How do you use a heat belt?

[Bribie G]

It's instantaneous as you cross the border but it takes 15 years by the calendar, an hour on the clock and the landscape changes.




On topic, I was just concerned about maybe scorching the cardboard, but with the belt below the wort level and controlled with the fridgemate, just thought I'd check.

 

[superstock]

The answer is.
Come back to God's country, where heat belts are rarely needed.

 

[indica86]

Sorry for your loss Bribie.

 

[i-a-n]

Well we're in Qld and can even see British... The island that is, and this lovely winter I've got several heat belts on the go, one for each fermenter and one on the poor old brass monkey.

 

[i-a-n]

When I say British I do of course mean Bribie.... Don't you just love predictive text.....

 

[pedleyr]

I used to do exactly what you're proposing Bribie, no issues. You're not going to have enough heat to scorch the box.

 

[Feldon]

For those who wrap their heat belts around the fermentor, do you put the ribbed side against it or the flat side, or doesn't it matter?

 

[eMPTy]

For those who wrap their heat belts around the fermentor, do you put the ribbed side against it or the flat side, or doesn't it matter?

Flat side. Holds tighter around the fermenter without sliding around.

 

[MetalDan]

On a slight side now, I let my beers bottle ferment in a spare room however in winter it gets bloody cold and it can take up to a month to carb.

Currently I have a few bottles in my ferment fridge with a heatbelt at 18 degrees, as there's no FV I have stuck 2x3L apple juice bottles side by side and wrapped the heat belt around them. The belt is too large so I wrap it around the bottles twice and the cord overlaps, might this be a fire issue?

 

[eMPTy]

The belt is too large so I wrap it around the bottles twice and the cord overlaps, might this be a fire issue?

No expert, but i imagine it potentially could be. As i understand it, the fermentation vessel being heated is supposed to work as a heat sink. The belt should be in contact with the vessel below the liquid line so that heat can disperse properly. A hot belt operating for any extended period without the heat sink would then potentially be dangerous, especially if overlapping.

 

[MetalDan]

Sorry should have said, both the 3L bottles are filled with water to act as a heat sink and also help regulate the temp, so its just the fact the belt overlaps I'm thinking may be an issue

 

[eMPTy]

Agreed then, the overlap would be less than ideal. As to how much of a risk it poses, that is probably a question for a sparky or manufacturer.

 

[Jordie_tackles]

Having just bottled my first batch I have wrapped my heat belt around a empty slab carton filled with my brew bottles. This is also insulated with towels, with my temp controller keeping it around 20. Is this necessary or just dangerous? Temp I imagine will drop down below 10 degrees over night and read I am meant to keep my bottles at closer to 20 for 2 weeks?

 

[shavey147]

Having just bottled my first batch I have wrapped my heat belt around a empty slab carton filled with my brew bottles. This is also insulated with towels, with my temp controller keeping it around 20. Is this necessary or just dangerous? Temp I imagine will drop down below 10 degrees over night and read I am meant to keep my bottles at closer to 20 for 2 weeks?

While it might not cause a fire, assuming that these belts don't generate enough heat to start cardboard or towels smouldering, the belt itself may not last very long as there's no liquid to dissipate the heat being generated. Not long after I first started brewing I forgot to unplug the heat belt and only realised a couple of weeks later - end result was that the plastic coating around the wiring dried out and disintegrated. Didn't trip the safety switch, YMMV

 

[Lionman]

I wouldnt bother with a heat belt around bottles, just keep them somewhere in the house, if its a bit cold they will just take a bit longer to carb up.

I just wrap my heat belt around a keg to ferment, controlled by STC1000