How to deal with rust in the grobo?

@bjorn @Chris @Stephen

Hey guys so In some areas of my unit I’m seeing early rust spots?

There are other spots forming on the unit too but they are small right now. I’m wondering how to stop/fix this?

Also my rubber seal is starting to fail and come off…

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This is bad. I would expect the materials to be made out of aluminum so no rust can buildup. using ordinary metal for the frame in a machine exposed to humidity is a mistake and bad engineering design.
For a unit at this price i would expect much better quality of materials!!!

Also i keep reading of all other problems and I’m concerned…

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Well lucky you @gilad most of us have worked the bumps out with support so most of those other issues are resolved … as far as this goes uhh I guess we will have to wait until Monday to see what grobo says

@chris_barfield why wait until Monday when I can help yah out now :wink:

Lucky you that our mechanical designer was at the office this weekend with me! I showed him this pictures and he’s not absolutely sure that that is rust. I’m also looking to see if this issue has cropped up with any of the units we’ve been growing in for a few months here and I can’t find any traces of rust in the locations you’ve pointed out here. What I can recommend is seeing if it wipes away with some isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) on a rag/paper towel. It may just be some residue buildup. I understand this may be tricky as it’s between the frame and the sidewall. Please write us at support@grobo.io and we’ll help you work through this if that doesn’t work (also contact support for the seal portion)

@gilad I can ensure you that the proper time and thought has gone into the conception and execution of the design of this device. All parts in this device are powder coated to prevent rusting and different metals are chosen depending on the use case of said part (e.g. Aluminum isn’t the only rust proof material available on the market)

Regards,

Chris.

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@chris_barfield, agreed on most of your points, but I believe this last sentence of yours would fall under aspects the grobo team need to address, that is, perpetually waiting til Monday for an answer. I believe they want to improve and have been. That said though, as they get bigger, and more units come online more people will be needing help and as most people work, the weekend is when people will have time to get help. So @bjorn and @Stephen and @Chris (although it seems you are on most weekends) we need to be able to get help and answers on the weekend too :+1::v::ok_hand::vulcan_salute::metal::handshake::clap::rofl::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

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@Osage :wave::slightly_smiling_face:

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Dear Chris.

I hope so too, that it is not rust. I came from the industrial world as an engineer for more then 20 years. I know aluminum isn’t the only material available, but metal coting even with electrolyte powder don’t hold for as much as Aluminum. Aluminum is also lighter, so it is a benefit as it makes everything easier.

I noticed the door rubber is not attached properly too. This is also a matter concerning as it may point on low workmanship or quality test. This may be a result of luck of personal due to high employment costs in Canada… I hope I’m wrong and it is only on the system shown in the pictures.

Keeping production in high level requires either machinery or large number of professional workers which cost a big deal of money. Usually small companies do not have the ability of employing enough workers and designing machines to Bild the systems is too high cost for the volume of orders you have. Then thing intend to be left to few workers and they can’t attend to all in the timeline of production.

As I mentioned above… I hope I’m wrong and my system will be perfect as you say it is!!!

Regards.

Gilad Ofner

Israel

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Hey @chris_barfield

I missed this post first time around been busy at another property with no internet.

I’ve zoomed in closely at those areas particularly the oval shaped hole. Have you tried to wipe that hole out with a wet cloth? I can see the white paint below the brown mark. Is there any chance when you yanked out your last plant some of the contents of the resevouir dripped in certain areas? That colour looks very similar to the fluid that was dripped in your unit some time ago in the post below.

I had good look for rust in my unit and I couldn’t see any starting points. :man_shrugging:

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Hi @gilad,

We looked into all the benefits of using aluminum and other materials and ended up using steel as it gave us a few options in terms of the overall design strategy. Rusting was definitely top of our minds as we created different prototype revisions a few years ago

As you’ve pointed out in your post we’re still in that startup/small company phase of our lives. We hope that our customers and first adopters consider this as we try to work out whatever issues that may arise throughout the use of the Grobo One. We’re here for you guys after all :smiley:

@Azuri with the zoom skills!

Regards,

Chris.

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Well ive noticed it does wipe away with alcohol but I noticed any part of the frame that gets touched with a fluid ends up turning rust color especailly where the magnet meets the frame for drain/fill tubes… tricky thing is catching it before it stains

Hey Chris, whenever I do a drain and fill, I have paper towels ready to wipe hose and feeding tubes down dry. I also tip the square white thing with the magnets upside down to get any water that might still be at the top

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Hey @chris_barfield,

Actually I’ve noticed that too. The screw that secures the magnet to the white plastic drain / fill hose holder is not stainless steel. So when we put it in a container it’s exposed to water and will start to rust.

Edit: Just did a top-up and looked at the screw and nut again, they do look like stainless steel so never mind on that one, lol.

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lol yea I’m going to try and keep wiping it down …

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@chris_barfield,
Good to know…


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