Not having a cone like the snub nose makes no sense? A flat bottom FermZilla makes sense? Doesn't hold pressure? A domed bottom FermZilla makes sense?
Priority is to get the FermZilla out into the market place without dents, now that makes sense.
A flat bottom non-pressurisable fermenter is the most basic and least expensive product to supply to a customer which is why it's at the lowest price bracket.
What makes sense is to provide a range of fermenters at different price point and with differing feature set. Some customers don't need to hold pressure and they might want to save a buck. So the FermZilla - Flat Bottom Is for them as it will be about $100 cheaper than the FermZilla Conical Tank currently is.
The reason why the beer industry generally use a cone on a tank is because the cone allows you to collect and then dump the contents of the cone. If you want to make a pressure vessel that doen't dump anything from the cone you really should make the end a dome as a dome is:
1. More compact and will reduce the height of the tank
2. A dome will hold more pressure than a cone
3. As far as blow moulding the vessel a dome end is less problematic to blow and in most instances gives you better material distribution. This results in superior stretch ratio, improved clarity and improved gas barrier and physical properties of the tank.
A cone on a tank comes at a sacrifice. The benefit of being able to dump out of the cone is a great enough benefit to sacrifice some of it's attributes as a pressure vessel. Well this would be the case with a normal conical uni-tank. So to be more clear. When I say it "makes no sense" the snub nose cone has none of the benefits of a cone, only the constraints. This to me "makes no sense".[/QUOTE]
1. I would have said a dome would be about the same height as a FermZilla with the 90 degree included angle.
2. What difference in pressure are we talking, my understanding is most people would not go much higher than 15 PSI, my snubbies do that even with the ball valves in.
3. Don't know the ins and outs of blow molding, if its going to be easier go for it, sounds like those large 50 litre PET kegs with a dome bottom which KK have. (If they read these posts you might have just given the game away.)
I got 2 snubbies for around the same price as a FermZilla, pressure transfer off the yeast, into secondary tip out the saved yeast easy. And the best part is they can easily fit into a kegerator S4,