Loose Grainfather G40 hop filter plate?

[Old Fart At Play]

After transferring 23L of sludge from the G40 into the fermenter because the plate had shifted, I have contacted MM to see what we can do. Otherwise the G40 is very good.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

 

[darkbright]

Prompt reply. The advice is either make the bottom part of the filter more oval with a vice or similar (which was what I was going to do initially anyway), or return it to MM for them to do it for me.

I will give it a go myself as I can see how it fits on my unit. If it doesn’t work then they have asked me to go back to them

Can’t fault MM at all. Great service as always.

Can’t help thinking that this should be checked in the factory before it’s sent out to the retailers.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Prompt reply. The advice is either make the bottom part of the filter more oval with a vice or similar (which was what I was going to do initially anyway), or return it to MM for them to do it for me.

I will give it a go myself as I can see how it fits on my unit. If it doesn’t work then they have asked me to go back to them

Can’t fault MM at all. Great service as always.

Can’t help thinking that this should be checked in the factory before it’s sent out to the retailers.

Interesting, ta. Someone else put crimps in their plate to make it sit snugly - the idea of making an ovoid sounds more appealing, a bit less of a fingernails on blackboard experience.

I have seen enough reports of this problem now to make me believe that there is a design or QC problem.

I'll be interested to hear how the making it oval goes.
Cheers

 

[darkbright]

Just made the adjustment and it works well. Bit of a PITA getting the barely fitting clamp around it. It defiantly improves the fit - needs some pull to get it to fit.

I will report back after this weekends brewing.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Just made the adjustment and it works well. Bit of a PITA getting the barely fitting clamp around it. It defiantly improves the fit - needs some pull to get it to fit.

I will report back after this weekends brewing.

Did you put the plate into a vice, or use some other method? Sounds encouraging anyway.

 

[darkbright]

Did you put the plate into a vice, or use some other method? Sounds encouraging anyway.

I used a G clamp that I had. Just about got it on and then tightened. Didn’t need much to get a snug fit. First try was too loose, second try it needed a good pull to get it out. Hopeful!

 

[the baron]

Surely you should not be having to bodge this it is obviously a very poor design and quality control by Grainfather. I would expect way more at the price they charge and I bet if it was one of the "Lower" quality brands it would get a good slagging off by some Grainfather owners who some seem to accept the issue because its Grainfather.
I always remember the customer service of one of the Major car brands who built up a reverse psychology of making the customer feel extra special " Oh that's unusual Mr Smith we have never had that before "that they had what deemed to be a very unexpected issue with their car but in fact it was a common fault and they were covering it up very well and not losing "Brand Loyalty"
All credit to MM for taking this on but it should be the manufacturer taking the torch and not the supplier, well done MM for your input

 

[darkbright]

Surely you should not be having to bodge this it is obviously a very poor design and quality control by Grainfather. I would expect way more at the price they charge and I bet if it was one of the "Lower" quality brands it would get a good slagging off by some Grainfather owners who some seem to accept the issue because its Grainfather.
I always remember the customer service of one of the Major car brands who built up a reverse psychology of making the customer feel extra special " Oh that's unusual Mr Smith we have never had that before "that they had what deemed to be a very unexpected issue with their car but in fact it was a common fault and they were covering it up very well and not losing "Brand Loyalty"

I agree with what you say - I was going to do a bodge but thought, “no will check with retailer first”.

I was surprised this was the answer but seemed fairly simple and can’t be arsed sending stuff off or waiting for replacement. etc.

It would be nice if Grainfather would send a voucher for me to re brew my beer however as I’m sure it’s not going to be good given the crap that went into the fermenter.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

I used a G clamp that I had. Just about got it on and then tightened. Didn’t need much to get a snug fit. First try was too loose, second try it needed a good pull to get it out. Hopeful!

Ta. Yes being cautious (not enough bend on first attempt) is exactly how I imagine I will approach this. Thanks for the update.
Cheers

 

[stripeyjoe]

It would be nice if Grainfather would send a voucher for me to re brew my beer however as I’m sure it’s not going to be good given the crap that went into the fermenter.

I had the same issue with a Czech Pilsner I brewed at the beginning of the year, bottom plate lifted up, I think it happened as I pulled the grain basket up as there felt like a lot of suction. Like you I ended up transferring a lot of gunk into the FV however it came out fantastically clear after lagering for 4 or 5 weeks. I did put some BrauSol in at the same time as pitching but, other than that, no other finings or filtering.

Not had a reoccurrence yet, I am more careful lifting up the grain basket now and use a whirlpool arm instead of stirring during hop stands.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I ended up transferring a lot of gunk into the FV however it came out fantastically clear after lagering for 4 or 5 weeks.

+1 to this… I always dump the whole kettle into the FV (minus hop debris of course) and do a rapid chill en route which means the fermenter gets so much cold break in it that it looks like miso soup… However, a couple of weeks in with the yeast and its normally cleared up nicely and then a cold crash in the keg sorts the rest out

 

[borischarlton]

Surely you should not be having to bodge this it is obviously a very poor design and quality control by Grainfather. I would expect way more at the price they charge and I bet if it was one of the "Lower" quality brands it would get a good slagging off by some Grainfather owners who some seem to accept the issue because its Grainfather.
I always remember the customer service of one of the Major car brands who built up a reverse psychology of making the customer feel extra special " Oh that's unusual Mr Smith we have never had that before "that they had what deemed to be a very unexpected issue with their car but in fact it was a common fault and they were covering it up very well and not losing "Brand Loyalty"
All credit to MM for taking this on but it should be the manufacturer taking the torch and not the supplier, well done MM for your input

Hello,
Fully agree, this should not be happening and we are working on a full time resolution, until that point, the simple fix is really easy and does solve the problem.
Bear with us, or indeed, Grainfather

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Hello,
Fully agree, this should not be happening and we are working on a full time resolution, until that point, the simple fix is really easy and does solve the problem.
Bear with us, or indeed, Grainfather

Which simple fix are you talking about? The idea of making it oval by putting it in a vice? I bought a G40 from MM and mine has the hop plate problem, but no-one has advised me to do this.
How much pressure do you advise applying with the vice, or maybe how many mm should I distort the plate by?

 

[dcbrookes]

Hello,
Fully agree, this should not be happening and we are working on a full time resolution, until that point, the simple fix is really easy and does solve the problem.
Bear with us, or indeed, Grainfather

I find ironic that you are now advocating a worse solution than mine (#5) which you disparagingly referred to as a "home brewer's hack"! My solution does not risk popping the small welds by squeezing the bottom part out of shape, and it provides better contact at four points, not two.

 

[Summer Lane Brewery]

I had a loose fitting filter plate which I believe was pulled out of position when the malt basket was lifted. I had a blocked pump on a couple of occasions. I got in touch with MM who I bought it from and they suggested I push the filter plate into position with a good deal of force which I’d already tried. They then got in touch with Bevie on my behalf and a few days later a new filter arrived. This is a much tighter fit and unlike the original I can feel it locate into position. Problem solved. Great service from MM and Bevie but a design fault I fear. Otherwise, fantastic bit of kit.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

I had a loose fitting filter plate which I believe was pulled out of position when the malt basket was lifted. I had a blocked pump on a couple of occasions. I got in touch with MM who I bought it from and they suggested I push the filter plate into position with a good deal of force which I’d already tried. They then got in touch with Bevie on my behalf and a few days later a new filter arrived. This is a much tighter fit and unlike the original I can feel it locate into position. Problem solved. Great service from MM and Bevie but a design fault I fear. Otherwise, fantastic bit of kit.

Have you done any brews with your new filter plate? I was sent a new plate after a month of emails. It was snug on arrival, but did a brew and cleaned up after which the plate was as loose as the original.

 

[Summer Lane Brewery]

Have you done any brews with your new filter plate? I was sent a new plate after a month of emails. It was snug on arrival, but did a brew and cleaned up after which the plate was as loose as the original.

Yes, I’ve done 3 brews with the new filter plate and it has performed well in all of them. In fact, on the latest brew a couple of days ago, it took quite a lot of effort to remove it during the clean up.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

Interesting, thanks

 

[Matt_W]

I received my G40 from the Malt Miller Tuesday and the filter fits nice and snug.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

I received my G40 from the Malt Miller Tuesday and the filter fits nice and snug.

Pleased to hear it!