Best Temp Controller

[fergi]

hi guys, just picked up a 300 litre upright freezer from my next door neighbour, it was sitting outside under her verandah for a few months so i thought it was probably broken, so i thought i would ask her for it and use the ice block method for temp controll, turns out she bought a new fridge freezer side by side, anyway the freezer still works so i cleaned it up and sat it in my garage next to my keg fridge, when i opened it i realised that all the plumbing was running underneath each shelf except for one shelf, i pulled this one out but the fermenter was still too tall so luckily i managed to bend the top shelf with a bit of coaxing and the alloy tubes running around and under the shelf and pushed it upright and to one side. this now gives me plenty of room for my fermenter, now that i have this problem sorted out what do you guys recomend for temp controll hardware, i am currently using a unit that i got from a brewiser shop which is an analogue controller for fan control, it has the temp probe that goes into the fridge and runs my keg fridge okay,any thoughts weather this type would be fine for a fermenting fridge
cheers
fergi

 

[Franko]

Fridgemate from mashmaster

click the link in the AHB banner

 

[LethalCorpse]

See that button in between the comma and the forward slash ? Press it. Press it again. Feels good eh? I tend to write exceptionally long sentences when I get a head of steam up too, but I've learnt it makes it a lot easier for everyone else to read if you break it up now and then.


Now, a fan controller probably won't hold up to a fridge for very long, and the analogue dial will make it fiddly to determine what temperature you've got it set to, if indeed it behaves as a thermostat with any kind of stability. Franko's on the money with the fridemate, there are plenty of other options around too though - search the forums and google for fridge controller, you'll get many many results.

 

[shayne]

i've too just made a fermenting fridge. I have a temperature sensor ($16 job with a probe you put inside the fridge) but not yet a fridgemate. I'm using a timer to periodically turn on/off the fridge and since i'm home for a couple of days keeping an eye on the sensor.

question: if it's recommended the brew temperature is set at X, am I trying to keep the fridge at X or the brew at X? i'm doing my first lager (coopers european) and it can ferment down to 13C. but even if I keep the fridge at 13C the temp. strip on the fermenter still sits ~20C - should I be keeping the fridge colder still to try and bring it down or is the ambient temperature in the room (fridge in this case) a good enough approach? i'm hesitant to bring it down too far in case the ferment stops (and since i'm a noob I'm not sure i'll get it going again easily).

 

[mika]

Brew should be at temperature X, generally ambient temp is ~2-3degs cooler than the brew actually is.
Really the first thing you should do is rip that 'thermometer' strip off your fermentor and using the sharp edges of it, cut into your arm tatto style 'I shalt not purchase another useless piece of brewing equipment again !'
Just like politicians, lawyers and Financial forecasters, those strips just can't be trusted.

 

[schooey]

question: if it's recommended the brew temperature is set at X, am I trying to keep the fridge at X or the brew at X? i'm doing my first lager (coopers european) and it can ferment down to 13C. but even if I keep the fridge at 13C the temp. strip on the fermenter still sits ~20C -

How long has the fermenter been in the fridge? You are dealing with a pretty big thermal mass and if you are trying to cool it from 20C to 13C in your fridge, it can take some time, up to 24hrs depending on your fridge's efficiency. This can be drawn out if you have a controller measuring the air temp in your fridge as it will cool to 13C a lot quicker than the liquid in your fermenter...

There are many schools of thought out there. Some people put the sensor on the side of the fermenter with a wad of blu-tak, otheres put submersible probes in their actual wort, others put a submersible probe in a bottle of liquid in the fridge. It's one of those questions where there are many different opinions on which method is best and most efficient.

 

[daemon]

question: if it's recommended the brew temperature is set at X, am I trying to keep the fridge at X or the brew at X? i'm doing my first lager (coopers european) and it can ferment down to 13C. but even if I keep the fridge at 13C the temp. strip on the fermenter still sits ~20C - should I be keeping the fridge colder still to try and bring it down or is the ambient temperature in the room (fridge in this case) a good enough approach? i'm hesitant to bring it down too far in case the ferment stops (and since i'm a noob I'm not sure i'll get it going again easily).

Try sticking the probe to the side of the fermenter, blu-tak will work well as it should shield the sensor from the ambient temperature. The ambient temp inside the fridge will vary a bit, especially as it's trying to bring it down to the correct temp. By making the probe read the wort temperature as best as possible (without the hassle of a probe in the wort), you'll be able to control the temp more accurately.

 

[shayne]

great, thx for the speedy responses! put it in late last night, definately a lag. was nervous this morning since the fridge was down below 11c, the temp. strip aint exactly precise. stuck the probe on with some duct tape and will drop the temp a bit more. these are a 3mth wait in the bottle min. (according to coopers), wouldn't want an anti-climax.

 

[benh82]

Can I just add a quick +1 for the Fridgemate. If you are looking at it and it looks daunting, I am an absolute electrical novice (i.e. never wired up anything before) and I got the job done and working within the space of 2 hours over this weekend.

My only advice - check and recheck everything twice or even three times. If you think you nicked the insulation on one of the wires, recut and start over (as I did, twice). If you think that one of the terminals looks like you can see the wire poking out, unscrew and start over.

Most importantly - use these instructions. http://helms-deep.cable.nu/~rwh/blog/?p=29. Without them I doubt I would have been game enough to attempt.

But I guess I have to say that unless you are confident in your abilities, don't plug it in without getting it checked.

Ben