PID as a thermometer

I have a couple of extra Omega PID's kicking around (a friend of mine got out of beer making), and I was thinking it would be cool to have a PID read mash temperature while I mash. My thought is that I'd wire it up as I would a RIMS with an RTD but without the heating element set up. This seems like common sense to me, but I figured I would ask the community. This would work, right?

Yes. it will work fine.

burdbrew said:

I have a couple of extra Omega PID's kicking around (a friend of mine got out of beer making), and I was thinking it would be cool to have a PID read mash temperature while I mash. My thought is that I'd wire it up as I would a RIMS with an RTD but without the heating element set up. This seems like common sense to me, but I figured I would ask the community. This would work, right?

Click to expand...

I do the same thing with all my temp controllers for a different reason.
My temp controllers are used as thermometers only and transmit the current temp to my brewing brain (PLC, programmable logic controller) which controls the brewing process.
In case of a PLC failure I can use each Temp controller (PID ) in local mode and continue brewing.



Cheers,
ClaudiusB

works just fine but you can get a digital thermometer for $20 and that PID is worth more than that.

as long as you have them hanging around using them for that application would be fine. I use one of these to monitor mash temps directly and use their liquid proof sealed RTC probes and it works perfectly.

burdbrew said:

I have a couple of extra Omega PID's kicking around (a friend of mine got out of beer making), and I was thinking it would be cool to have a PID read mash temperature while I mash. My thought is that I'd wire it up as I would a RIMS with an RTD but without the heating element set up. This seems like common sense to me, but I figured I would ask the community. This would work, right?

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I do. My mash PID is completely passive and only tells me the mash temp:



Closeup:



I used the same PID as the other two for sake of consistency in usage/alarming/backup. It also looks nicer having 3 identical PIDs (in my humble opinion).

When I ramp up by changing the HLT temperature, I can see how far behind the mash temp is lagging and takes to catch up since I heat the mash using a HERMS coil in the HLT. For example, when I mashout and set the HLT to 168F, after the HLT hits 168F it can take a few minutes before the mash also reaches 168F. The bigger the grain bill, the longer it typically takes. Once the mash reaches 168F, it's time for me to start sparging. So I usually have an alarm set for 168F in the mash PID to let me know once 168F is reached.

Kal

Excellent information. Thank you all very much!