OBK - Brewzilla Site Glass mod

[jkdunbar]

Not really a classified ad, but for those Brewzilla owners that want the site glass mod, it's new in stock and at a good price.

https://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/BrewZil ... -glass.htm

I picked up the site glass and the new flexi arm along with a duo tight pressure regulator

Should be fun looking at the site glass instead of my phone light peeking down the side of the malt tube... Lol.

Cheers!

[CartoonCod]

Cool thanks for the heads up. Any idea if this works with the regular Robobrew 3?

[jkdunbar]

I'll let you know in a few days. I have the 3.1 Robobrew.

[asoucy]

Thanks. Just ordered mine!

[MarcNos]

I just used this for my last brew.

2 lessons I learned:

( Now, I'm not saying it was not a user error but here's a chance to learn from my mistakes)

1) The bracket that holds the tube/site glass on top will be tight. I bent my bracket a little so as not to damage the polycarb tube.
What did happen is that because of the weight of the sparge arm (and the whirlpool arm which is also the same price and I do recommend) the polycarb tube broke due to the lateral force. It lasted one brew.

Because of where the bracket attaches, all the weight is born by the clear tube. I would find a way to reinforce this if I was doing it again.

2) The level in the tube didn't always match the level in the Robobrew. I suspect because the water needs to flow through the pump where the impellor or debris may block the liquid. I would double-check this for the first few brews.

I was very excited about this as before I was using silicon tube from the dump valve (which worked, but not nearly as sexy)

[asoucy]

I received and fitted my site glass. It leaked on the bottom connection. The collar that connects the tube to the metal fitting was not tight enough, so I added another. I see the issue of the weight being born by the top of the glass, but I haven't figured out what to do about it yet.

[asoucy]

DA331097-10BD-481E-A6B9-81583B874E3B.jpeg

Ok, this is what I did: I used a bracket plate (3.5 inch x 1.5 inch) that I got at the hardware store some time ago. I enlarged the bottom holes so that it matched the width of the threaded screw holes from the original bracket, then used a hose clamp to tighten the site glass from higher up, on the metal connector. Seems more stable, but we’ll see...

[jkdunbar]

Tried installing my sight glass today but it also leaked at the bottom. The crimp clamps that come with it are not on tight enough. I took my crimp clamps off the top and bottom and replace them with two crimp clamps at each end. Each crimp clamp is on top of the rubber washer. The seam to fix the leak.

My only concern now is that my flow from the pump is about 1/3 of what it was previously. Is anybody else having the same issue?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RfRiy8ZMcfn42hfZ9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DWnzzxDZyKZ3rfh96

[nlkips]

I also noticed the flow is greatly reduced with the sight glass mod. I picked up the whirlpool arm and its basically pointless with the reduced flow while I was cleaning it last night. I think I'm eventually going to setup a pump to take a suction from the drain with some sort of course inline filter that hopefully won't clog up with hop particles to get an actual whirlpool working for me.

[jkdunbar]

I contacted OBK and they said they have not received any complaints about decreased flow. Anyone else have the same/different experience?

[asoucy]

My flow is also reduced.

[jkdunbar]

Below is the reply from Andrew of Kegland. I'm going to take a short video of the flow before and after the sight glass mod and see what they say...

Hi Kevin,

ok. The silicone washers are meant to be retained, and used with the sight glass kit.

I have experienced the leaking issue once or twice before, which is one of the reasons we're steering further and further away from clamps but haven't yet upgraded this kit yet.

I went for a search through our email account with all of our previous troubleshooting and couldn't find anyone experiencing similar flow rate issues, so I'm quite surprised to hear of 3-4 all of the sudden

I could imagine polycarbonate providing a little more flow resistance than stainless steel however, especially at such a large diameter, I can't see how the flow rate would reduce by that much.

I'd potentially look into getting some more data/info here, perhaps see if you can measure the flow rate and compare it to someone without this kit?

I'd also recommend confirming there are no blockages as well

Kind Regards,
Andrew

410 Princes Highway,
Noble Park
VIC 3174

[MarcNos]

While I didn't get out the calipers and measure, here is a visual of the difference in the ID's of the site glass mod and original.
You definitely are going to get a reduction in flow.
Whether that translates into any actual impact on your brew I guess will come down to testing.

[jkdunbar]

I was able to do some testing of the flow rate with and without the Sight Glass; first with the sight glass installed and moved 19 L of PBW to a keg (to ensure the Robobrew was cleaned) and then I swapped the tube and moved 19 L of water to the sink (rinse).

Here are my findings for moving 19L of water:

Sight Glass - 7m50s = 2.42 L/minute
Original Tube - 2m45s = 6.91 L/minute

As you can see, the Sight Glass seriously cut the flow rate.