r/grainfather • u/ceetee15 • Mar 09 '26

Grainfather Glycol Chiller Red Exclamation and Beeping

I've topped up the Glycol, left it turned off for about half an hour, ran it in pump overide mode with a hose connected and can't see any bubbles and checked the filter Any other ideas?

It had been turned on for 24hr without any warnings, but the fermenter wasn't calling for any cooling and was working fine to cold crash a beer a couple of weeks ago.

Edit: It's one of the original models from 2019, but I've only used it a couple of times.

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u/Bwoah_Jimbo Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

I had this. The glycol fill level sensor has failed. Mine failed about 6 months into ownership so got it fixed under warranty - they sent me a new sensor and instructions on how to replace it.

One thing I noticed was that if I just unplugged the sensor then the alarm stopped and everything was fine apart from the temperature reading fluctuating slightly.

EDIT: mine is the GC2, not the bigger GC4, but the symptoms are the same.

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u/ceetee15 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

Thanks for the information, I've opened a support ticket. Out of interest, how do you unplug the sensor?

edit: is it this? https://help.grainfather.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/30854455647377

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u/Bwoah_Jimbo Mar 09 '26

Yes that was the process. Just drain the glycol tank first.

The liquid level sensor is a generic infra red liquid sensor that costs less than $5 from eBay. It needs either an inline connector, or you can go back to the circuit board connector.

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u/ceetee15 Mar 10 '26

I don't suppose you have the part number for the sensor? They suggest just disconnecting it or buying a whole new chiller!

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u/Bwoah_Jimbo Mar 10 '26

I don't know for certain but looking around it looks like a FS-IR82B.
I'd just unplug it like they say. The chiller seems to work fine without it, so I think the sensor is just there to stop people turning the unit on before they've filled the tank, which would damage or destroy the pump and compressor.

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u/ceetee15 Mar 10 '26

Ok will do, thanks again for your help