Digital Thermostat

[willtups]

Hi Guys,

Can someone please point me in the right direction to buy a digital thermostat / control box for my spare fridge. I am looking to brew lagers in Adelaide and during summer (40 degrees) that can prove impossible to do with a wet towel and ice cubes. Also I have heard others using light globes to maintain correct temps during winter, will most thermostats do that?. I am looking to make the purchase so if anyone has any contacts or even one they are looking to sell then I would be keen for the right price.

Cheers

Willtups

 

[phonos]

Hi Will,

Many people on this forum use a piece of kit from mashmaster which does the job. There are actually two items, the FridgeMate and the DEI-105 Fridge Controller. I don't use either - so I can't tell you which is better or any of that. I think one works by putting the probe into your wort, whereas the other just measures the fridge temperature.

David
(no affiliaton and all that)

 

[kirem]

Do a search and you will find an enormous amount of info on these.

You can't go past mashmaster's units. Both Ross and Francis are very active members on this forum.

Many members have purchased, used and are very happy with the units.

http://craftbrewer.com.au/index.php?page=s...t&Itemid=29

http://www.mashmaster.com.au/store/index.p...5e4cd06c2cfb6ae

I use the $47.50 units on my ferment fridge and my kegging fridge. I little bit wring a box to put it in and you are away. I put the probe against the fermenter and hold it there with a folded piece of bubble wrap sticky taped to the side of the fermenter, kind of like an insulated pocket. Does the job very well.


Kirk

 

[willtups]

can anyone tell me if either of those units will run a heating device aka light globe to warm the wort when temps too low. thanks for pointing me in the directon of those 2 sites, another way to spend all my money. the "home brew will work out cheaper in the end" speech is wearing a little thin with the missus but is all good fun.

thanks again

willtups

 

[mika]

The Fridgemate has a heating option capable of running a low wattage heaterbelt.

 

[dr K]

I don't have a mash-master but know people who do and they swear by them.
If I am a very good boy maybe I will get one after christmas and get rid of my old (and not always reliable) Johnson Controls unit..

Kurtz

 

[warrenlw63]

Dr. K.

The Fridgemates become very versatile little plastic boxes for the price. Mine's doing double duty was keeping a Saison at heated 35 degrees. Now on the fridge keeping a Belgian pale at 20.

Great bang for your buck and very accurate too.

Warren -

 

[willtups]

hmm what to do what to do. I like the fridge mate as it has a heating option to run a heat pad, but the mash master unit has the sensor to measure the wort temp. Does anyone know of a product out there that does both?

 

[mika]

The age old question...Is wort temperature that critical ?
I know some people just tape the sensor to the outside of the fermentor and insulate around it. Or you can go to the trouble of building a thermowell with a stainless tube in your wort.
Personally I figure anything better than brewing in 30deg heat is a bonus and don't bother tracking wort temp.

 

[Barramundi]

i have acqiured a unit which appears very similar to the DEI-105 have to get it set up and see how it goes ... speaking to some guys today who use a simple timer unit and set it to come on for 1/2 hour every six hours , not sure how constant that would keep temps but its a cheap alternative at around $5 at bunnings or where ever... worth a play to see how it goes

 

[Keifer]

I know some people just tape the sensor to the outside of the fermentor and insulate around it

Mate thats all i do, i figure if the temp will be out it will only be by a little and by the second day it will be close enough. But as always, what seems good enough for one won't be for another.

If you intend brewing for a few years, the fridgemate is one of the best investments you could buy for price and functionality

 

[Voosher]

I have the dual-function Fridgemate and generally love it. I like the versatility of heating and cooling.
The only issue I have is with the temp range. At +/-1C it requires some tinkering on very hot days to keep the ambient and ultimately wort temps withing a tight range. I've had the temps on the outside of the fermenter 3 degrees above the Fridgemate set-point on a recent 40C day here in Adelaide.
If you're going to immerse a probe into the wort I think you need the narrower range of +/- 0.5C provided by the dedicated cooling thermostat.
Probably not very helpful in finalising a decision but... there you go

 

[BrissyBrew]

Voosher

You have a point with the temp range, I am getting the new versions of the 105DEI model reprogrammed, so they resolve 0.5*C.

But in the meantime if you do have the probe immersed in wort, you can get away with reducing the compressor delay time, eg I set it to zero when the probe is immersed in the wort.

The other thing to watch out for is overshooting the temp if you crash chilling wort/beer and your probe is inside the fermenter it is easy to overshoot, or should I say understood the temperature. I find this the case especially when crashing the last couple degrees when starting up fermentation. However it can be avoided by giving the carboy a rock to mix the wort around a bit (for new fermentation only of course). If your crash chilling to drop out yeast overshoot/undershoot is not a problem.

 

[drsmurto]

Or if you are a real tight arse you could plug the fridge into a timer switch and then set it to run every now and then as mentioned. Only does cooling and if the fridge is set to it highest setting (~10deg) then you should be able to brew lagers no dramas. As for heating, the pads work well.

 

[dicko]

Hi Willtups,

I brew in SA and I have found that the minimum temps over night cause the lager yeasts to slow up and sometimes even stop fermenting while during the day the maximum temps may be as high as 22 to 24 deg c.

To overcome this problem I have combined two digital controllers into the one unit with one unit working the fridge compressor and the other working a 20 watt light inside my fermenting fridge.

I set the controller for the light bulb at 2 deg less than the required lager ferment temps and the fridge controller at the required lager ferment temps. This way I maintain a range of temp that keeps the lager yeasts chugging away quite happily.

I place both temp sensors under a piece of foam that is strapped to the side of the fermenter and I know that there is many arguments for and against the probe being in the wort but IMHO the less you have in the wort, the less chance you have got of an infection.

Just to add to this, I have a digi therm which is a temp probe that fridge mechanics use to accurately check temperatures and I have found that the temps allways remain within 1 deg.

I have attached a pic of my unit.

Cheers

 

[warrenlw63]

Love the concept Dicko. Would like to do something similar to mine. :beerbang:

I also just tape the probe to the side of my carboy and cover with foam. Works like a charm. Glass carboys seem to keep accurate temps too.

Edit: added a pic.

Warren -

 

[dicko]

Love the concept Dicko. Would like to do something similar to mine. :beerbang:

I also just tape the probe to the side of my carboy and cover with foam. Works like a charm. Glass carboys seem to keep accurate temps too.

Edit: added a pic.

Warren -

Hi Warren,

I recon it is the best thing that I have done to give me REAL flexibility when it comes to fermentation and lagering.
In the summer when brewing a lager I just turn off the switch to the light. (The night temps dont go below about 15 deg in the summer)
When the fermentation is 2/3 to FG I just raise the temp on the compressor controller to perform a diacetyl rest and when complete just reset it to lager temp.
Brewing ales with it is very simple regardless of the extreme variations in ambient temperatures that we are getting this year. Just set and forget.

Cheers

 

[willtups]

hey dicko any chances of getting a few more pics of your duel controller unit? Does it run from the one power source or do you need 2. thinking about doing something similar but lack the electrical knowledge to do it myself. good think my sparky mate likes beer!

 

[dicko]

hey dicko any chances of getting a few more pics of your duel controller unit? Does it run from the one power source or do you need 2. thinking about doing something similar but lack the electrical knowledge to do it myself. good think my sparky mate likes beer!

Yes, it runs from the one ten amp outlet and it is built into a jiffy box with connectors to supply each unit with power.
The addition of power points provides simplicity for turning each operation off if needed.
For example if you were brewing a lager in an extremely cold climate say like a Tasmanian winter you might switch the fridge off and just use the light or heat side.
The black and red connectors in the middle of the two units are just jak plugs from a stereo system and they connect the probes to the controllers. ( I copied the idea of the plugs from another topic on this forum, so thanks to the originator).
I tinned with solder, all the wire ends inside the unit prior to assembly so that each connector remains a solid contact when the connector screws are tightened and I also soldered the probe wires direct to the jak plugs.
If you have a sparky mate then get him to wire it up - much safer
All the components used are available from Jaycar or similar suppliers.

Cheers

 

[PostModern]

Glass carboys seem to keep accurate temps too.

Tons of thermal mass in glass carboys. They'll carry temp fluctuations better than HDPE for sure.
I reckon I'll get some glass ones when all my brewing takes place in the one room. Atm, sanitising is in the laundry, brewing is in the back courtyard, fermentation fridge is in the carport... stairs everywhere. The potential for dropping one of those things and hurting myself is much greater than even a caustic burn

I tinned with solder, all the wire ends inside the unit prior to assembly so that each connector remains a solid contact when the connector screws are tightened and I also soldered the probe wires direct to the jak plugs.

Tinning loose copper wire is pretty much standard when I make something I want to keep. Atm, instead of a project box, my fridgemate is held to its cables with gaffer tape. Got the thing, wanted it to work NOW. I did tin all the wires, tho. Like the look of your box there. I'll definitely make time to get to Jaycar these hols and finish the thing off properly. Might get some RCA jacks while I'm there. Top idea for making the probe separate from the controller but still accurate.

For heating, when I need it next winter, I'll be using the aquarium heater in a bucket of water trick. Who did I steal that idea from??? Someone on here.