Remote probe thermometer wort proofing

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Vaseline and the silicone tubing are not compatible. The hydrocarbon lube will attack the silicone. However, your average everyday "personal" lubricant works just dandy.:p

I think I used dish detergent when I made my waterproofing setup. It works well and won't harm the silicone.
 
Vaseline and the silicone tubing are not compatible. The hydrocarbon lube will attack the silicone. However, your average everyday "personal" lubricant works just dandy.:p

I think I used dish detergent when I made my waterproofing setup. It works well and won't harm the silicone.

But won't the water in those things cause the same problem that we're trying to avoid, by conducting electricity and throwing off the reading?
 
I tried two of the TruTemp's from Target and I tore the cords off of both of the leads... Probably my fat sausage paws to blame... I have just gone to simple stick thermometers... Maybe I will try again...
 
Nevermind, I'm going to try Ideal at Lowe's: Clear Glide Lubricant

It says it's good for using on electrical equipment, and it's non-toxic. Of course, I'll be washing the probe quite thoroughly afterward, but it's good to be safe.

So the clear-glide wasn't what I thought it was. It looked like it came in a small bottle, but it was more like a quart, and it says that it's conductive until it dries. Since I don't know how it's going to dry when sealed in some surgical tubing, I don't know that it'd work so well.

I may just go with the dish soap and hope it doesn't run under the silicone sheathing.
 
What about just using some silicone caulk? I have thought about just caulking all over the cracks in the probe (that's what she said) but I'm not ready to ruin my $30 thermometer just yet.
 
I just realized, I have that same probe as Bobby M (Taylor TruTemp) and it has been sitting in a fermenting bath/blow off mess without any issue. Does wort really treat it differently so that it will break?
 
I have a "Polder" brand from Bed Bath and Beyond and as soon as the littlest bit of liquid hits those cracks between the probe and the braid, it freaks out and beeps like crazy and the temperatures go all wacky.
 
I ended up using dish soap, but I must have used too much because the tubing kept sliding around after I'd slid it on (went on really really easily, too). So I had to tie a knot at the top of the tubing, with the cable inside, to keep it from sliding around any more.

Seems to be working fine with the dish soap in there, so I'm not too worried. Getting those o-rings on it was very tough, and I doubt it's really water tight, but I really just want it to be safe in case it slips into some liquid and I grab it immediately. Not going to soak this thing at all (I'd probably get some dish soap out if I did).
 
my attempt to put the silicone tubing from the pet store did not go smoothly at first, but then I accidentally pulled the cord out of the probe and just put the tubing on. I then pushed the cord back in the probe and tested it in boiling water and it seemed to work just fine.
 
I used the flexible rubbery tubing (it might be called surgical tubing) instead of the clear vinyl stuff.
 
I just used my "wort proofed" probe this weekend and it worked like a charm. Submerged in the mash and all. I used #68 o-rings (couldn't find 70 in three different stores). With one under the tubing and two over I don't see much of anything getting int here. Good work Bobby!
 
so when you do this wort proofing, can you just leave it in the wort during the boil, or do you have to take your reading and take it out?

I left mine in without doing that and now it reads 123 degrees at room temperature. Will the baking idea fix this or is this one shot
 
so when you do this wort proofing, can you just leave it in the wort during the boil, or do you have to take your reading and take it out?

I left mine in without doing that and now it reads 123 degrees at room temperature. Will the baking idea fix this or is this one shot

Baking fixed mine, but all I had in mine was sanitizer solution. Not sure if the sugars in Wort would continue to affect the thermoprobe afterwards, but I doubt they'd make any real difference.

Couldn't tell if you'd already wort-proofed your probe from your post, but if so, you may not want to leave the tube on there when you bake it.
 
I don't see a point in reading a boiling temp (boiling happens at 212º). I use the thermometer for mash temps.

And yes, the baking idea should fix. I had the same issue before wort proofing and it worked like a charm.
 
I don't know many people who can claim they've completely submerged the probe and wire without having a "misfire" reading afterwards. I'm pretty sure it's a moisture thing that messes with the thermocouple reading. If you're going to put this probe in liquid often, you really should waterproof it as I outlined.
 
cool! thanks. I did it for an extract batch and left it in while i was steeping at 153 and then i turned it up to 170 for a quick dunk for a BS partial mash.

Thanks for the help!
 
I don't know many people who can claim they've completely submerged the probe and wire without having a "misfire" reading afterwards. I'm pretty sure it's a moisture thing that messes with the thermocouple reading. If you're going to put this probe in liquid often, you really should waterproof it as I outlined.

I just thought they were already waterproof.. so much for that idea :drunk:
 
I just dangle the tip of the probe into my water/mash then put the lid on over the cord so it stays put. This has always worked fine for me.

The only way it wouldnt work is if your boiling. But why measure the temp of boiling wort?
 
How about measuring the temp of cooling wort? There are just too many chances for submerging the cord. Why take the chance?

Also, a great reason to put it in the boil kettle is to set the alarm for 210F so that you can run over to catch the hot break boilover.
 
I wish I'd seen this sooner. I had no idea the probe thermometers weren't water proof! My readings were way off last time. Heading out to petsmart today to get some tubing.:eek:
 
I couldn't find any #70 o-rings anywhere. I see that somebody picked up some #60's. I'll give that a try!
 
Mine just suddenly started acting like it was wet again. I wort-proofed it about a month and a half ago, and it's just been sitting next to a carboy most of the time since. I think some of the dish soap that I used as a lubricant got into the joint.

It's sitting in the oven now, hopefully it'll be all fixed (again).
 
Bobby, can you re-post the pics? For some reason they aren't attached to your original post. I would really like to see how you did this, I need this for my new mashtun. Thanks!
 
I just waterproofed mine and could not get keg lube to work beyond a few inches. Not sure why I have a mini funnel, but it fit in the end of the tubing and I poured a teaspoon or less of olive oil in the tube. The Silicone slid right on and took no more than 2 minutes to get it done. You could also use an eyedropper to put the oil into the tube.

btw - purchased silicone o-rings & tubing from Amazon
 
I just waterproofed mine and could not get keg lube to work beyond a few inches. Not sure why I have a mini funnel, but it fit in the end of the tubing and I poured a teaspoon or less of olive oil in the tube. The Silicone slid right on and took no more than 2 minutes to get it done. You could also use an eyedropper to put the oil into the tube.

btw - purchased silicone o-rings & tubing from Amazon

Can we get links? Thanks.
 
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Argh. I killed my thermomter by keeping the probe deep in the mash. It was reading 200+ in the ambient. Now that it's dried out, it's a full 30 degrees off.

Wish I'd read up on this before I did that. It was very accurate too! I think I'll go get another cheap one just like it and try this method. Looks like it will work a treat!
 
Homer,
Did you try baking the probe at 350 F? That supposedly will reset it (or at least boil off any moisture)...never tried it though.

yeah just be smarter than me and leave the plug part out of it... i totally melted down the part that plugs into the thermometer so i had to buy a new one anyway.
 
i am having a hell of a time finding a number 70. Can someone tell me what the dimensions of the 70 are.. or what you used instead of it? I saw someone used a 60.. how did that go??
 
Whats keg lube exactly?

Keg lube is silicone grease. You can find it at auto parts stores as dielectric grease. It's non-conductive and not water soluble. In the automotive world it is used for such things as lubing the rubber caps on spark plugs to keep them from sticking and on electrical disconnects to keep out moisture and prevent arcing.

You guys should take a look at something like this digital thermometer that accepts a variety of "K" type thermocouples:

http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_view.asp?sku=9121045&pfx=EW

Several of my brewing buddies use these with this type of thermocouple and they submerge them all the time without problems:

Bead Type Temperature Sensor Type K Thermocouple Probe | Tenma | 72-8366

The overall cost is a little higher, but the hassle factor is much, much lower and you only need to buy it once. Very accurate, can be user calibrated and easy to use. I went through several of the low end kitchen type digital thermometers and now have several nice digital timers in my tool box.
 
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