Crown Hot Water Urns

[chappy71]

Hi I am thinking of getting the 40ltr crown urn, just wondering how accurate the dial is ? or should i get a tempmate

 

[LethalCorpse]

Not very, and yes.

 

[Pollux]

Depends on what you plan on using it for I guess......

I have one that I use for BIAB, I personally set the dial to 70 (with a goal to getting strike temp of 70.1) and have it on a timer set to turn on about an hour before I plan to mash in.

Other than that, I only turn the element on to perform a mashout and boil. In both of these cases the dial it turned to 110 and I simply hoist the bag when I reach mashout temp.

 

[chappy71]

I just want to use it for my hlt

 

[T.D.]

Not very, and yes.

So are the thermostats unreliable (ie variable results at the same setting) or just inaccurate? I have a Roband urn and its dial is inaccurate but once you work out what the equivalent temp is you can hit it perfectly every time. For me to get 78deg I set the dial on 90. Works every time.

If this is the same on Crown urns I wouldn't bother with an extra temp controller, especially if its just being used as an HLT.

 

[Bribie G]

Why would you want to get a tempmate? Just set it on max and when it's about at strike temperature stick in an accurate thermometer and when you get to the required temp (say 70 degrees) then switch it off.

 

[chappy71]

So are the thermostats unreliable (ie variable results at the same setting) or just inaccurate? I have a Roland urn and its dial is inaccurate but once you work out what the equivalent temp is you can hit it perfectly every time. For me to get 78deg I set the dial on 90. Works every time.

If this is the same on Crown urns I wouldn't bother with an extra temp controller, especially if its just being used as an HLT.

maybe i should just test it first then see what happens

 

[chappy71]

Why would you want to get a tempmate? Just set it on max and when it's about at strike temperature stick in an accurate thermometer and when you get to the required temp (say 70 degrees) then switch it off.

That sounds pretty logical bribie, when will you be doing your next brew??

 

[T.D.]

Why would you want to get a tempmate? Just set it on max and when it's about at strike temperature stick in an accurate thermometer and when you get to the required temp (say 70 degrees) then switch it off.

That's fine if you are there while it heats. A lot of people set their HLT on a timer to head during the night so you are ready to brew in the morning.

 

[chappy71]

That's fine if you are there while it heats. A lot of people set their HLT on a timer to head during the night so you are ready to brew in the morning.

i will be there waiting, while getting other things ready

 

[T.D.]

Done and dusted in that case!

 

[jimmy01]

Done and dusted in that case!

I use a Crown Urn for a HLT. Temp thermostat is not too bad maybe 5 degrees out, but I recently added an external Temp controller and much more accurate.

 

[Bribie G]

That sounds pretty logical bribie, when will you be doing your next brew??

PM sent

I will post re brewday as well (a Wednesday) in case anyone else might want to come along, brewdays are always on a Saturday and many of us droids have to work weekends so might suit people like Chappo Junior who is a chef master B)

 

[crundle]

The dial on my Crown urn is fairly accurate, but I always set it to where I think it needs to be and when the brew day starts, I boil a kettle and have a 2 litre bottle of cold water handy to adjust the temperature up or down to get the mash right where it needs to be.

Crundle

 

[matti]

As a HLT they are great.
The dial temp is ok.
mine was only a 2 degrees out.

 

[chappo1970]

Not very, and yes.

+1 LC

Righto this has been my experience with the Crown Urn. BTW they are a great urn but the thermostat is somewhat lacking when it comes to brewing like most urns I would imagine out there. When it heats up it will over shoot by 5C therefore you end up compensating so you dial up say 65C to get 70C. But here's the rub the thermostat will not kick back in until it reaches 60C. So therefore you you get a temp range of +-5C or 10C all up from target. You can easily compensate for that by turning the dial up past your compensated temperature to kick in the thermostat and then wind it back to your orginal compensated temperature and wait for it to kick out, then drop into MLT or what ever you are doing. In other words if you missed the last thermostat cut out, I would turn the thermostat dial to 80C, kicking in the thermostat, I would then wind it back to 65C and wait for it kick out which would give me my 70C target temp.
Anyway I found it a total PITA as I found I was always waiting for the HLT to get to my desired temperature sometimes this could take 5mons or so to heat up the 10C difference and this can be critical sometimes especially if your trying to mash out or do step temps like protein rest to sacc rest etc and timing is semi critical. I solved the problem with adding a tempmate, so now I just dial up the temp I want (I have the tollerance set on the tempmate to +-0.5C) and pretty much don't have to worry as the HLT is exactly where I want it when I want it.

If your BIABing I wounldn't think this is as critical as your doing a single infusion mash but you would want to be sure your strike temp is hit from the start. I'm no expert on BIABing and prolly Bribie would be best to discuss this issue. However if you teamed up a tempmate in this application for BIAB you could easily maintain mash temps to within 0.5C which I imagine would be beneficial and save on rugging up the urn? Again no expert and best left for the BIAB gurus to discuss. :icon_cheers:



In the above photo of Sherman to the right the top tempmate in the control box controls the HLT. You can see the probe wire top left running up the side of the HLT which then runs into the urn via a keg dip tube sealed off which acts as a thermowell. The probe is placed about 2/3 of the way down as I wanted to be reading the temp closer to tap height to compensate for thermoclines in the HLT. You would be surprised by the variations in temp as you drop water out of the urn. Never really more than say 1C but the beer geek in me finds it interesting!

Horses for courses guys but I swear by my set up.

BTW Chappo Jr I'm sure I discussed this with you when you came over for a brewday one time? :huh:

Chappo

 

[clean brewer]

In the above photo of Sherman to the right the top tempmate in the control box controls the HLT. You can see the probe wire top left running up the side of the HLT which then runs into the urn via a keg dip tube sealed off which acts as a thermowell. The probe is placed about 2/3 of the way down as I wanted to be reading the temp closer to tap height to compensate for thermoclines in the HLT. You would be surprised by the variations in temp as you drop water out of the urn. Never really more than say 1C but the beer geek in me finds it interesting!

Hey Chappo,

How accurate is the Temp of the HLT with the Probe in the dip tube out of curiousity???

CB

Ive just dragged out a 10-12.5ltr Birko Urn from the Storeroom at Work, its never been used here so going to try swindle it, be good for Heat Exchanger!!!

 

[chappo1970]

Hey Chappo,

How accurate is the Temp of the HLT with the Probe in the dip tube out of curiousity???

CB

Ive just dragged out a 10-12.5ltr Birko Urn from the Storeroom at Work, its never been used here so going to try swindle it, be good for Heat Exchanger!!!

Very accurate mate and IIRC the tempmate is rated to 20amp not 10amp as previously stated. That would make a perfect HE and I would be stealing it ASAP. The dip tubes are about $20 for Crafties but you could easily get away with just a copper pipe braized off at the end. To should be able shoe horn at least 6m of copper coil. Go for it CB!

Chap Chap

 

[crundle]

+1 LC

If your BIABing I wounldn't think this is as critical as your doing a single infusion mash but you would want to be sure your strike temp is hit from the start. I'm no expert on BIABing and prolly Bribie would be best to discuss this issue. However if you teamed up a tempmate in this application for BIAB you could easily maintain mash temps to within 0.5C which I imagine would be beneficial and save on rugging up the urn? Again no expert and best left for the BIAB gurus to discuss. :icon_cheers:

Chappo

The problem for me in trying this method seemed to be that the grain settles in the bottom of the urn and forms a blanket over the element and the temperature sensor which is next to it, trapping heat from rising efficiently. So you end up with a nice 68 degrees on the bottom of the urn but much colder temps up above, which leads to woeful efficiency as the sides of the urn leak out heat.

When I switched to Bribie's method of passive mashing, it boosted my efficiency as the loss of heat is much less and more even throughout. Of course what you are saying would work very well if you had accurate temperature control and a way to stir the mash constantly, but that is difficult using a bag, unless you had a frame of some description to keep the bag touching the sides of the urn and away from the stirrer.

Hmm, got me thinking now...

Love the Sherminator by the way, will have to have a look at it one day if I make it up your way Chappo!

Crundle

 

[chappo1970]

The problem for me in trying this method seemed to be that the grain settles in the bottom of the urn and forms a blanket over the element and the temperature sensor which is next to it, trapping heat from rising efficiently. So you end up with a nice 68 degrees on the bottom of the urn but much colder temps up above, which leads to woeful efficiency as the sides of the urn leak out heat.

When I switched to Bribie's method of passive mashing, it boosted my efficiency as the loss of heat is much less and more even throughout. Of course what you are saying would work very well if you had accurate temperature control and a way to stir the mash constantly, but that is difficult using a bag, unless you had a frame of some description to keep the bag touching the sides of the urn and away from the stirrer.

Hmm, got me thinking now...

Love the Sherminator by the way, will have to have a look at it one day if I make it up your way Chappo!

Crundle

Ahhh see I knew there was a reason. Cheers Crundle for the info.

Funny you should mention a BIAB frame as I'm planning on building a Shermanator Jr for Bribies BIAB exploits. Bribie and I are just fine tuning the design now so hopefully in the next few weeks we might have something to show you'se all?

Oh and if your ever up my way crundle I would be insulted if you didn't call in at Chappo Manor for at least a beer mate! :icon_cheers:

Chap Chap