Bald Brewery

An automated pico brewery in Yorkshire, UK

First wet test with mains water connected

07 Apr, 2014

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After an initial explosion where the hose came off the tap and covered the floor, walls and ceiling in cold water, the test didn’t go too badly.  The main problems were:

  • Leaking around the kettle elements due to the nuts only being hand tightened.  Apparently I need a c-spanner to tighten them.
  • A valve got stuck open and wouldn’t respond to commands, but started working again after being off for a few minutes.  This needs investigating as a faulty valve during a brew could quite easily ruin the brew and cause a lot of problems.
  • Pump being switched on at the same time as the valves opening caused air to get trapped in the lines.  Turning the pump off for a few seconds purged the lines of air and make transfers of liquid much quicker – a delay before switching the pump on after opening valves would solve this problem.