The FermZilla is a pressure rated fermenting vessel and one of the common problems users seem to face is not being able to get the round lid off. There is a small rubber ring seal around the lid, and when combined with some lubricant it creates an air tight seal which is obviously required for pressure fermenting, but means there's a reasonable amount of force required to remove it. The other part of the problem is the lid only has a pressure release valve (PRV) and carbonation caps on it, so nowhere to really get a good firm grip on to exert the force sometimes required to remove the lid.
One option is to loosen the collar above the lid and then add CO2 to pressurise the vessel and 'pop' the lid off - which works, but can be a little dangerous and also wastes a little bit of precious CO2.
The method I use is similar - and involves loosening the collar above the lid, and then using a tap spanner to 'pry' the lid off but leveraging the under side of the one of the carbonation caps - as per the picture below
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| Use a tap spanner to 'pry' a stuck lid off the Fermzilla |
As depicted by the arrows in the photo above, by pressing down on the tap spanner, it will exert force upwards underneath the carbonation cap to pry the lid off the Fermzilla. Make sure you loose the screw collar that sits on the top of the lid before trying this though!
One thing we've noticed over a period of time is that prying the lid off using this method can cause the underside of the carbonation cap to not seal correctly and therefore leak pressure. The solution is simple though - exert some force directly back down on the carbonation cap (this is easier to do with a quick disconnect attached to it).
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