KegLand Questions and Answers

[KegLand-com-au]

Are there any plans for a RAPT spunding valve? Basically a device that can monitor the pressure, upload telemetry and reduce the pressure when it reaches a programmed threshold. Given how quickly the pressure can rise during high fermentation, it would probably need to be mains operated so that it can perform continuous monitoring and have a PRV so that if there are issues it would fail safe.

Yes we are working on a digital gas controller device that will be able to be used for spunding but it will also be able to be used for other applications like carbonating etc. We still have a bit of work to finish this device off so it's not going to be completed this year.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Thank you for this reply, as you'll see from my question I'm aware that the unit is different. Plug etc.
My question is re the pump on the US brewzilla 65 are you able to answer that question, what is different other than the plug and perhaps volume markings.
Circuit board still runs with 220V input as per Australia and Europe? Or is it that US electrons are different?

The electronics are the same in the USA model. The plug is the main difference. Even the volume markings are the same as we have both Litres and Gallons on both models now.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Excellent news on all the fronts. Thank you for the prompt and informative reply. Also, thanks for the paint tip.



It's the main reason why I am looking at the RAPT temperature controller. I plan on putting a RAPT pill in my thick walled Kegland stainless steel kegmenter, inside a converted (metal) freezer on the far side of the backyard. There's not much chance that the RAPT pill will connect to my WiFi directly. However, if I replace the Inkbird and mount a RAPT temperature controller next to / above the freezer it should work as a Bluetooth to WiFi relay, thus giving me both connectivity and a user interface on the far side of the backyard. That should work, right?

How long is the temperature probe cable? Is there a maximum length if I need to extend it? Currently I have a 2.2m probe cable with close to no slack, so a 2.5~3.0m temp probe cable would be ideal.

Yes that is correct. The RAPT temp controller will use the wifi connection to your household wifi and then the Pill will need to be in Bluetooth mode (not wifi) and then the Pill will give out Low Energy Bluetooth beacons that the RAPT temp controller will pickup and "bridge" back to the RAPT internet portal. This also has the secondary advantage of the Bluetooth signal being very low energy so you might only have to charge your Pill once every year or maybe less.

The probe on the RAPT temp controller is 2meters long. You can cut the cable and extend it but I am not sure what the maximum is. Extending the probe by a few extra meters should not be an issue but you might want to re-calibrate the probe after you extend the cable.

 

[Good Truble]

If the single vessel brewery is stored on the actual brew stand itself when not in used, do we need the brew stand itself to be collapsible or can we just make it so the crane comes off and the height is reduced for storage?

I like my collapsible table because I only brew once a month (two batches, partigyle), and so I like packing everything away the other 29-30 days of the month. But people with a dedicated brewing space (and who probably brew more frequently) would probably prefer something more stable. But removable crane is definitely a winner either way.

 

[Zgavrilovic]

Probably it's already answered somewhere, but I couldn't find it... Any ETA for 65L in Europe?

 

[professional_drunk]

Hi @KegLand-com-au have you got anything in the pipeline which improves on the ergonomics of the beer gun? I hate that little rubber tip which always gets knocked off. I've ended up throwing mine away and putting a valve in the beer line to start and stop the flow.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Probably it's already answered somewhere, but I couldn't find it... Any ETA for 65L in Europe?

It's probably best to check this now with our distributors in Europe. For most of our customers they organize the container shipments from our warehouse so we do not see when the actual ETA of the container will be.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Hi @KegLand-com-au have you got anything in the pipeline which improves on the ergonomics of the beer gun? I hate that little rubber tip which always gets knocked off. I've ended up throwing mine away and putting a valve in the beer line to start and stop the flow.

you mean this type of beer gun right? Yes it's a bit annoying I would agree. You can put a ball valve into the beerline but this to some extend defeats the purpose of the device. The reason why this type of beer gun foams much less is because the tube is kept full of beer right down to the tip and thus this design requires a seal at the tip. With that said we should probably design a better one ourselves.

I should say we have a device that will automatically purge and fill bottles that will come out at the end of the year so if you wanted to wait a bit I think this new device is probably a good option for you.

 

[professional_drunk]

you mean this type of beer gun right? Yes it's a bit annoying I would agree. You can put a ball valve into the beerline but this to some extend defeats the purpose of the device. The reason why this type of beer gun foams much less is because the tube is kept full of beer right down to the tip and thus this design requires a seal at the tip. With that said we should probably design a better one ourselves.

I should say we have a device that will automatically purge and fill bottles that will come out at the end of the year so if you wanted to wait a bit I think this new device is probably a good option for you.

I'm a canner/bottler exclusively so I'm looking for something that'll let me package 50L without a worn out hand or shoulder at the end. Hopefully your device is good for cans too.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I'm a canner/bottler exclusively so I'm looking for something that'll let me package 50L without a worn out hand or shoulder at the end. Hopefully your device is good for cans too.

Yes it will be suitable for bottles and cans and will automatically purge and fill the container. It can fit vessels down to 250ml and be suitable for the large champagne bottles. We are just tooling up at the moment but it will be about 6 months away to get it completed. It will sell for about $100. By the sounds of it it's exactly what you need but it's just not completed yet.

 

[Good Truble]

Yes it will be suitable for bottles and cans and will automatically purge and fill the container. It can fit vessels down to 250ml and be suitable for the large champagne bottles. We are just tooling up at the moment but it will be about 6 months away to get it completed. It will sell for about $100. By the sounds of it it's exactly what you need but it's just not completed yet.

Sounds great. Looking forward to it.

 

[sbowler]

Yes our stock situation is quickly getting better and we are holding more of the spare parts for this kit so we should have the whole kit available in 1-2 weeks.

Hi @KegLand-com-au - Any thoughts on how far away this kit might be?

 

[Ballaratguy]

I'm a canner/bottler exclusively so I'm looking for something that'll let me package 50L without a worn out hand or shoulder at the end. Hopefully your device is good for cans too.

I’ve modified a standard counter pressure bottle filler to do cans (based on the tap filler for cans)
Works beautifully for filling cans)

 

[pauly]

How long is the temperature probe cable? Is there a maximum length if I need to extend it? Currently I have a 2.2m probe cable with close to no slack, so a 2.5~3.0m temp probe cable would be ideal.

I have the temp controller and a pill connected via bluetooth. I don't use the temp probe cable at all, the temp it reports seems WAY off (by like 2.5 degrees) and there is no way to correct it. Pretty annoying!

The pill can report the temp itself and if you pair it with the controller then you can use the pill's temperature sensor and ignore the one on the temp controller probe. I think this is probably better as it's submerged and also it's within 0.2 degrees of the other thermometers I have where is the TC probe is always 2.5 degrees below.

 

[pauly]

I don't use the temp probe cable at all, the temp it reports seems WAY off (by like 2.5 degrees) and there is no way to correct it. Pretty annoying!

I thought this probably couldn't be the case after reading my own message!

I had only looked for a calibration in the captive portal of the device (like calibrating the pill) however I now see that in the menus of the device itself there is a 2-point calibration available.

 

[hawkaboy]

I thought this probably couldn't be the case after reading my own message!

I had only looked for a calibration in the captive portal of the device (like calibrating the pill) however I now see that in the menus of the device itself there is a 2-point calibration available.

Yep was going to say. Mine was about 4 degrees high. I did the calibration and now its about 0.7 lower than the pill reading.

 

[peteru]

The pill can report the temp itself and if you pair it with the controller then you can use the pill's temperature sensor and ignore the one on the temp controller probe.

Can the pill temperature sensor be used to turn on the heating and cooling circuits of the temperature controller, effectively replacing the attached probe?

Even if that is the case, I'd rather calibrate the probe and have an additional data source for the temperature readings. It would be interesting to see how the external probe readings (attached to the thick wall of a stainless steel kegmenter) differ from the readings taken by the pill in the wort. I suspect that with the extra data, it would be possible to tune the PID parameters to have a more energy efficient solution.

 

[Half-baked]

I’ve modified a standard counter pressure bottle filler to do cans (based on the tap filler for cans)
Works beautifully for filling cans)

Hey @Ballaratguy , I’ve been wondering how to do this myself. What did you use, would you mind posting pictures? Thx

 

[pseudopsud]

@KegLand-com-au my pill hydrometers gather yeast throughout the fermentation, they build up on the upper end of the pill, which messes up the balance so the only useful information I get is starting gravity and the fact that fermentation has stopped when the gravity graph becomes level. It seems the yeast gets a foothold in the dimple on the end of the coloured half of the pill case, so it doesn't fully wash off when I shake the fermenter (though it's hard to shake a full 60L fermzilla)

Is there any way to prevent this?

 

[hawkaboy]

Can the pill temperature sensor be used to turn on the heating and cooling circuits of the temperature controller, effectively replacing the attached probe?

Even if that is the case, I'd rather calibrate the probe and have an additional data source for the temperature readings. It would be interesting to see how the external probe readings (attached to the thick wall of a stainless steel kegmenter) differ from the readings taken by the pill in the wort. I suspect that with the extra data, it would be possible to tune the PID parameters to have a more energy efficient solution.

Yep, i have the temp controller using the pill temperature as the controlling temperature. You can put the probe anywhere else and can monitor it but it does not use this