Wort Temperature Probe And Switch

[PistolPatch]

I was wondering if anyone could help me find a thermostat switch with a probe that can be placed inside my fermenter.

I live in a one bedroom apartment which makes brewing interesting trying to keep 115 litres of beer cold! I can't get another fridge in here and if I did, people would know I had a drinking problem - with 2 fridges they're only suspicious <_< .

At present I ferment using my laundry sink with the fermenter sitting on an old fermenter so that it sits above the sink. The room is air conditioned so I usually give it a blast morning and night and leave a wet T-shirt over it but it's hard to keep it at 22 degrees - 25 is no worries but I really want to be able to go lower.

I have just bought a pond pump and want to fill the sink with cool water, say about 19 degrees, and have the pump turn on when the wort is 23 degrees and turn off at 21 degrees. The water will flow into the well of the fermenter and then run back to the sink via the fermenter.

What I need is a probe to put inside the fermenter which will turn my pond pump on and off. The pump has a transformer that cuts the 240 down to 12v so I suppose I could get either voltage thermostat switch.

Hope this post isn't too long-winded. Be grateful for any feedback as have been searching the net for hours!

Cheers!

 

[jgriffin]

Any of the usual thermostats that people here have been buying in the bulk buy section should do you. The digital Dixell ones were around $90 from memory. You'd need to insert the probe into a stainless tube or something to keep it out from wort - altho0ugh they also have stainless probes that can be immersed in liquid.

Someone else here has mounted their probes in the lid of their fermetors, can't remember who atm, see if i can find it.

 

[Brownie]

Pistol,

I use a large plastic tub with about 4 to 8 inches of water, I have a small aquarium pump to keep the water circulating and stop it from going stagnant, and to spread the warm or cold water around evenly.

Also have an aquarium heater for the colder weather to keep the temp above freezing (I live in Canberra Brrrrrrr).

The other option to keep the water cool in summer is to get at least one (but you may have to experiment and may require 2) 1.25 litre or 2 litre soft drink bottle (plastic), fill it with water and freeze it.

Pop the frozen bottle into your sink with the fermenter, in the morning and it should keep the water at a pleasant temp throughout the day (tip if you throw a couple a tablespoons of salt in the bottle before freezing the ice will stay colder longer). Using the Towel or wet t-shirt will also help keep the fermenter cool.

Cheers
Brownie.

 

[Ross]

Someone else here has mounted their probes in the lid of their fermetors, can't remember who atm, see if i can find it.

[post="94267"][/post]​

I use a probe in the beer - using a S/S tube with one end blocked - the probe just slides down inside...

 

[PistolPatch]

Thanks JG. Haven't been able to find the bulk buy section as yet as I'm new to this site - pretty impressed though! Also don't know what the bulk buy bit means as yet but will keep reading! Thanks again.

 

[PistolPatch]

Thanks Brownie. You've got the opposite problem to me - I'm on the Gold Coast where it's always over 20 degrees! Like the salt water idea. Fortunately I have a heap of freezer bricks - a necessity up here!

 

[PistolPatch]

Cheers Ross. Just saw your bar photo. One thing that I couldn't work out was how you could possibly have 3 empty stools at such an impressive bar!!! What's going on there?

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting the photo of your probe set up as well. With your probe, do you know what brand etc. that it is and where I can get one? (I'm on the Gold Coast). Does it come with a switch mechanism? Thanks again.

 

[Ross]

Cheers Ross. Just saw your bar photo. One thing that I couldn't work out was how you could possibly have 3 empty stools at such an impressive bar!!! What's going on there?

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting the photo of your probe set up as well. With your probe, do you know what brand etc. that it is and where I can get one? (I'm on the Gold Coast). Does it come with a switch mechanism? Thanks again.

[post="94283"][/post]​

Sorry mate, I have a friend in the temp control business who built it for me - My control box provides independant heating & cooling for 3 brew fridges...

 

[Brownie]

No problem, got the idea from someone else on this site or grumpys site. I am still experimenting only done 3 brews thus far.

So still lots to learn and fine tune. But the water bath method seems to be keep my brew at reasonable temps.

Cheers
Brownie

 

[PistolPatch]

Well Ross, was jealous after seeing your bar but now I hear you have the duck's nuts of control boxes as well!!!! Thanks again though. Been playing around with this pond pump and it works really well. Only will need to turn on for about ten minutes 4 or 5 times a day. Just need the probe switch...

 

[redbeard]

pistol, instead of a probe, just go for a timer switch. cheap n nasty. have it turn on for 15mins or so every hour, or whatever minimum time periods it has. better to be too cool than too hot.

cheers

 

[Screwtop]

pistol, instead of a probe, just go for a timer switch. cheap n nasty. have it turn on for 15mins or so every hour, or whatever minimum time periods it has. better to be too cool than too hot.

cheers

[post="94328"][/post]​

I would go with this one, used one myself for my ferm fridge before the Adlo. Crude but does the job. Bought mine from K Mart for about $10. Get the one that has 24hr dial with 15 min segments. That way you can decide how long the on and off periods will be over 24 hrs, you could set it for something like:- on for half an hour every 2 hrs during the day, and during the night say after 10pm when it is cooler, on for 15 min every 3 hrs. Hope this helps.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Someone else here has mounted their probes in the lid of their fermetors, can't remember who atm, see if i can find it.

[post="94267"][/post]​

I use a probe in the beer - using a S/S tube with one end blocked - the probe just slides down inside...


View attachment 4997

[post="94276"][/post]​

What on earth r u brewing that looks toxic!

 

[PistolPatch]

Cheers Screwtop and Redbeard! Could go the timer but want to get a little more accuracy.

Just found someone that does spa temp controllers and they're going to get their tech to work out a price. Controller will work to as little as 0.5 degree tolerance from zero through to 40 degrees which would be great. Will post the price here when I find out how much it costs.

 

[PistolPatch]

Thanks guys. Got the timer to tide me over. (Got two at Bunning s for $8.95! HPM brand as well!!!!)

Also checked out the other suggestions. Had a look at a fridge controller at a shop around the corner from me. It is a adjustable to 0.1 degrees and the guy reckons it will be about $150 (he still has to confirm the price). I saw that the Aldo's were about $110 and only have a 2 degree tolerance so if I can get this unit at $150, I'll do that - hang the expense. This guy's a pool/spa electronics whiz and I said that there is some demand for this type of thing, so he's going to look into building a unit himself. Will keep you posted.