New Rig

[JasonY]

Andrew, any chance of a description and perhaps some pics of how you have mounted the temperature sensors in your mash tun and HLT. I got the kits this week and am thinking of using it this weekend for a test brew.

At this stage I figure I will use a long bit of sealed copper pipe to keep the sensors out of direct contact with the liquid, essentially make a probe. May have to add some kind of plugs so it is easy to move the vessels for cleaning ....

For the hell of it I am going to have a crack at a windows gui to monitor and control the brewery new toys always good fun!

 

[Andrew]

Hi Jason,

Mounting the sensors is ine thing that hasn't been done hi-tech yet, still want to play around with them a while, so I'm not willing to drill holes in my tuns yet....

At the moment though, the best I have come up with is this: for the HLT I have the sensor in a 1/4" brass tube that I crimped the end over in a vice so water doesn't get in. This tube is about200 mm long and at the top end where the security cable goes in I drilled a 1/4" hole in a synthetic cork to act as a float and stuck the tube through it. Tape the top of the tube to stiop water getting in, and it just floats up and down in my HLT like a fishing float.

The same thing for the Mash tun except I used a 300mm length of stainless tube (both available from model shops) and no float. As my mash tun is 600mm tall it gets me into the middle of it.

For herms and sparge outlet temps the sensors are cable tied to the outlets over the mash tun with the ends in the flow of the liquid. If you use heat shrink over your 3 solders to the sensors, then bigger diameter heatshrink over the lot, including the sensor, then they are pretty well watertight.

The circuit board with the controller chip is well away from the rig.

I'd post pics but I don't have a digital camera and have to wait until someone visits with one.

Cheers!

 

[GMK]

PUT ON THE BEER AND A DEMO - AND I WILL VISIT WITH ONE.

 

[Andrew]

You're on, Ken. Trouble is I tend to busy at all the wrong hours....

Got a bunch of 10 coming around Friday night... they are going to drink me dry. Time to visit Goliaths for more goodies I think!

 

[big d]

sounds like a trip to goliaths with the setup and a brewday will please many people andrew.

 

[Andrew]

I'll see what I can do Dave. Mind you, its a bloody big rig to transport...

 

[Guest Lurker]

You mean you didnt motorize it?

 

[Andrew]

Mmmmm.... GL I couldn't work out where to hang the numberplates..!

 

[big d]

i thought combine harvesters and the like were allowed on the roads.