Consistent Problems

[Captain 3 Droids]

55 minutes ago, Garth Moulton said:

Hey Guys,

Unfortunately I'm experiencing the same issue with the Lid seal refusing to stay in place since I removed it for cleaning after my first ever brew with the BeerDroid.

I've trawled the web and read through all the posts on both the Coopers Community Forum and here and can confirm I'm inserting the seal the right way around. As per the BrewAart FAQ #14

14. I have removed the lid seal, cleaned it and refitted but now I can’t get the lid back on. Have I damaged the seal?

Make sure to insert the lid seal so that the ridged section of the seal is inserted into the slot, and the raised part of the seal is towards the centre of the lid. The lid seal tends to stretch as it is inserted; it is best to insert each end first and then work the seal back.

After I removed and gently cleaned the seal for the first time, since putting it back in it just partially falls out when turning the lid upside down. It looks fine after inserting the seal, with the raised inner seal part towards the centre of the lid, but the slot just won't hold the seal in place anymore.

I managed to get the seal into place for long enough to slowly and gently get the Lid back on for my second brew, but as expected today when I gently opened the lid to dry hop, 3/4 of the seal fell into the wort 🤦‍♂️

There does seem to be multiple reports of this issue, so I'll reach out to the @BrewArt Team directly to see if they can suggest anything.

Cheers.

 

Sorry to here however not a common problem as far as I know. Good you have referenced to BrewArt Team. The seal is generally a tight fit. You have the lid on now and is it sitting flat all the way around?

[Garth Moulton]

6 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Sorry to here however not a common problem as far as I know. Good you have referenced to BrewArt Team. The seal is generally a tight fit. You have the lid on now and is it sitting flat all the way around?

Thanks for the reply.

Yep. I sanitised my hands and pushed the seal back in, using my finger to gently run along the back of the ridged section of the seal to ensure the trim was all the way back into the slot. Then after dry hopping, I slowly and gently replaced the lid and made sure everything lined up and the lid went back on nice and flat all the way around.

I suspect (and really hope) the seal is staying put once the lid goes back on, but is coming loose after opening the lid. And I agree this doesn't seem to be a common problem, but there enough reports to suggest there might be something out of the ordinary causing the seal to be a loose fit.

Once I keg this batch and clean things up I'll get some photo's of everything to show the BrewArt team.

Cheers

[Captain 3 Droids]

2 minutes ago, Garth Moulton said:

Thanks for the reply.

Yep. I sanitised my hands and pushed the seal back in, using my finger to gently run along the back of the ridged section of the seal to ensure the trim was all the way back into the slot. Then after dry hopping, I slowly and gently replaced the lid and made sure everything lined up and the lid went back on nice and flat all the way around.

I suspect (and really hope) the seal is staying put once the lid goes back on, but is coming loose after opening the lid. And I agree this doesn't seem to be a common problem, but there enough reports to suggest there might be something out of the ordinary causing the seal to be a loose fit.

Once I keg this batch and clean things up I'll get some photo's of everything to show the BrewArt team.

Cheers

Thanks Garth. The fact that you have the lid on may well actually fix the problem and secure the seal in the lid. Let’s hope so.

 

[Garth Moulton]

2 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Thanks Garth. The fact that you have the lid on may well actually fix the problem and secure the seal in the lid. Let’s hope so.

 

It’s the same trick I used to get the lid on before I put down my second batch, but the seal fell out as soon as I opened it for dry hopping today, so I’m not holding high hopes it’s fixed it, just as long as it’s at least keeping the seal in place until it’s kegging time.

Plus I’ll need to remove it again for cleaning so I suspect I’ll be back to square one when putting down the next batch.

Time will tell, I’ll report back in a few days.

Cheers 

[Captain 3 Droids]

Just now, Garth Moulton said:

It’s the same trick I used to get the lid on before I put down my second batch, but the seal fell out as soon as I opened it for dry hopping today, so I’m not holding high hopes it’s fixed it, just as long as it’s at least keeping the seal in place until it’s kegging time.

Plus I’ll need to remove it again for cleaning so I suspect I’ll be back to square one when putting down the next batch.

Time will tell, I’ll report back in a few days.

Cheers 

Unless I’ve had an overflow or krausen has got on the lid I don’t remove the seal. I wipe any condensation off with a paper towel then put the lid on its back and give a good sanitise spray with Starsan and leave while I clean the Droid. When you think about it, it makes sense.

Cheers

[Garth Moulton]

6 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Unless I’ve had an overflow or krausen has got on the lid I don’t remove the seal. I wipe any condensation off with a paper towel then put the lid on its back and give a good sanitise spray with Starsan and leave while I clean the Droid. When you think about it, it makes sense.

Cheers

That does make sense.

I read while researching cleaning posts some people remove and clean the seal religously between each brew, regardless of overflow. Perhaps I was a little over cautious removing and cleaning it so soon, although my first brew was a Pineapple crush IPA which did overflow.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm currently brewing a Caramalt Amber Ale that hasn't made made too much mess in the droid, I'll see if I can keep the seal in place and clean and sanitise the lid as per your method above to see if it helps.

Do you use any keg lube around the droid lid/seal?

Cheers.

[Dustin Frothman]

6 hours ago, Garth Moulton said:

That does make sense.

I read while researching cleaning posts some people remove and clean the seal religously between each brew, regardless of overflow. Perhaps I was a little over cautious removing and cleaning it so soon, although my first brew was a Pineapple crush IPA which did overflow.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm currently brewing a Caramalt Amber Ale that hasn't made made too much mess in the droid, I'll see if I can keep the seal in place and clean and sanitise the lid as per your method above to see if it helps.

Do you use any keg lube around the droid lid/seal?

Cheers.

Hey @Garth MoultonI always remove and clean the seal irrespective of overflow, but it's personal preference I guess.

I'm sure Brewart Customer Service will sort you out if there's any issue with your seal. I'm always careful to clean mine with warm-ish water (and sodium percarbonate) only.

Some keg lube on the Droid lid is a good idea and I have been doing this for a while now with good results.

[Garth Moulton]

Cheers Fellas, appreciate all the feedback.

The BrewArt guys have been in contact super quick and are going to help me troubleshoot the issue.

One thought I had today, because I brew <> clean <> brew back to back, the lid and seal has still been a little wet when putting the seal back into the lid, so perhaps I might have more luck letting both the lid and seal dry completely before putting the seal back in. Might be a long shot, but it might stay put if both the plastic and rubber components are dry to start with.

Will test that out this weekend before I put down the next batch.

Cheers.

[Dustin Frothman]

15 hours ago, Garth Moulton said:

because I brew <> clean <> brew back to back, the lid and seal has still been a little wet when putting the seal back into the lid, so perhaps I might have more luck letting both the lid and seal dry completely before putting the seal back in.

I usually put the seal of my Droid in wet; as in the lid is wet with Starsan and the seal comes wet out of a container of Starsan too.

I wonder if your seal has stretched a little? Perhaps try putting it in a vessel of iced water or even just up the back of the fridge and see if it shrinks.

Otherwise I'm sure the Brewart team will sort you out pretty quickly and even send you a new seal if yours is faulty.

[Garth Moulton]

Miscalculated when kegging was due as I didn’t take into account the extra 24-48 hrs for clearing hops. I guess this batch won’t be ready until Tuesday for kegging as it only starting cold crashing this morning.

On a more serious note, when checking how the brew was looking through the clear beer level indicator on the front of the droid, I noticed it has a slight purple tinge to it. I’ve been checking most days, so it seems to have only appeared either yesterday or today. From what I can find when googling this kind of reaction it seems like oxidisation is the most likely cause…. Which I guess most likely means the seal hasn’t actually stayed in place like I had hoped.

Bit gutted TBH, but I won’t ditch the batch just yet. I’ll see how it looks and smells when it’s ready for kegging, but I’m not getting my hopes up it will be worth keeping.

see pic below, it was supposed to be an Amber Ale ☹️

On the upside, Liam from BrewArt Team has been super helpful and has offered to swap the lid and seal for a new one so he can investigate. 
 

cheers

[Garth Moulton]

Wonder if I should just kill the program and keg it now to save further oxidisation in case it can be saved.

Any advice/suggestions would be welcome 🤔

Cheers

[Dustin Frothman]

1 hour ago, Garth Moulton said:

Wonder if I should just kill the program and keg it now to save further oxidisation in case it can be saved.

Any advice/suggestions would be welcome 🤔

Cheers

It’s black in there so the colour through the sight glass doesn’t mean much.

There’s not much to be gained by killing the program. Just let it finish, taste, keg and then try in a month or so.

Waste not want not.

[Captain 3 Droids]

On 12/11/21 at 11:13 AM, Garth Moulton said:

Do you use any keg lube around the droid lid/seal?

No haven’t needed to do that but I do put a little dap on the lid “lug” that locks it

 

1 hour ago, Garth Moulton said:

Wonder if I should just kill the program and keg it now to save further oxidisation in case it can be saved.

Any advice/suggestions would be welcome 🤔

Cheers

A Amber brew is reddish, as Dustin states, let it ferment, taste smell keg. It should be ok.

[Eltham Brauhaus]

On 14/11/2021 at 5:01 PM, Garth Moulton said:

Wonder if I should just kill the program and keg it now to save further oxidisation in case it can be saved.

Any advice/suggestions would be welcome 🤔

Cheers

Try a small sample now. If it smells and tastes OK then no problems

[Eltham Brauhaus]

On 12/11/2021 at 6:31 PM, Dustin Frothman said:

Hey @Garth MoultonI always remove and clean the seal irrespective of overflow, but it's personal preference I guess.

I'm sure Brewart Customer Service will sort you out if there's any issue with your seal. I'm always careful to clean mine with warm-ish water (and sodium percarbonate) only.

Some keg lube on the Droid lid is a good idea and I have been doing this for a while now with good results.

I always use lube on the lid seal once the seal is in place. It certainly helps at the end of the brew when opening the lid for cleaning.

[Garth Moulton]

Cheers Fellas.

The Amber smelt and tasted good so went ahead with kegging.

After cleaning I've put down an Ironbark Dark Ale with Caramalt infusion. I've noticed there is still a slight purple hint when looking through the level indicator with the backlight on, So it's likely it's just something to do with the level indicator, which is a bit of a relief. As mentioned by Dustin it is Dark AF in there especially with the Dark Ale, so probably nothing to worry about.

Will figure out the seal issue with Liam and report back one resolved, in case anyone else has the same issue.

Cheers

[J P]

On 13/11/21 at 10:03 AM, Dustin Frothman said:

I usually put the seal of my Droid in wet; as in the lid is wet with Starsan and the seal comes wet out of a container of Starsan too.

I wonder if your seal has stretched a little? Perhaps try putting it in a vessel of iced water or even just up the back of the fridge and see if it shrinks.

Otherwise I'm sure the Brewart team will sort you out pretty quickly and even send you a new seal if yours is faulty.

Two things that have helped me:

ensure the seal groove is mostly dry (shake it upside down) and give the seal a swing to fling off any large liquid and pull it thru santiZed fingers or cloth to dry it. 
 

secondly two of my seals seem to have stretched.   So I installed them and tucked them into the groove Starting at one end and snipped the excess to EXACTLY the length of the groove and all seems well.  
 

measue 3 times and cut once.   PRIOR to drinking any of your product.   🤓

[Garth Moulton]

Hey Fellas,

Thought I would provide a quick update on the lid seal issue in case it helps anyone else with a similar problem.

After getting in contact with the BrewArt Team, they quickly sent me a replacement lid and seal which seems to have fixed the issue. I've done several brews with the new setup and have had no issues with the seal not staying put. I did compare the length of the seals before sending my old lid and seal back to BrewArt for investigation, and could see my original seal was longer than the replacement one, so I guess either the seal stretched or was supplied a little longer than it should have been. 

Either way the BrewArt guys were super helpful and quick to resolve the issue. I was so satisfied that I purchased a 2nd Droid (brand new unopened at an irresistible price on Gumtree) 😄

See pic for reference, cheers....

[Captain 3 Droids]

13 minutes ago, Garth Moulton said:

Hey Fellas,

Thought I would provide a quick update on the lid seal issue in case it helps anyone else with a similar problem.

After getting in contact with the BrewArt Team, they quickly sent me a replacement lid and seal which seems to have fixed the issue. I've done several brews with the new setup and have had no issues with the seal not staying put. I did compare the length of the seals before sending my old lid and seal back to BrewArt for investigation, and could see my original seal was longer than the replacement one, so I guess either the seal stretched or was supplied a little longer than it should have been. 

Either way the BrewArt guys were super helpful and quick to resolve the issue. I was so satisfied that I purchased a 2nd Droid (brand new unopened at an irresistible price on Gumtree) 😄

See pic for reference, cheers....

Glad that’s sorted Garth and sure may be a help to someone else. So two Droids, your on the way so what’s brewing?

[Garth Moulton]

45 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

Glad that’s sorted Garth and sure may be a help to someone else. So two Droids, your on the way so what’s brewing?

Yep, I like brewing from Cans from time to time, so having 2 is perfect for splitting a can into each and tweaking the recipe to see what changes/improvements can be made - while I'm still learning the ropes!

I only picked up Droid #2 yesterday so it's currently sanitising, but currently Droid #1 is just doing a basic Coopers Lager with BE3. I wanted to keep it simple for this one to see how the basic Coopers Lager kit turns out. Prior to that I've done a Mr Beer Amber Ale, Black Rock Nut Brown Ale, Morgans Pale, Morgans Ironbark Dark ale and a Morgans Ginger Beer over Xmas. I've been tweaking the recipes here and there while trying different hop combinations to try understand the different characteristics, but surprisingly one of the nicest brews from the Droid was a whole can of Morgans Pale with Kit yeast. I was just experimenting to see how a whole can by itself would turn out, but was pleasantly suprised how clear and tasty it was - although in saying that I know there are a lot of factors that can impact the end result of each brew, and I admit I've been a little excited and probably started sampling the kegs a little too soon.

Early December I brewed a super tasty Black Rock Golden Ale in a Fermenter King Junior (backup fermenter) sitting in an old disconnected fridge that sat around 22 deg stable. I didnt expect much from it, but it's turned out to be one of the best brews so far, so I can't wait to try it again using the Droids this time and try fermenting a lower temp.

Mr Beer Long Play IPA is most likely the next cab off the rank for Droid #2  ☺️

Cheers!

[Dustin Frothman]

1 hour ago, Garth Moulton said:

Hey Fellas,

Thought I would provide a quick update on the lid seal issue in case it helps anyone else with a similar problem.

After getting in contact with the BrewArt Team, they quickly sent me a replacement lid and seal which seems to have fixed the issue. I've done several brews with the new setup and have had no issues with the seal not staying put. I did compare the length of the seals before sending my old lid and seal back to BrewArt for investigation, and could see my original seal was longer than the replacement one, so I guess either the seal stretched or was supplied a little longer than it should have been. 

Either way the BrewArt guys were super helpful and quick to resolve the issue. I was so satisfied that I purchased a 2nd Droid (brand new unopened at an irresistible price on Gumtree) 😄

See pic for reference, cheers....

Thanks for the update.

I reckon one of my lid seals is a bit longer than the other also.

An unused Gumtree Droid at a good price is a great find. I bought my second one that way too.

[Captain 3 Droids]

“Mr Beer Long Play IPA is most likely the next cab off the rank for Droid #2 “ Here’s one recipe I did earlier, it was tops.

https://community.brewart.com/topic/654-customized-brews-outside-of-the-brewprints/?do=findComment&comment=10711

[Garth Moulton]

4 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Thanks for the update.

I reckon one of my lid seals is a bit longer than the other also.

An unused Gumtree Droid at a good price is a great find. I bought my second one that way too.

Yep, it was a very good deal and worth the drive to the opposite side of Sydney for collection 🤷‍♂️

It appears to be an older model as the drainage bung is a different design (large rubber piece) and the serial is 01.01.01.0000.XXXX

I've updated to firmware P018 - anything else I need to look out for on these models?

 

[Garth Moulton]

3 minutes ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

“Mr Beer Long Play IPA is most likely the next cab off the rank for Droid #2 “ Here’s one recipe I did earlier, it was tops.

https://community.brewart.com/topic/654-customized-brews-outside-of-the-brewprints/?do=findComment&comment=10711

That sounds and looks awesome. Might have to grab a can of the Diablo on my next shopping run.

Cheers!

[Dustin Frothman]

2 minutes ago, Garth Moulton said:

Yep, it was a very good deal and worth the drive to the opposite side of Sydney for collection 🤷‍♂️

It appears to be an older model as the drainage bung is a different design (large rubber piece) and the serial is 01.01.01.0000.XXXX

I've updated to firmware P018 - anything else I need to look out for on these models?

 

The tap is likely the older style too.

If you ask Liam nicely I'm sure he will be happy to help you out with a replacement tap and bung.