grainfarther first impressions..

[Fil]

a big box arrived this afternoon....

the grainfarther arrives a little more incomplete than the assembly instructions in the good looking booklet expect, the pump exit arm/straight isnt fitted and needs friction fitting into the pump exit grommet and securing with a nut/bolt onto the main pot anchor point. easily done..

well opening the box everything is packed well the chiller is complete plumbed up to beer in/out tubes and the water in out tubes too just leaving the fitting of the bits you need to connect to tour water source, lots of fittings included....


once you have added the pump exit up tube you can follow the assembly instructions easily enough,

first adding the probe pocket and the hop filter (push on)..



Straight out of the box there is a ding in the pot.. not big enough to make a fuss about but big enough to dampen my excitement .. gnash gnash!!
at about 9-10 oclock in the pic above..



it all fits together nicely, and the complaint it takes ages to screw on the sparge arm/chiller feed fittings has been listened to as it takes 6 turns of the fittings on the uk shipped model..

the glass lid Isnt ment to be clamped on with the lid clamps thats for stilling only, Big label attached to a clamp, I ignored it and spotted it too late

set up with the lid clamped ( whoops dont do that!!)


all ready for a pre brew clean, i hope to get a brew in it saturday am at the latest i have some MO and a 100g pack of 2014 amarillo so have a fragrant smash planned..

the controller is and stc200?? but with 1 probe 1 x element feed and 1 x pump feed it looks very promising to apply the stc1000+pi hack (i have one flashed waiting..)

the thing comes with lots of spare seals and washers the sparge arm and cooler fittings have washers mounted

And a really useful thermal cut out reset button central in the base???
]

the spot welding on the top plate brackets look a lil heat damaged and prone to rust, and the plate isnt flat tho needs to be flexible to fit in and seal i guess.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/rLqPFq]


And Yes it is a miniature sprirts bottle ally screw on cap thats supplied as a grain stopper for the overflow tube when mashing/doughing in.. hrmphhhh!! that is a bit cheap n nasty, light and easy to get knocked off, I think i will secure with a few rounds of ptfe tape for the first use and before i get a nice diy silicone friction fit cap sorted..

all in all its pretty much what i hoped for and expected looking forward to a test brew with it..

[beerlover1983]

Nice one happy brewing.I must say im very dissapointed that they still using the still spirits lid as i was led to belive this was going to be sorted for uk release.

[beerlover1983]

Could you take some pics of the the part where pump goes into the gf and the recirc pipe please

[AnthonyUK]

Is the grainfarther the high efficiency version of the grainfather?

I'm looking forward to hearing how you first brew goes!!

[Fil]

BL... will do l8r

AUK.. I assume so.. the malt tube fills the boiler pot..

[Stewb]

don't let the ding get you down- it still looks a nice bit of kit and if it makes things easier...!

(what an incredibly well positioned thermal cut out reset)

[Fil]

as requested

and the pump..


the friction fit using a soft silicone grommet to connect the pump to its in/out feeds is the sort of cheap simple solution i can get on board with unlike the bottle cap

Cheers Stewb, it just draws my focus and attention..but if its the only problem with a new to market machine i think im doing well

[steambrew]

I think your pics and discription of this product is first class and I along with many others await your report on your first brew with it ,
I have ordered one but have to wait until the end of April for it to come, I have a question what plug is fitted to the mains electricity lead , but thanks for your report

[beerlover1983]

thanks for pics looks different from the unit i tested.I guess you could allways fit some hose clamps if it became a issue but it looks solid.

Still think this is a great machine and sounds like alot of what i had issues with have gone so far

[Fil]

quick update..

Brew got delayed ;( the 30 minute wiring job i needed to complete in order to brew up the shed has taken til 30 mins ago to complete and has left the brewshed in a bomb crater state and without a terminated water supply ( for now) However I now have 2 X rcd/mcb protected 16a rings in the shed (that dont trip as soon as powered....&^%$£@@*&^%!!!- i had shaved a bit of earth wire cutting the sleeve end off twin n earth) it had punctured the green/yellow sleeve and was pushed up against a mm of bare neutral copper when compressed within a boxed fitting!!!!!! aarrghhhhhh!!!!!! must have had that socket box opened and closed 30 times..

So looking at tomorrow evening now, I will be heading back up in a lil bit and clear up all the tools replumb the hlt feed water pipeing. and get ready for the next evening.. first i need to find the owner of the trampoline thats just landed on the lawn ..If it stays in my back yard.. come on you wind pick up again..

Beerlover.. i was looking out for the issues you had discovered,, and was surprised when i had fitted the sparge arm with only half a dozen turns.. the only problem i can see so far is the printed assembly instructions assume the pump out pipe is fitted, while it arrives un fitted.
There is a jubille clip in one of the bags of fittings, i think it will be clamped around the pump out pipe joint to the silicone grommet, otherwise the restricted pump flow could find a way out here..

[Fil]

Right.. i have given the g/f a cleaning run with PBW.. I mislaid the chiller connection fittings only to find them sat in front of me after i sorted out an alternative

It all works as it should

after fitting the jubilee clip on the pump out tube connection - no leaks at all thou do take cate to open the pump flow valve and let liquids find their level befor disconnecting the sparge arm or chiller

all ready to go next opportunity i get to brew (fingers crossed tomorrow pm..)

[sladeywadey]

Fil did you get round to brewing with it yet?

[bobsbeer]

Looks good Fil. For those attending The Festival you will get the chance to get up close and personal with this, as Grainfather are doing a demo brew on the Saturday.

[MTW]

Looks good Fil. For those attending The Festival you will get the chance to get up close and personal with this, as Grainfather are doing a demo brew on the Saturday.

Would be nice if someone could take some pics to post on here of that, for those who can't make it.

[sladeywadey]

What I'm interested in is whether or not you have to crush the grain differently, or if I can use the Malt Miller's standard crushed grain.