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  • Zahm alternative?

    I just saw these on Alibaba.com, has anyone tried one of these knock offs? The look very similar to the Zahm.

    https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...3255600fcC8iVm

  • #2
    Looks like a Chinese knock off. Caveat Emptor
    Brewmaster, Minocqua Brewing Company
    tbriggs@minocquabrewingcompany.com
    "Your results may vary"

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    • #3
      Might be great, might be terrible, a roll of the dice.

      Zahm price tag is high but it is a very solidly made unit, easy to calibrate with excellent support if anything breaks. I find mine strangely pleasing to use.

      They're also made mostly by hand in batches of 24 at a time apparently according to the person I spoke to on the phone at the factory.

      Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

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      • #4
        Originally posted by APCider View Post
        Zahm price tag is high but it is a very solidly made unit, easy to calibrate with excellent support if anything breaks. I find mine strangely pleasing to use.
        I especially second the part about the strangely pleasing to use. Its probably that black rubber bulb I get to pump up!

        Seriously though, take a look at a TapRite as an option. Its a cheaper Zahm type device. They run about $300 from Fox Equipment. Have used it side by side with a Zahm numerous times. They are within a box of each other every time. It'll shave about a grand off the price and weeks of lead time.

        Or buy the Chinese and let us know how it works out!

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        • #5
          Can the pressure gauge be easily calibrated? The thermometer?

          Zahm makes the only easily calibrated pressure gauges I've found, and their thermometers are also easily calibrated. Without frequently calibrated temperature and pressure gauges, you're just guessing anyway, so save your $600.

          We rely on our Zahm CO2 devices to the point that we own two, so one is always available. I calibrate everything about once a month on both.

          $1,400 is expensive, but your beer is important.
          Timm Turrentine

          Brewerywright,
          Terminal Gravity Brewing,
          Enterprise. Oregon.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by UnFermentable View Post
            I
            Have used it side by side with a Zahm numerous times.
            I can't find any information on how that thing works or I might try it. Does it fill from the tank?

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            • #7
              Originally posted by TGTimm View Post

              $1,400 is expensive, but your beer is important.
              I agree but I opening on a shoestring budget and I am running out of string. If it last a year or two well then at least I got the doors open and made some beer.

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              • #8
                The TapRite comes with a quick-connect fitting to the unit and a piece of bev-line. You may need to expand to another piece of tubing to fit over your sample valve, or you can source an independent perlick style sample attachment and add it to the bev-line, or you can do a TC fitting and attach to a butterfly. I'll try to take some pictures of one tomorrow and post.

                These devices are super simple. Basically you fill it with beer, relieve false pressure, and then shake it up. Read the Temp & Pressure, compare to chart. Exact same thing as Zahm. As I said before, exact same reading too.

                I totally agree your beer is worth $1400, but the Zahm is a luxury tool. It is by all means a better all around product, but the ROI is just not there. You are better off saving the roughly $1050 difference and putting it towards your C-Box down the road (1/20th). By the time you have to replace your TapRite 4 times, you should be able to afford the C-Box either way. I had a TapRite that was more than 4 years old when I compared it to the Zahm over a period of a few months. Then I did it again years later with a different Zahm and TapRite. They haven't convinced me that the stainless beer bottle, p**** pump, and swagelok valves (my fav, BTW), make the measurements any more accurate. Durability is a factor, to be sure, but those TapRites at least come with a fancy foam padded hard-case, my last two $1400 Zahms didn't come with one Since I clean and care for the equipment regularly, it hasn't been an issue regardless. Oh yea, and I am fairly certain you can calibrate the pressure gauge quite easily and the thermo is cheap and easy to replace (if needed). You can also verify its calibration independently by removing it from the unit if desired.

                Zahms are great, but money is better.

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                • #9
                  Replace the microscopic dial thermometer on the tap rite

                  ... with something like this: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/cdndtq450.htm. Then use your traceable, calibrated reference pressure gage to validate (or quantify the error of) the pressure gage, and it'll be 'good enough for guv'mint work!"

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by MikeyB View Post
                    ... with something like this: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/cdndtq450.htm. Then use your traceable, calibrated reference pressure gage to validate (or quantify the error of) the pressure gage, and it'll be 'good enough for guv'mint work!"
                    In my experience those cheap digitals are way less accurate than the mechanical analog type. I would not trust it myself, but if you are real anal just swap it with a type K TC and plug it in to your portable Fluke/Omega

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                    • #11
                      Generally agree...

                      Originally posted by UnFermentable View Post
                      In my experience those cheap digitals are way less accurate than the mechanical analog type. I would not trust it myself, but if you are real anal just swap it with a type K TC and plug it in to your portable Fluke/Omega
                      However, the thermo I linked to calibrates at 32F, so even if the span is poor, it's calibrated close to your operating temp. My main reason for replacing is that the included dial thermo is tiny & impossible to read accurately for an old codger like me!

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                      • #12
                        I completely understand about the temp dial being small and hard to read for some. It could be larger for ease of use. I was going to call you out as a millennial for needing digital, but I would've been way off. It's 2020 though, so you should be able to get some sort of telescopic contact lens or something!

                        I did scan in the manual to PDF today and it does reference calibration procedure for the Temp gauge as well as the Pressure gauge. It also has a parts list and comes with a limited one year warranty. If anyone needs a copy feel free to PM me.

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