Ruined Fermentometer

During the heat wave that we had recently I did a make shift cooling method of sticking the carboys in water and adding full, frozen, 1 gallon containers to the bath to keep the temps down.

Recently the temperature has cooled off so there is no more need for the bath, so out they went.

I went to check the temperature this morning and every single temperature measurement was lit up. Is this because I got them wet? There is no way the ambient temperature in the closet is 36 deg F...so I'm assuming the culprit is the water. Has this happened to anyone else?

-Nick

Yep, it has happened to me and they never recovered.

aye, you can get water drops on it, but if you submerge it, the glue on the edges that keeps thte liquid crystal inside will leak out, and the fermometer is toast.

Yeah, I learned that one from experience, also.

I wonder if you could prevent it by covering them with a wide strip of clear packing tape before they ever get wet.

chalk a loss up to me also.. sucks dont it?

Yup I lost two of them last month the same way.

Buford said:

I wonder if you could prevent it by covering them with a wide strip of clear packing tape before they ever get wet.

Click to expand...

Nope, I tried it and it still whacked out on me...

Buford said:

I wonder if you could prevent it by covering them with a wide strip of clear packing tape before they ever get wet.

Click to expand...

I don't know if packing tape would be waterproof enough, but you'd almost certainly be fine if you used something that was truly waterproof - there's got to be some kind of clear waterproof tape out there. I've used clear hockey tape to try waterproofing something before, it worked alright but then again I wasn't leaving it submerged for very long so I don't know how permanently waterproof it would be.

The trick is, to tape them to your fermenter with some packaging tape, and to REMOVE them, BEFORE you immerse them in water.

Oh, if you have a floating thermometer, float it in the larger bucket to check temps. Yes, it will read correctly, even if you have a plastic (bucket) fermenter.

steve

I did the same thing, with all of mine!!! I had 4 carboys in a tub of water, and they all came out ruined!

Yup, ruined mine this summer too. I found that if you are going to replace them, place them horizontally, about an inch below the highest point your beer will reach in the fermenter (right near the top for 5 gal, a couple of inches down for the 6.5), this is the warmest part of the beer, then fill you water bath to just below the fermometers. This sacrifices alittle bit of efficiency, but will still work quite well.

You do need another way to keep your brews in the dark than a wet tee-shirt, I just cut some holes in the lid that came with the tub I use for a water bath.

I work in the auto business and I'm thinking a nice coat of clear rubber silicone completely covering the fermometer will protect it. It would be a little tough to goop a nice even coat on it so it might look a little funny, but I'm quite sure it would work. Make sure you follow the directions and let it cure completely before puttting it in water. If I have time I'll give it a go and let you know how it goes.

I just let them sit on the carboys for awhile, and believe it or not three of the five are working again. Apparently leaving them out allowed the water to dry out. Since the only way for me to get a rough calibration on them is to check the room temp in the closet, I left three different thermometers I use in brewing in there and the fermometers were reading within 2 degrees of the (hopefully) calibrated thermometers.

I'm hoping that after a certain amount of time the others will roll around, but a few is better then none in my book.