again guys for all of your input. 

Cheers Phil  

 

 

 

[kmar92]

4 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Update on the beer dispensing, all OK ATM, currently running a quality control exercise in the name of a dry mouth, new bottle/reg firing, a little heady but I am doing the obvious to bring  it down for tonight's service.

Thanks again guys for all of your input. 

Cheers Phil  

 

 

 

Reckon that the high pressure gauge on your KL regulator is cactus, in the photo you took it looks like you connected another gas bottle and regulator, and the KL regulator is on the empty bottle showing the same pressure?

[Shamus O'Sean]

11 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

My flow from the 6kg bottle has slowed to a trickle, it happened yesterday. 

I suspect the gas bottle needs refilling although it is still heavy & the needle is just over the 500 kilopascal reading.

When I compare this with the 2.6kg bottle I had filled last week it was a similar scenario, the bottle felt heavy & the gauge was still showing a measure. The internet tells me an empty 6kg bottle wighs 7.3kg - 10.9kg depending on brand, mine are all from KegLand. 

Has anyone had experience with this - @Red devil 44 are you there?

I don't mind re-filling it but with no way of weighing it, I will have to assume that it is empty.

 

 

My 2 bobs worth:

The high pressure gauge is reading 800psi or just over 5,000kPa.  That is what a normal full keg around 20°C would read.

If the gauge is working properly, if the tank is empty it will read zero.

It will also fall from 800psi to zero over a few days.

So the alleged empty keg, in the above photo, is the one in front.  

You have probably already tried the below, but if not give them a try.

With the tap on the gas bottle open and when you turn the regulator tap in the open direction, does it hiss escaping gas?  An empty gas bottle will not hiss because there is nothing to come out.

Maybe try switching the Triple J regulator onto the allegedly empty keg and see what its high pressure gauge reads.  If it reads the same, then the allegedly empty keg still has gas in it.  Hopefully it reads zero (or close to) to indicate empty or almost there.

I would also try the hiss test with the Triple J regulator on the allegedly empty bottle too.

If no hissing and if the Triple J reg reads effectively zero, the Kegland reg, or at least the gauge is stuffed.  If less than a year old maybe Kegland could help you out.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

My 2 bobs worth:

The high pressure gauge is reading 800psi or just over 5,000kPa.  That is what a normal full keg around 20°C would read.

If the gauge is working properly, if the tank is empty it will read zero.

It will also fall from 800psi to zero over a few days.

So the alleged empty keg, in the above photo, is the one in front.  

You have probably already tried the below, but if not give them a try.

With the tap on the gas bottle open and when you turn the regulator tap in the open direction, does it hiss escaping gas?  An empty gas bottle will not hiss because there is nothing to come out.

Maybe try switching the Triple J regulator onto the allegedly empty keg and see what its high pressure gauge reads.  If it reads the same, then the allegedly empty keg still has gas in it.  Hopefully it reads zero (or close to) to indicate empty or almost there.

I would also try the hiss test with the Triple J regulator on the allegedly empty bottle too.

If no hissing and if the Triple J reg reads effectively zero, the Kegland reg, or at least the gauge is stuffed.  If less than a year old maybe Kegland could help you out.

Hi Shamus, thanks, it is really great getting a response from the guru, I must admit I have never had or seen an empty gas bottle before as most of you know I have only been kegging for inside 2 years, so I appreciate everyone's points & I did mention earlier I had connected the new 9.5l keg to the 2.6kg bottle with the Triple J the regulator after discovering that it was empty confirmed by the LHBS owner whom is a friend of mine, in spite of the weight of the bottle & the gauge reading.

So that has since been re-directed to the main system with a 2.5m beer line & working OK. If you remember I bought the tap that just connects to the keg & it was a bit touchy but it's nearly empty anyway.

I did what you said & there is definitely a hiss & gas when I open the valve on the 6kg bottle, but it refuses to dispense a beer when connected.

I still find it hard to accept the big bottle is empty, but I do remember when @Hoppy81 delivered it, is much heavier from new.

The mystery continues.

Thanks Shamus. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

8 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I must admit I have never had or seen an empty gas bottle before as most of you know I have only been kegging for inside 2 years

Gee that bottle has lasted well.  I ain't no guru, I just read a lot, watch a lot of YouTube, listen to lots of podcasts, and spend a lot of time on this forum, all about brewing.

8 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I did mention earlier I had connected the new 9.5l keg to the 2.6kg bottle with the Triple J the regulator

Yes, I saw that comment.  It seems to be the main thing indicating the big cylinder is empty or at least nearing empty, other than not being able to push beer out.

8 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I did what you said & there is definitely a hiss & gas when I open the valve on the 6kg bottle, but it refuses to dispense a beer when connected.

They can hiss for a while.  I have ran a bottle to completely empty.  To the point there is no hiss.

8 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I still find it hard to accept the big bottle is empty,

See my upper comment.  If you have got 2 years out of that bottle, I think it has done well.  Especially considering how much beer it would have been dispensing.  

What happened when you tried the Triple J regulator on the empty keg?

One other thing to look at with the Kegland regulator:  Connect a gas line and a disconnect on the regulator outlet.  Turn on the gas bottle tap.  Screw in the regulator tap.  What does the dispensing regulator read?  See, when a gas bottle is nearing empty, the high pressure side gauge will start to drop, but the dispensing side gauge will still read, say 12psi.  The dispensing side gauge will not drop until the pressure inside the gas bottle drops below the dispensing setting (12psi).  I have had gas bottles showing almost nothing on the high pressure side, but 10-12psi on the dispensing side and still able to dispense beer.  Mind you, they end up sputtering to nothing.

[Classic Brewing Co]

Recently our good friend @Pale Man sent me an Inkbird ITC-308 WiFi Temperature Controller.

So very gracious of him but I have discovered that apparently the units only support 2.4Ghz - My Optus NBN is 5.8Ghz.

I have gone through the motions & downloaded the mobile app & done the obvious & it actually connects to my Wi-Fi but that's where it stops. It would seem that is as far as I can go with it.

I realise it can be used manually but has anyone else encountered this?

Big shout out to @Pale Man for being such a good bloke & a true-blue Coopers forum supporter. 

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Recently our good friend @Pale Man sent me an Inkbird ITC-308 WiFi Temperature Controller.

So very gracious of him but I have discovered that apparently the units only support 2.4Ghz - My Optus NBN is 5.8Ghz.

I have gone through the motions & downloaded the mobile app & done the obvious & it actually connects to my Wi-Fi but that's where it stops. It would seem that is as far as I can go with it.

I realise it can be used manually but has anyone else encountered this?

Big shout out to @Pale Man for being such a good bloke & a true-blue Coopers forum supporter. 

 

I forgot to mention, I could easily connect to my neighbours Wi-Fi as it comes up in the list of available networks but that is hardly neighborly.  

[iBooz2]

41 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

So very gracious of him but I have discovered that apparently the units only support 2.4Ghz - My Optus NBN is 5.8Ghz.

@Classic Brewing Co , I think you will find your NBN router supports both and they have different SSID's.  One will be called (for example) Phils Optus - 5G (obviously the 5 G band) and the other will just be called Phils Optus.

If it's not displaying the 2.4 G one, you can log into your router and turn it on for both 5.8 and 2.4 or either one of them off etc.  It will be in the Wi-Fi settings webpage in the router.  Its login username and password are on the sticker on the router.

Edited January 13 by iBooz2

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

@Classic Brewing Co , I think you will find your NBN router supports both and they have different SSID's.  One will be called (for example) Phils Optus - 5G (obviously the 5 G band) and the other will just be called Phils Optus.

If it's not displaying the 2.4 G one, you can log into your router and turn it on for both 5.8 and 2.4 or either one of them off etc.  It will be in the Wi-Fi settings webpage in the router.  Its login username and password are on the sticker on the router.

Yeah, thanks Al, I am aware of that, most of them do support 4G & 5G but I am always on the internet & have mostly 4K TV/Monitor's etc. so for now I will deal with the manual setting.

[iBooz2]

14 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Yeah, thanks Al, I am aware of that, most of them do support 2.4G & 5G but I am always on the internet & have mostly 4K TV/Monitor's etc. so for now I will deal with the manual setting.

That is my point, leave all you gear on the 5G band connection and only connect the inky to the 2.4G band when you activate it.  It's not going to make your other gear connect to the 4G band.

Besides the 5G is the bands frequency spectrum and not it's download speed.

Edited January 13 by iBooz2

[Classic Brewing Co]

17 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

That is my point, leave all you gear on the 5G band connection and only connect the inky to the 2.4G band when you activate it.  It's not going to make your other gear connect to the 4G band.

Besides the 5G is the bands frequency spectrum and not it's download speed.

At this stage I haven't been able to connect the Inkbird separately, but I am sure I can, I am not ready to use it until next brew so I will have time to muck about.

I also understand you can adjust it so the Inkbird picks up the lower frequency & give it a name so when you re-connect the other devices, the Inkbird will not try to connect to the higher frequency.

[Shamus O'Sean]

8 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

At this stage I haven't been able to connect the Inkbird separately, but I am sure I can, I am not ready to use it until next brew so I will have time to muck about.

I also understand you can adjust it so the Inkbird picks up the lower frequency & give it a name so when you re-connect the other devices, the Inkbird will not try to connect to the higher frequency.

What @iBooz2 said.  

I had Optus for a while.  I cannot remember the detail, but you will be able to set your router to both a 5G and 2.4G band so the Inkbird can connect to the 2.4G band.  Although, it was a bit tricky to figure out.  I thought I might have been stuck with manually adjusting my wizz-bang wi-fi temperature controller.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

What @iBooz2 said.  

I had Optus for a while.  I cannot remember the detail, but you will be able to set your router to both a 5G and 2.4G band so the Inkbird can connect to the 2.4G band.  Although, it was a bit tricky to figure out.  I thought I might have been stuck with manually adjusting my wizz-bang wi-fi temperature controller.

Thanks Al, I am still working on it, I am offay with the technology just trying to fine tune it.

I will sort it.

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

What @iBooz2 said.  

I had Optus for a while.  I cannot remember the detail, but you will be able to set your router to both a 5G and 2.4G band so the Inkbird can connect to the 2.4G band.  Although, it was a bit tricky to figure out.  I thought I might have been stuck with manually adjusting my wizz-bang wi-fi temperature controller.

I have managed to set it on 2.4Ghz on the phone & I discovered 'AP' mode which prompts it to connect but the error message

'Device not responding check demerit points & retry' bobs up. I think I will study the instructions again as I don't think I re-set it properly. Cheers.

[kmar92]

@Classic Brewing Co I think that you are confusing the whole operation of connecting the Inkbird. If your internet connection is wired into the house, or even if it is not, do not worry about 4G and 5G. If you have a wifi router that is providing a wireless connection to your devices the only thing that you need to worry about with the Inkbird is the wifi router band. Unless you have a wifi router that was shipped out with Thomas Cooper that wifi router will have 2 operating frequencies that are enabled all the time - 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The Inkbird will only operate on the 2.4GHz band with the Wifi router. On your Wifi router there is probably a sticker that shows you the SSID of both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band of you router and also probably the passwords of both. Don't fiddle around with the "AP" mode on your phone. You have to download the Inkbird app to your phone from the Play Store and then open the app and it will prompt you to set up an account with Inkbird and then it will search your Wifi network (make sure you have the Inkbird powered up) and it will show you the networks it can see. Log it into your 2.4GHz network via the SSID and password and you will be good to go

[Classic Brewing Co]

11 minutes ago, kmar92 said:

@Classic Brewing Co I think that you are confusing the whole operation of connecting the Inkbird. If your internet connection is wired into the house, or even if it is not, do not worry about 4G and 5G. If you have a wifi router that is providing a wireless connection to your devices the only thing that you need to worry about with the Inkbird is the wifi router band. Unless you have a wifi router that was shipped out with Thomas Cooper that wifi router will have 2 operating frequencies that are enabled all the time - 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The Inkbird will only operate on the 2.4GHz band with the Wifi router. On your Wifi router there is probably a sticker that shows you the SSID of both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band of you router and also probably the passwords of both. Don't fiddle around with the "AP" mode on your phone. You have to download the Inkbird app to your phone from the Play Store and then open the app and it will prompt you to set up an account with Inkbird and then it will search your Wifi network (make sure you have the Inkbird powered up) and it will show you the networks it can see. Log it into your 2.4GHz network via the SSID and password and you will be good to go

Yes mate, thank you, I understand all of that & I am mostly through it, I have been busy all day & haven't had a chance to get back to it.

No confusion just ready for the next step in the morning. 

I have the best modem/NBN setup that Optus supply.

I appreciate your input @kmar92

Cheers  

 

[kmar92]

Did you make any progress with this @Classic Brewing Co ?

[Classic Brewing Co]

15 minutes ago, kmar92 said:

Did you make any progress with this @Classic Brewing Co ?

No, I have gone through all of the instructions/videos & tried different things but it will not connect, I understand the basics but then I haven't had a lot of time to get at it in more detail. 

[Red devil 44]

Bought a filter system for transferring from fermenter to keg. 
‘Haven’t used it yet, had to change & adapt some fittings to fit my system, no biggie.

[Red devil 44]

Not so much brewing equipment, more drinking equipment

New Powerslave Pint Glass to the growing collection. 
‘Oh, in it is an AG XPA I brewed

[Classic Brewing Co]

29 minutes ago, Red devil 44 said:

Bought a filter system for transferring from fermenter to keg. 
‘Haven’t used it yet, had to change & adapt some fittings to fit my system, no biggie.

Clear beer for RD from now on, good one.