Fermzilla

[KegLand-com-au]

I checked my carbonation caps for seal, I noticed little pieces of rubber sitting on the seal.

As it turns out, the seal sits on the very outside edge of the opening, if you tighten the caps beyond hand tight the seal slips inside the opening and looses seal.

See photos below.

Maybe the plastic varieties of the carbonation caps are the better choice, I believe they don't require a seal.

Yes that is correct. The flat washer inside the carbonation caps can easily be pushed out of the seat if they are over tightened. Especially as these have always been made with a fairly soft seal. If you ever wanted to get some spare seals this cam-lock seal is the correct size for the job:
https://www.kegland.com.au/5-pack-camlock-replacement-silicone-seal.html
Basically it comes down to simply making sure you only tighten these up finger tight.

As you have suggested the plastic carbonation caps that you can see here:
https://www.kegland.com.au/plastic-carbonation-line-cleaning-cap-fermzilla-cap.html

These are excellent and are made from a high grade of engineering plastic. They have no seal like the stainless carbonation caps so even when done up very tight they have no seal to roll out of place or drop out and loose. Even though they are significantly cheaper I actually prefer to use these. The plastic in these is durable, chemical resistant, UV resistant. When purchased in a pack of 10 we give a significant discount on these so they are only about $2 each so cheap enough that if you use them on a coke bottle and take it to a party then it's not a big deal if you loose it.

As much as I love stainless steel I think plastic has it's place as long as the grade is the right grade for the job and it's well designed.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I think I've mentioned this about a 1000 times, glad the message is getting through!

Yes that's for re-emphasising this. We appreciate it. Really none of the fittings on the FermZilla need to be over tightened.

 

[pauly]

As much as I love stainless steel I think plastic has it's place as long as the grade is the right grade for the job and it's well designed.

@KegLand-com-au I have disassembled two of the plastic caps for cleaning and both times the small seal on the inside has broke. Are they not supposed to be disassembled, and is it possible to get replacement seals or should I just bin them?

 

[KegLand-com-au]

@KegLand-com-au I have disassembled two of the plastic caps for cleaning and both times the small seal on the inside has broke. Are they not supposed to be disassembled, and is it possible to get replacement seals or should I just bin them?

We do not have the spare o-rings at the moment and not 100% sure if we are going to stock the spare o-rings in future for a part that we sell this cheap. Eventually once the RRP of the product gets under$4 the cost of posting out o-rings becomes more than what the part is worth.

With that said it's a standard metric oring size that is 1.5mm cross section thickness x 8mm ID. So this is quite a standard o-ring that you can purchase at many different outlets. In fact I saw a pack of 20 on ebay for $4.75.

Without the o-ring in place you can still use the fitting for "gas in" or use it as a standard carbonation cap (without dip tube). But it wouldn't work with the dip tube. So I would say the best option is just to downgrade the fitting to a regular carbonation cap for PET bottles and not even bother changing the o-ring.

Lastly you will find with this fitting that the o-ring compression is quite high and as a result even with a damaged o-ring this fitting may seal anyway. If your o-ring is completely split open it might be stuffed but if the o-ring is only slightly damaged it would probably still work fine.

When inserting this fitting it's best if the o-ring is lubricated (like pretty much all the o-rings that we sell) before assembly. This normally is the best way to ensure your o-rings stay in the best possible condition. Even having them wet is significantly better than inserting with the dry o-ring.

 

[Saersy]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but do people fully disassemble their fermzilla after every brew to clean? Was watching gash and he said he doesn't but mine always get trub and yeast stuck under the butterfly valve cone rubber seal.

 

[WEF]

I don't know if this has been discussed before but do people fully disassemble their fermzilla after every brew to clean? Was watching gash and he said he doesn't but mine always get trub and yeast stuck under the butterfly valve cone rubber seal.

My first few batches i did then after hearing Kee say not to worry about it and to blast it out with water (i use a hose) which has worked great for me to date. I do try and blast the cleaner > clean water > sanitizer into the seal as much as possible afterwards also.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Yeah the hose with a high pressure jet nozzle seems to work quite well so I think save yourself the time and just do that. I have not taken apart mine for several batches and it seems to always clean out really well just with the hose.

 

[Schikitar]

Ouch.. not overly negative but this is not the sort of messaging a product like this needs out there..



..there's a few supporters in the comments but still, the FZ has a sealing problem that should not require TLC and special treatment.

EDIT: Just adding that I like my FZ but I wouldn't buy a second one I don't think.

 

[soreba]

Ouch.. not overly negative but this is not the sort of messaging a product like this needs out there..

Its a bit dodge that he hasn't even let the store potentially resolve the issue. He should have waited until he either has a replacement or refund to throw out a verdict.

 

[Vic]

I have 2 55L FZ and 1 27L FZ. No problems disassembling and reassembling. No problems with leaks. A small amount of silicone lube on the rubber parts makes things much easier. I still have a fermentasauris but prefer the FZ.

 

[awfulknauful]

EDIT: Just adding that I like my FZ but I wouldn't buy a second one I don't think.

Agree, I wouldn't buy again, KL would have been better waiting to get everything right, although maybe this is as good as it gets out of China. I will be ordering the conversion kit for making the Fermentasaurus into the Fermenter King and ordering a second Fermenter King.

 

[Schikitar]

I have 2 55L FZ and 1 27L FZ. No problems disassembling and reassembling. No problems with leaks. A small amount of silicone lube on the rubber parts makes things much easier.

..and I don't think that is an uncommon story BUT there's no denying that there are issues, common issues, KL could probably alleviate most of them with better instructional videos on YouTube as a start IMHO..

 

[Kristian Taylor]

I have 2 55L FZ and 1 27L FZ. No problems disassembling and reassembling. No problems with leaks. A small amount of silicone lube on the rubber parts makes things much easier. I still have a fermentasauris but prefer the FZ.

I have a 55L and love it. No issue sealing and works like a charm. Would totally buy it again.

 

[Norbert]

Ouch.. not overly negative but this is not the sort of messaging a product like this needs out there..



..there's a few supporters in the comments but still, the FZ has a sealing problem that should not require TLC and special treatment.

EDIT: Just adding that I like my FZ but I wouldn't buy a second one I don't think.

Hi Schikitar,
When I disassembled mine, I found it a bit difficult too. Have a look at this link. It just takes a little to get used to it, that's all, nothing wrong with the Fermzilla. Maybe Kegland should do a video how to do it properly.
I disassembled mine a few times now with no problems. What does help, is a second one of the special tools. You find them at hardware stores.
Hope this helps.
I got to say I am very happy with mine after fixing the problems with the seal.
Norbert

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Hi Schikitar,
When I disassembled mine, I found it a bit difficult too. Have a look at this link. It just takes a little to get used to it, that's all, nothing wrong with the Fermzilla. Maybe Kegland should do a video how to do it properly.
I disassembled mine a few times now with no problems. What does help, is a second one of the special tools. You find them at hardware stores.
Hope this helps.
I got to say I am very happy with mine after fixing the problems with the seal.
Norbert

We did make the mistake of over-tightening some of the first batch that was made and this caused some customers to find the valve difficult to get off. With that said as of about 2 months ago we started dispatching all the FermZilla uni tanks without valve attached. So this has eliminated this problem. The other thing is that this has reduced the carton size by a few CM so the shipping cost is also slightly reduced.

So all Australian stock is already packed and shipped like this but some of the international distributors might still have some of the first batch of stock that is trickling through the system. Also by forcing customers to put it together it educates customers that it's a left hand/reverse thread. When we had it pre-assembled customers some customers would not realise and then they would tighten the nut up even more when trying to undo it.

We do dedicate quite a lot of time to product development and in the instance that we find an issue we generally have a solution in the pipeline fairly quickly.

If you do get stuck on how to take it apart we made this video that you might also find useful:

 

[Schikitar]

It's not me that has the issue (my FZ has been pretty great overall) - I was merely pointing out that when you have a FB group full of people who can't get seals to work and international Youtubers (that's a thing now I suppose) talking your products down because they can't manage something like disassembly then there's problem with the messaging from a PR perspective. I wasn't aware of this particular YT vid of yours, thanks, I even searched your channel yesterday and it didn't come up (weird!), I usually point people to these when they're having problems so please continue to put effort into them.

 

[dkril]

It's not me that has the issue (my FZ has been pretty great overall) - I was merely pointing out that when you have a FB group full of people who can't get seals to work and international Youtubers (that's a thing now I suppose) talking your products down because they can't manage something like disassembly then there's problem with the messaging from a PR perspective. I wasn't aware of this particular YT vid of yours, thanks, I even searched your channel yesterday and it didn't come up (weird!), I usually point people to these when they're having problems so please continue to put effort into them.

It's an unlisted video (click through to Youtube, it's noted under the title in small print), so the only way to find it is to be given the URL.

 

[nala]

It's not me that has the issue (my FZ has been pretty great overall) - I was merely pointing out that when you have a FB group full of people who can't get seals to work and international Youtubers (that's a thing now I suppose) talking your products down because they can't manage something like disassembly then there's problem with the messaging from a PR perspective. I wasn't aware of this particular YT vid of yours, thanks, I even searched your channel yesterday and it didn't come up (weird!), I usually point people to these when they're having problems so please continue to put effort into them.

I saw this video on YouTube this week.
The guy who posted lives in Sweden...he is bit of Swedish larrakin ! I think this was completely out of order.
He could have emailed Kegland and asked a question about his concerns.
I recently contacted Kegland and found them very helpful, very quick to respond and very courteous.
I wish them great success with the Fermzilla and feel sure that customer feedback, cons and pros, will sort out any minor problems in the short term.
There is nothing on the market to beat the Fermzilla for,design, innovation and price.

 

[Spence]

Hi all, this is my first post but I have been lurking for a few weeks researching HB equipment as I am planning to get into all grain brewing. I have just come here to add my 2c. I have found that some parts of this thread (and the equipment forums in general) have been a bit fear-mongering/unhelpful. Maybe some members have axes to grind against certain companies/products? Reading the comments here made me hesitant to include the FZ in my wish list for my first brewing setup.

To satisfy my curiosity I went on the KL Home Brew FB Group and created a poll asking about the pefand after 24 hours here are the results (if the results move away from the below I may update this)
1st: "All good, no issues with sealing" 68 votes
2nd: "Had issues, but all resolved now and working well" 28 votes
3rd: "I wish my wife would let me buy one" 13 votes
4th: "Just got one haven't tried it yet" 9 votes
5th: "Unfortunately it does have problems" 8 votes
There were 7 more answers but they didn't directly address FZ performance

Out of a total of 133 votes, 104 votes directly addressed the performance of the FZ (Statistically, a sample size larger than 30 allows you to predict the typical experience of a whole population with a confidence level of over 95%) So, n=104 and n>30 (apologies for bringing math into this).
65.38% of users experienced no issues
26.92% of users had issues now resolved
7.69% of users had problems (I am assuming these are not resolved as a worst case scenario)

For anyone reading trying to make a decision you have a 92.31%(+/- 5%) chance of brewing under pressure and a 7.69%(+/- 5%) chance of the FZ not being for you.

 

[Schikitar]

It's an unlisted video (click through to Youtube, it's noted under the title in small print), so the only way to find it is to be given the URL.

That explains it, should be pinned to the top of the channel!

The guy who posted lives in Sweden...he is bit of Swedish larrakin ! I think this was completely out of order.

I mostly agree with this, doesn't change the fact that has has an audience and has an influence (albeit nothing too huge)..