Hi
Has anybody in the UK had trouble with Hambleton Bard Beerspheres??
Last year, one of mine split and started leaking just where the shell bends in on each side to form a concave "moulded in" handle - it completely ruined the carpet in our spare room which didn't exactly please the wife but more importantly, I lost around 2 gallons of a superb brew!!!
Hambleton Bard replaced the shell (claiming I must have abused it as they have never seen this happen before) but the replacement shell has just done the very same thing i.e. split in exactly the same place (Luckily I caught it just in time avoiding ruining the replacement carpet - but more importantly I only lost a pint or two).
I intend sending the shell back with a complaint, as there would seem to be a possible design fault - it looks to me as though being a fairly sharp radius, this concave moulding is a weak point (2 out of my 3 fairly new Beerspheres have now burst). However, before returning it, I would be interested to hear if anybody else has ever had this problem.
Also, as I have completely lost confidence in Beerspheres, can anyone recommend an alternative (I don't want to go down the Cornelius keg route)? Are King Kegs reliable and do they have any concave mouldings in the shell similar to the HB beersphere, which may indicate a potential future stress fracture point?
Regards
KGB