Firmware
Update your detector
The 2026 firmware moves calibration onto the device itself. It walks you through three standards, works out the curve for you, and then shows an ABV percentage directly instead of a raw sensor number you have to convert in a spreadsheet. The update is free and takes about ten minutes.
Does this apply to your detector?
Bought after July 2026
Your detector already left here with this firmware on it. There is nothing to install. Skip to using the detector below.
Black case
Only the black units can have their firmware changed. If yours is a black detector bought before July 2026, this update is for you.
Any other case colour
Earlier units cannot take this update. The hardware inside is different and there is no way to flash it. Get in touch if you are not sure which one you have.
Downloads
Pick your computer. Each download has everything in it, including a Read Me with pictures of each step. Nothing is installed on your computer, the kit just talks to the detector over USB.
2026 firmware
On-device calibration and direct ABV readout. This is the one you want.
Original firmware
Puts the detector back exactly how it shipped, using the calibration spreadsheet. Here in case you want to go back.
What changes
| Before | After the update | |
|---|---|---|
| Calibration | Readings typed into a spreadsheet to build a curve | Done on the device, guided on screen, at the start of each session |
| Reading | Raw sensor number | ABV percentage, shown directly |
| Measuring | You manage rinsing and timing yourself | Guided cycle: rinse, wipe, load, measure, flush |
| Warm-up | 10 minute countdown | 9 minute countdown with tips on screen. A 20 minute warm-up is still best practice on either firmware |
Nothing about the hardware changes. Same sensor, same pump, same tubes, same standards.
Before you start
- A micro USB data cable. Some cheap charging cables carry power only and will not work.
- A small Phillips screwdriver, to take the five screws out of the back.
- About ten minutes.
- The detector unplugged from its USB-C power supply. It must stay unplugged from power the whole time, both while you have the case open and while the update runs.
- Your calibration standards ready. On this firmware the detector calibrates at the start of every session, so it will want them as soon as it warms up.
- Never have the USB-C power lead connected while the case is open or while the update is running. Unplug it before you touch the screws. Powering the board from two sources at once risks damaging it.
- Once the update is running, do not disconnect the micro USB cable and do not close the window until it says DONE. Interrupting it partway through can leave the unit unable to start.
How the update works
The full instructions are in the Read Me inside the download. The short version:
- Unplug the USB-C power lead. Leave it unplugged until the whole job is finished.
- Take the five screws out of the back shell and lift it off gently.
- Plug the micro USB cable into the small board inside, not the USB-C power socket on the outside of the case. The outside port carries power only and cannot update the firmware.
- On Windows, right click the update file and choose Run as administrator. On a Mac, open Terminal, type "bash" and a space, then drag the update file in and press Enter.
- Wait for DONE, then disconnect the micro USB cable from the board.
- Put the back shell on carefully. Check that no wires are sitting under the edge of the shell or across a screw post before you tighten anything, because it is easy to pinch one as the case closes.
- Refit the five screws, reconnect the USB-C power lead, and switch on as normal.
- The detector goes into calibration. That is expected, and it happens at the start of every session on this firmware.
Mac with Apple Silicon
If your Mac has an M1, M2, M3 or M4 chip, the updater needs a small Apple component called Rosetta. If it is not already installed, the updater says so and offers to install it for you. Say yes, wait about a minute, and it carries on. You only do this once. To get ahead of it, open Terminal and run: softwareupdate --install-rosetta
Using the detector after the update
The detector has one button and it is used the same way throughout. Where the screen offers a choice, it counts down for five seconds: press for yes, do nothing and it moves on by itself. Where the screen asks you to do something, it simply waits until you press. There are no menus to scroll.
Switching on
Skip all?
Press to jump straight to raw mode, which shows the sensor number and temperature with no ABV conversion. Wait to carry on with a normal start.
Warming 8:59
A nine minute countdown, with reminders on screen about oil and keeping sample temperatures matched. Holding the button skips the rest, though letting it run well past the countdown is the single easiest way to get a better reading.
Measure 0.10%
Calibration starts on its own once the warm-up ends. There is no prompt to skip it, and no stored curve to fall back on.
Calibrating
Worth knowing before you start: this firmware calibrates at the beginning of every session. It does not keep a curve between power cycles, so whenever you switch the detector on you run the three standards again. Plan on having them ready each time you sit down to test.
Three standards, in this order. Prepare them the same way you always have.
- The screen asks for the first standard. Load it and press the button.
- The pump runs for 45 seconds, showing the live sensor number and temperature.
- It shows the reading it took and offers a redo for five seconds. Wait to accept it, or press to run that standard again.
- Repeat for the second and third standards.
- It then shows how well the three points fit together, and the average temperature it calibrated at, for a few seconds.
Those three values are fixed and cannot be changed on the device. They are spaced that way on purpose: 0.10% and 2.00% anchor each end of the kombucha range, and 0.50% sits at the mathematical middle of the two, which is where a third point does the most good.
Taking a reading
Once calibration is done the detector goes straight into measuring and walks you through the whole cycle. It repeats for as long as you keep testing.
- It asks you to wipe the tubes dry. Do it, then press.
- Put the water tube in, then press.
- It rinses for 20 seconds.
- Wipe dry again, then press.
- Load your sample, then press.
- It runs for 45 seconds and uses the steady part at the end as the reading.
- It shows the ABV and the temperature, and holds that on screen until you press.
- Pressing starts the next cycle, beginning again at wipe the tubes dry.
If a sample works out above 25% ABV, or the maths cannot resolve it, the screen says Out of range rather than printing a number it does not trust.
Getting the best reading
- Give it a longer warm-up. The countdown is nine minutes, but leaving the sensor running for a full 20 minutes before your first measurement noticeably improves accuracy, and it costs you nothing but patience.
- Keep every standard and every sample within one degree Celsius of each other. Temperature moves the reading more than almost anything else.
- After a high ABV sample, run a second rinse before the next measurement. Alcohol carries over in the tubes, and one 20 second rinse is not always enough to clear it.
- A drop of oil in each sample stops foaming. Foam or liquid reaching the sensor is the one thing that can damage the detector.
- Recalibrate at least twice a month. Sensors drift, and the curve is only as good as the day you made it.
- If the screen shows 999, the sample is above the range the sensor can read. Dilute it or use the original firmware, which reports the raw number.
Going back
If you would rather have the original behaviour, the original firmware download above puts the detector back exactly as it shipped, spreadsheet calibration and all. The process is identical. Nothing about the update is permanent, and you can move between the two as often as you like.
If something goes wrong
Unplug the detector, wait five seconds, plug it back in and run the updater again. Most failures are a cable that only carries power, or the cable being plugged into the outside USB-C socket rather than the board inside. If it still will not take the update, get in touch and we will work through it.
Contact support