Test those thermometers before you brew......

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FSR402

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The first 3 brews I did I used the thermometer that came with my cooker. Going by the boil point of 212 I figured that it was about 5 - 10 degs off. The gauge is small so it was hard to tell. Not to bad I guess I could deal with that. Plus I did not really think to much off it.
The 4th brew I used a digital thermometer and I felt that this was a safe way to go. Well we did a PM brew and all seemed well. Then when it came time to cool the wort it took for ever.. WAY longer then the others did. It was going on 40 minutes and the thermometer was saying that I was still at 114*.. WTF? So I quick sanitized another thermometer and checked it, 60*... Hmmm...

What a mess, the digital one was messed up and wont read under 114, the one that came with my cooker turned out to be 30* off, 30* low. So when I thought I was steeping at 150 it was really 180. I'm amazed that the beers are turning out as good as they are.

I now have a good brewing thermometer in my brew pot that I have tested and when the water boiled it read 212.
So heed my warning, test those thermometers....
 
If it's one of those with an exposed braid, you can't get them wet. If you do, then they'll act like you describe. There's no way to tell if it was still working correctly when you were steeping. You may have been fine.

There's a way to fix the digital thermo. I think you stick it in the oven on 350 for an hour or two. That will dry it out and reset it.

You can also waterproof the probe https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=26905&highlight=silicone+probe so that it doesn't happen again.
 
Been there myself with the braid. My wort was coming to a boil and I needed to walk away so I monitored the speed of temp increase. It took 45 seconds to go from 206 to 207, so I figured I had at least 3 to 4 minutes before 212. I come back in 3 minutes and I have a massive boil over and my digital thermometer was stuck at 210 until I dried it out in the oven. I had forgotten to correct for altitude and even though Cincinnati isn't at a very high altitude (800ft), it is good for almost a 2 degree change in boiling point.
 
Bearcat Brewmeister said:
my digital thermometer was stuck at 210 until I dried it out in the oven

You were able to fix the braid getting wet by cooking the entire probe in the oven? Just curious as I have one that has the same problem.
 
Lil' Sparky said:
If it's one of those with an exposed braid, you can't get them wet. If you do, then they'll act like you describe. There's no way to tell if it was still working correctly when you were steeping. You may have been fine.

There's a way to fix the digital thermo. I think you stick it in the oven on 350 for an hour or two. That will dry it out and reset it.

You can also waterproof the probe https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=26905&highlight=silicone+probe so that it doesn't happen again.

Yes it got wet. I did not know that it could not get wet.
So I now have to bake the braid probe? would that not melt it?
 
They're designed to go in the oven. Just don't put any plastic parts in there. What are you worried about melting?
 
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