Chest Freezer Thermostat

[sluggerdog]

I have recently upgraded to a chest freezer (4 taps) from a fridge (2 taps) and I am having a little troubl getting the correct temperature.

I had the thermostat set to around 2C but this seemed too warm so I turned it down to 0C and the kegs froze.

I think it is more to do with the position of the thermostat then the actual temperature so I was wondering where would be the best place for the probe.

The top of the freezer or middle or bottom or elsewhere?

Cheers!

 

[Justin]

I'd put it in the bottom where the coldest air is. Maybe put the probe in a jar of water (pass the probe through a hole in the lid). That way your getting a slower reading and it should indicate keg temperature better.

But basically you have to play with it to see what works. The other option is to measure the temp of a jar of water and keep adjusting the thermostat until you get the water temp to where you want it.

FWIW be careful of freezing a full keg, there should be enough expansion space in them normally but you could possible rupture one if it ran out of space to expand.

 

[warrenlw63]

Slugger

My serving fridge is a converted freezer with a collar also. Basically they can be bastards to regulate. <_<

An improvement I made was an idea from Ross IIRC. Put a small computer fan on the top, inside the collar to blow the cold air around. I just plug it in with the thermostat. So when it (freezer) cycles on so does the fan.

Edit: I second Justin's idea. Put the thermo probe down towards the bottom of the keg. The coldest air seems to congregate there.

Warren -

 

[Justin]

The fans not such a bad idea Warren, will definitely get a more even temp but also at the end of the day the coldest air is in the bottom. You also draw your beer from the bottom of the keg. Therefore a temp measurement down low will give you the best "estimate" of the keg temp. Even if your beer was stratified it wouldn't matter.

But the fan is a good idea, probably not necessary, but could be an improvement.

FWIW if you have a few kegs in there don't forget to give them time to equilibrate. The temp changes can be quite slow if you have a few in there.

 

[sluggerdog]

too easy, thanks. Have moved the probe down the bottom.