Heating Solution Help

[timryan]

G'day Guys,
So my immersible heater has possible died in the arse, with the cold temps here in central Victoria I need a heating solution before I look at knocking some summer IPA brews off... I have a large fridge which i can sit two 30L fermenters in but it doesn't work so it's basically an insulated cupboard. I also have an stc1000. Would it be crazy to purchase a 2 heater belts (one high one lower but not near the trub) and a power board attach them inside the fridge and run the power board into the stc1000 for temp control? I am contemplating running the sanitised and clean stc1000 probe into the brew to get a more accurate temp control.. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance Tim

 

[verysupple]

Depending on the wattage, one belt might be enough seeing they'll both be in the fridge together. I have a 250 L fridge and use a 25 W reptile enclosure heat cord coiled up in the bottom and that does nicely, although I only ever have a single batch in there as I ferment in a 30 L drum type FV and can only fit one. Two FVs should be easier to maintain a temp due to it being more mass at the expense of ramping times.

If you really do need two then running them on a powerboard through the STC-1000 shouldn't be a problem as they don't draw much current.


I always use my STC-1000 probe directly in the wort/beer. Hasn't seemed to have corroded after a couple of years - maybe 40 batches. I'm not sure it's necessary to have it in the liquid but it works well and is easy. I just drilled a hole in my FV lid and put in a cable gland.

Happy brewing.

 

[timryan]

Depending on the wattage, one belt might be enough seeing they'll both be in the fridge together. I have a 250 L fridge and use a 25 W reptile enclosure heat cord coiled up in the bottom and that does nicely, although I only ever have a single batch in there as I ferment in a 30 L drum type FV and can only fit one.

Cheers mate. I'll only be brewing with one single batch just putting the size of the fridge in perspective... Do you have your heat cord just coiled in the fridge? Not actually wrapped around the fermenter? Does the 25w cord actually heat to 21 odd degrees?

 

[verysupple]

Bit of a late reply, but yeah, it's just coiled in the bottom of the fridge. It easily gets to 23 C in the middle of winter. I'm not sure how high it would manage as I've never tried to go over 23 C.

 

[Drick]

Bought " 20W Adjustable Temperature Reptile Heating Heater" which I glued in to my fridge with no more nails and wired into my STC-1000. Does the job lovely but I don't have the probe in the brew, i figure as long as I maintain the fridge temp the brew will follow (which seems to be the case)

 

[timryan]

Cheers verysupple I'll check them out I might even look at getting a higher wattage... Drick the 20W Adjustable Temperature Reptile Heating Heater is it a mat? Or an actual heater?? TIA Tim

 

[Drick]

Timryan, it's a pad that I got here " http://m.banggood.com/20W-Adjustable-Temperature-Reptile-Heating-Heater-p-915376.html" works well but it takes about a month to arrive.

 

[timryan]

Hey thanks guys im looking at the 50w 7m reptile cord.... Just wondering could the heat impact on the plastic of the fridge possible melting it? Don't want to set my shed on fire...

 

[verysupple]

I'm pretty sure mine is about 25 W and about 3.5 m long. So that would be about the same Watt density as the 50 W, 7 m one. Mine gets quite warm but you can still comfortably hold the cord in your hand while it's on. So I don't think it'd melt the fridge or FV. Actually, I used to have it coiled around the plastic FV and it never warped or anything. However, it might be best to turn it on and leave it to warm up properly and see how hot it gets before setting it up near or in contact with the plastic.

Happy brewing.

 

[timryan]

Cheers mate.. I've just purchased one as well as a number of suction caps to attach the cord around the fridge or even possible around the fermenter... Resulting the the cord not actually touching the sides of anything...I will be able to plug the stc1000 prob to go into the brew and the heater cord will plug into that to control the temps... Hopefully this will run better temps...