Stc-1000 Vs Fridgemate

[Diesel80]

Hi there,

just got about (through necessity) to wiring up my STC1000 for cooling, to run the fermenting fridge.

I nicked my fridgemate to control the keezer last weekend and rather than move it back, I wired up the STC.

Now, what i have noticed, is the temp probe is much more sensitive than the fridgemate.
I put the fermenter in the fridge and gaffa taped the probe to the side of it, set STC @ 18 (+1), 10 min delay and walked away.

Came back later and noticed it was at 18 deg according to the probe, and then fridge cut out. But within 20s the temp was rising and fast. After 30 seconds the compressor timer had started counting down. Also the stick on thermometer was reading 20 deg on the fermenter.

Funny, the fridgemate never did this! Its probe would read 18 under the same circumstances and the fermenter would read the same.


In the end I buried the STC1000 probe under some camping mat and taped the lot to the fermenter. Now it reads true and cycles far less frequently.

Just thought i would put this in a post incase it helps someone else.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Yob]

have you calibrated it against the fridgemate? With one of these stc1000's I noticed a much more 'sensetive' probe and eventually worked out that it was reading a few 'c off, calibrating it helped but in the end I got a replacement (free with harrassing the seller)..

I have 3 hooked up and havnt seen the issue raise it's head again, but I do shield my probes in a wad of packing foam so they are well insulated against the thermal activity of the airspace in the fridge.

Yob

 

[Muscovy_333]

Is there any distinct advantage over attaching the probe to the fermenter v's the airspace in the fridge. I imagine if the fridge is left closed it would be more effective to monitor the fridge air temp than the fermenter...OR i might be way off?

I have been following a previous thread, but didn't feel anyone reached a consensus on where best to mount the probe.

Sounds kinky!

 

[Diesel80]

have you calibrated it against the fridgemate? With one of these stc1000's I noticed a much more 'sensetive' probe and eventually worked out that it was reading a few 'c off, calibrating it helped but in the end I got a replacement (free with harrassing the seller)..

I have 3 hooked up and havnt seen the issue raise it's head again, but I do shield my probes in a wad of packing foam so they are well insulated against the thermal activity of the airspace in the fridge.

Yob

I reckon this may be worth a shot. I will take the kegerator offline for a night and attach the fridgemate probe also to the fermenter and see what the story is between the STC v FM v Stick On Thermometer.

Hopefully they all tell the same story within reason.

Muscovy, not sure mate but some seem to reckon its best to measure the temp of what you want to control rather than the environment it is in. I would imagine the large mass of liquid would change temp over a longer time than say a pocket of air that may be impacted by some dodgey fridge seals etc.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Bribie G]

I put the probe onto the side of the fermenter covered with some bubble wrap and taped in place, which gives a better reading of the actual surface of the fermenter and thus the beer. Remember that for the first few days of fermentation the brew creates heat and the beer can be a couple of degrees hotter than the ambient in the fridge.
Thus you want to tell the fridgemate what you want the wort to be at, not what you want the ambient in the fridge to be at. That way the fridge will work harder to get the fermenter full off beer down to what you want it, for example it might even have to hit the fermenter with 14 degrees to keep the beer at 18 for a couple of days, then as the exothermic fermentation quietens down the fridge will ease off.

Edit: I can observe this directly as my new fermenting / lagering fridge is a kegmate with its own LED temperature display. When lagering I just run the fridge in native mode down to -1 but when fermenting I run it through a Fridgemate, so in the early stages when the kegmate kicks in you can see that the fridge display is colder than the FridgeMate display, but at the end of fermentation the two displays read the same.

Ideally of course the solution is a thermowell into the brew itself with the sensor down the bottom of the well.

 

[stux]

Is there any distinct advantage over attaching the probe to the fermenter v's the airspace in the fridge. I imagine if the fridge is left closed it would be more effective to monitor the fridge air temp than the fermenter...OR i might be way off?

I have been following a previous thread, but didn't feel anyone reached a consensus on where best to mount the probe.

Sounds kinky!

Monitoring the fridge space works well if you're trying to control the temp of the airspace. But if instead, you want to control the temp of your fermenting wort, its best to either attach the probe to the fermenter wall, or even use a thermowell to suspend the probe IN the fermenting wort.

As a bonus the fridge won't kick in every time you open/close the door.