Where Do U Put Ur Temperature Controller Probe?

[jeffyjudd]

where do u put ur temperature controller probe
just inside the fridge or
in the brew / if in the brew do u just drill a small hole in the lid and place it in? again if i place it in how far ?half way in the mix?
(i have a cooper diy kit so no airlock thing on top)
( im using it in a fridge for cooling 18 dec )
any tips would be great
oh its got a stainless probe 304 i think

 

[bcp]

I tape mine to the side of the fermenter, because i also have a heat belt around the fermenter, and I want to control the temperature of the beer. If the heat belt is on and only switches off when the whole fridge is warmer then i've probably cooked my beer. Or if the fridge is the right temp but the beer is still too warm, it will take ages to cool down.

If i had something like a thermowell i'd put it in the fermentor.

 

[barls]

mine are in a bottles of water in the fridges.

 

[felten]

rectal or... oh sorry wrong probe. Taped to the side of the fermenter with insulation against the ambient air. You're looking to control the beer's temperature not the ambient because the beer can be several degrees higher during the peak of fermentation. If you have an immersible probe then that is probably a more accurate solution but then it's another possible infection point.

 

[roverfj1200]

Use a old fermenter O ring to hold the probe and a indoor outdoor temp gauge to the fermenter half way up.

 

[big78sam]

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=49189

lots of comments here

 

[DUANNE]

i put my probe against the fermenter with an old stubbie holder cut up and taped to the fermeter as insulation. seems to keep an accurate temp and keeps the aliens away to!

 

[JestersDarts]

where do u put ur temperature controller probe
just inside the fridge or
in the brew / if in the brew do u just drill a small hole in the lid and place it in? again if i place it in how far ?half way in the mix?
(i have a cooper diy kit so no airlock thing on top)
( im using it in a fridge for cooling 18 dec )
any tips would be great
oh its got a stainless probe 304 i think

 

[raven19]

...Taped to the side of the fermenter with insulation against the ambient air. You're looking to control the beer's temperature not the ambient because the beer can be several degrees higher during the peak of fermentation....

+1 here too

 

[geoffd]

Ha ha Felten, you're a sick puppy, what temp is your poo?

I drilled a hole in the side of the fridge, put the probe through, & resealed with silicone.
I am for just taping it to the back of the fridge, allowing the probe to hang loose, I generally will set the fridge 2 to 3 degrees below my intended brewing temp, so 16-18 for a 19-20 degree ferment & raising the temp to 20 after the main fermentation dies down. I couldnt be arsed having to stick on the probe every time I put in a fermenter, I would also think the line would eventually wear (years?) from being constantly bended around.

 

[woodwormm]

1 have a stainless thermowell that goes through the lid of the fermenter with a grommet... that way the probe sits in pretty much the centre of the brew.

it is quite interesting how long it can take the centre of the brew to adjust to temp changes versus the other thermometer just reading air temp inside the brew fridge...

sometimes when changing temps ie cold crashing etc, the air temp will change within an hour or so, but the centre of the brew may take a day to catch up..

 

[MeLoveBeer]

1 have a stainless thermowell that goes through the lid of the fermenter with a grommet... that way the probe sits in pretty much the centre of the brew.

Awesome idea... how long is the thermowell? I'd love to be able to put one through the wall of my fermenters (I still want to use gladwrap for the lid and reckon you could get away with a shorter thermowell)

 

[robbo5253]

I have a 15cm Stainless probe that I have put a hole in the lid of the fermenter and resael the hole with gladwrap.
First time using it and all seems fine.

Cheers

Robbo

 

[Effect]

Thermowell through a hole on top of the fermenter next to the blow off tube.

 

[argon]

I listened to one of the podcasts from brewing network... About fermentation I think. Anyway, they did some experimentation and came to the conclusion that taping the probe to the fermenter wall and insulating it from the air was just as effective as having a probe sitting within the wort.

So for me, for simplicity I use a band if elastic around the fermenter holding a flattened wetsuit type stubby cooler. I then wedge the probe between the fermenter and the cooler. Works fine. Also when I have 2 fermenters in the fridge, I'll usually wedge the probe between the fermenters.

 

[DanRayner]

rectal or... oh sorry wrong probe. Taped to the side of the fermenter with insulation against the ambient air. You're looking to control the beer's temperature not the ambient because the beer can be several degrees higher during the peak of fermentation. If you have an immersible probe then that is probably a more accurate solution but then it's another possible infection point.

+1 easy

I use a bit of left-over rubber insulation from my SS mash-tun

 

[jeffyjudd]

thanks for the tips guys ..
i ended up taping it to the side of fermenter with an old stubbie holder as insulation
did find out the shelf wont take the weight of the fermanter with 23l's in it beer floor saved 19l's caught it mid fall 1 hour later with new heavy duty shelf im good to go

 

[Brewjohno]

I drilled a hole in the side of the fridge and siliconed like Father Jack.

I used to let it just hang down but recently have taken to hanging it in a cup of water inside the fridge.

I have also heard of people cutting upon a fridge/freezer brick and getting out the blue gooey stuff inside, putting that in glass and then putting the probe in that.

The reason I hang it in the water now is when I open the fridge for a minute to check something then the air inside changes very rapidly, especially on a hot day. There might be a temp change of up to 10 degrees. But the wort won't have budged at all. The fridge then kicks in trying to get the air temp back down and ends up bringing the wort temp down when it hadn't moved.

The glass of water helps to stablise these fluctuations.

Brewjohno

 

[Guysmiley54]

I have read many discussions and heard podcasts on this subject and I beleive that it is better to tape and insulate against the air as described before in this thread.

At the start of every brew (mainly because I have retaped the sensor after cleaning my fermenter) I attach the sensor and pour off a 100-200 ml sample and use a digital temperature probe to take a precise measurement. If it is out I recalibrate my temperature controller appropriately. I do this again whenever I take a gravity reading just for interests sake. Once dialled in I find my readings are pretty accurate

Anyone tried this?

 

[bonj]

In my swag. Haven't been to a Case Swap?