Barback V2 design files have finally been cleaned up! The project was plagued with tons of DAG errors and cyclical dependencies. With burnout from the big push last November, the hardware basically working, the firmware still needing a lot of attention, and being actively asked to pour at events… Time for this part of the project was hard to find. But with that last part, actively pouring drinks, we’ve come to find many short comings in the current design.

Cleaning: The Maintenance Nightmare⌗

In addition to the bad ideas I write about here, I also have a background in production brewing (I won that award that one time!), which a lot of people think is a prestigious and/or glamorous job. They’re wrong, it’s over glorified janitorial work. But, left over from that time, I understand the importance of prompt cleaning of beverage dispensing equipment. This highlights the biggest issue.

It’s a pain in the ass to clean.

When the design changed from stepper to brushless motors a lot of space was lost and the motor arch had to be moved forward. This resulted in the dip tube being behind the arch and put the arch too far forward to pull the tank out. So in order to clean, the whole motor assembly needed to be removed. This by itself isn’t the end of the world, but brings up the next big issue.

I will kick myself in the head before using 3mm hardware again.⌗

Not entirely true, 3mm does have its place, but this build contains way too much of it. Not because it’s not strong enough, I only attach the arch with 3 of 5 bolts, but it’s because 3mm hardware is fucking fiddly! It’s super hard to get a wrench into some of the tighter spaces and making that hardware so small only makes that problem worse. Moving forward everything will default to 4mm and use 3mm or 5mm when it makes sense.

What. Next.⌗

With a couple potential opportunities to pour again some of these problems need to get taken care of. Namely cleaning. I’m starting a new design for the tank tray (aka, tankard) that will let the containers be pulled straight out the back. This alone should dramatically improve cleanability. Some other less design oriented improvements are adding Quick Disconnects, bundling motor wiring into a single connector between the arch and the frame. This has prompted finally cleaning up the model to have a decent base to start from. This is why many parts are missing, some where separate projects that need additional cleanup, some parts had so many errors or simple didn’t work that they needed a full redesign.

And I hope to put out 3 more posts over the next few weeks, probably covering CAD design, some of the firmware and plans for next next round of upgrades.