Killer Brew
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- Joined
- 25/12/14
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yep, that's the one mate.Killer Brew said:
How long did it take?sp0rk said:My Inkbird ITC-310T just got here
Will report back on it some time soon
Sounds like I'll get it early next week then.This is the one I won in the last comp on here (which was drawn mid july...)
I sent them my details on 26/8, they replied saying sorry for the late reply on 30/8 and it appeared in my office just now, was sent via untracked Parcel Post
You sure canBKBrews said:I just had a thought....
If I buy one of the SS Brewtech BrewMaster Buckets.... Can I put the ink bird temp probe directly into the thermowell?
At a pinch, yes. I tried it on my system awhile back. The problem is that they don't wait until the target rest temperature is reached before starting a timed rest period. You need to know your system's ramping rate & add the ramping period to your rest period.VP Brewing said:Would these be suitable to control a HERMS?
Yep, exactly what I experienced. You get fluctuations above/below the set-point just like an STC-1000. If accuracy is what you're after, a PID is the way to go.sp0rk said:I wouldn't think so, they're a temp controller, not a PID
You don't have the accuracy of a PID, they just shut off a set temp, so you risk still having temp rises
Didn't notice the mounting points on the socket - will check that out better tonight. Either way, I'm going to get one of those 3M picture hooks to mount the control unit to the side of my fridge.The board with sockets has mounting holes on the back, for a secure fix to the wall. The control unit has a hanging hook. I think the idea is that you mount the sockets board and hang the control unit. You can then pickup the control unit to work it, if required. You always have the option to just loop the cable and mount both side by side. If you don't want to drill, some heavy duty double-sided adhesive tape will do the trick.
I have my compressor delay at 1 min. Cooling delta at 0.6C and heating delta at 1C. The delta temperatures will probably depend very much on the thermal characteristics of the entire system. My setting have so far resulted in minimal amount of cooling or heating cycles. I'm sure if you set the delta values too small, have poor air circulation or mount the probe in a sub-optimal location, you would end up with overshoot and the system would constantly switch between heating and cooling.
Do experiment a bit with that. It may not necessarily be the best location when you use a simple temperature controller like this.BKBrews said:the temp probe will likely be permanently installed in the thermowell of that.
Do experiment a bit with that. It may not necessarily be the best location when you use a simple temperature controller like this.
Can you explain why having it placed in the thermowell might not be the best place for it?The location of the probe will be critical. Ideally you want the probe to measure mainly the temperature of the fermenting vessel and it's contents, but you do want some degree of ambient temperature influence.
I positioned the 30cm probe against the side of the fermenter, ensuring that it makes good contact with the vessel for most of the length of the probe. I have not insulated the probe against ambient temperature at all. My fermentation chamber (converted freezer) has an IP55 rated (noisy) fan for air circulation and that makes a big difference to the efficiency of heat exchange and as a result the accuracy of the temperature.
With a converted freezer, there is not much control over the cooling capacity. It just goes hard when it's on. As a result you get condensation and rapid temperature drop.
I did have some choice in terms of heating. I did a bit of research and found out that to raise the temperature of approximately 20-25 litres of water by one degree Celsius in one hour, I would need a heat source somewhere around 25W. I figured I did not really want the temperature to go up any faster than that. I ended up buying a heat cable designed for terrariums, which is moisture proof and the heating segment of the cable is 3m long. The one I ordered from an Australia vendor came with suction cups, which made it very easy to mount the heat cable on the plastic insides of the freezer. Having the heat source evenly distributed over a large area and completely flexible allows various options, including wrapping the cable around the fermenter if you need to get more heat into the vessel.
Also, be aware that this is a simple controller, so you are never going to get a steady ambient temperature. You would need a much more complex system for that. However, when you take it into perspective, ambient variations of 2C are perfectly fine for fermenting beer. As long as you can dissipate the excess heat produced by the fermentation and compensate for cold ambient temperatures, your beer should be fine. A fermenter left in the back room at my place would see ambient fluctuations of 20C or more and worse still, it would be impossible to keep the wort/beer under about 25C for most of the year.
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