As for the black chrome, there WAS a negative comment about it, for the life of me I can't remember the thread or the content, I was in the process of building a serving fridge for a mate and he liked the look of them then saw something on the forum and went with SS instead, Yeees Weal the same tap just SS not black.
You raise some interesting points, spare shuttle??? wtf! WHY?............................... OK so that 12.5 mins of my life gone (the nuka vid)
NOW it's exactly the same price as the inter @ $24 so where's your "double the price"??
On something like this material cost is the least of your worries (unless you're making it out of unobtainium/gold) cmon weal you're not that stupid, casting and machining is easily where the coin is, after R&D of course.
Thermal mass heats up cools down? This is application specific, there will be times when the heavy weight performs better and vice versa, I disagree with Kee's assertion that the nuka will outperform the inter/ultra (I can't see the difference between them even though a comparison was done at the other place) in every circumstance, horses for courses but the nuka may be in front.
Spare shuttle? now THAT's a fkg worry, for a couple of reasons,
first of course is "where the fk did I put that spare shuttle" in 3? 5? yrs
second given KL's propensity for improvement is when you can't find your spare shuttle in 5yrs time does their website say "superseded"?
Having said that of course does it matter, because at these prices who gives a ****? The main reason I support KL is they have reduced the price of a tap from $200 to $24, a bottle of CO2 from $350 to $90 FULL! and all the other stuff that goes along with it, no longer is bottling the norm for the battler, and kegging for the better off, sure their gear isn't made to Rolls Royce standards, but you don't need to be a millionaire to drive one of their cars.
Personally I think you're being a bit one eyed here (no surprise) however Kee talking about roughness on the shuttle was a giggle, early last year I sent a couple back for being too rough (another build) after being told by KL that they would "bed in" they replaced them no problem but the real issue of course was QC and tolerances, I hope the cylinder that rubber (yeh whatever it is) shuttle is operating in is a LOT smoother than the inters I've used. If not well at $24 a tap just buy new ones.
Wish I could remember what the bloody issue was with black chrome. Bloody hell nearly 7.0pm time for a brew, decisions, decisions??? bugger it, been a large day gonna do a Belgium.
Could it be that black chrome would be more easily applied to brass? The black taps are actually annodised stainless steel.
The price, maybe I looked at the flow control just saw they were in the $40 something range.
The point is when you buy raw material like 304 it is bought on weight, melted and cast into taps, fettling, polishing and machining remain at a constant value. Any saving would have to be made on weight, so a slightly bigger core will drop the weight. Next saving, the shuttle not stainless steel, a cheaper lighter material, so cheap the are willing to throw in a spare, remember the taps were weighed with shuttles in.
So a tap which has been proved to last over 500 years, to a tap with a spare shuttle with an unknown working life expectancy. Both the same price, which one would the punter be better off with?
OK I say that tongue in cheek, the robot didn't do a million pours, I timed its pull rate and it would have taken almost 2 months. Neither was there ever a robotic tig welder welding the inside of the mini kegs, going in through a 35 mm hole with cable and wire feed. (and doing it on a production line)
But people believe it, gullible people, and the sad part is, it is usually the gullible people who are usually those with little excess income.
But as a fact, when Brad Amidzich the inventor of the Intertap and Ultratap, owner of Vent-Matic he bought back from an establishment in Melbourne one of his original Flo taps which had been pulling beers commercially without any problems or 'O' ring changes for almost 15 years. Same principal as the two mentioned above with the stainless shuttle.
We have enjoyed good prices in the last couple of years, much to the loss of incomes to home brew shops, making things cheaper isn't a way forward, quality, quality control (difficult when a factory is in another country) and value for money is all a customer wants.
Not to listen to dribble about robotic arms doing a million pulls fictitious robots welding the inside of kegs, thermal mass etc.
