Temperature contol probe

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BMClark2210

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Ok I finally got a chest freezer and temperature control. Now do I drop the probe directly into the freezer or put in into a glass of water like I have seen some of the guys on BrewTV do to maintain the temp of the liquid and not the air. Thanks pretty excited to get started ok lagers!!!
 
Do not put the probe directly into water, you don't know if it is water proof and it could ruin it.

I just let mine hang so I get the temperature of the air in the freezer.
 
I also advise against putting the probe in water unless your certain it's waterproof.

What I do is tape my probe to the outside of the fermenting vessel. Air heats and cools more rapidly than liquid, and thus more rapidly that your fermenter. Not only will this keep your unit from cycling on and off as much, it's the temperature of the wort you want to control.

Adding a bit of insulation atop the probe after it's been affixed to the side of the fermenter also helps. Bubble wrap or an old, folded over t-shirt can do the trick.

Cheers!
 
If you're going to place it in air, be sure to set a wider differential on your thermostat. Typically 3 -5 degrees will be sufficient. You don't want to keep cycling your compressor. If you're measuring the beer/wort temperature, you can set the differential to 1-2F because the liquids have higher specific heats than air.
 
novahokie09 said:
If you're going to place it in air, be sure to set a wider differential on your thermostat. Typically 3 -5 degrees will be sufficient. You don't want to keep cycling your compressor. If you're measuring the beer/wort temperature, you can set the differential to 1-2F because the liquids have higher specific heats than air.
Click to expand...

I like even numbers so ill go with 4 degrees lol. Does this mean it will drop 4 degrees before turning back on? The unit is outside so it's gonna prob turn on and off all the time anyways just not as often
 
Mozart said:
I also advise against putting the probe in water unless your certain it's waterproof.

What I do is tape my probe to the outside of the fermenting vessel. Air heats and cools more rapidly than liquid, and thus more rapidly that your fermenter. Not only will this keep your unit from cycling on and off as much, it's the temperature of the wort you want to control.

Adding a bit of insulation atop the probe after it's been affixed to the side of the fermenter also helps. Bubble wrap or an old, folded over t-shirt can do the trick.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

So stick a bit under the probe so it's not directly touching the wall? Right now it's suspended
 
Tape it to the side of your fermenter and the tape something like bubble wrap over it to insulate. The temp of the fermenting beer is what's important, not that of the surrounding air. You'll also find that it fluctuates less this way.
 
If your setpoint is 64F and have a 4F differential, the freezer shouldn't power back on until 68F. The freezer only turns on above set point if you're operating in a cooling mode. If you're operating in a heating mode, the heater would turn on at 60F.

Ranco ETC controllers allow you to pick the operational mode with a touch of the button. I love these controllers.
 
BigFloyd said:
Tape it to the side of your fermenter and the tape something like bubble wrap over it to insulate. The temp of the fermenting beer is what's important, not that of the surrounding air. You'll also find that it fluctuates less this way.
Click to expand...

Ah I see what your talking about. Thanks for the clarification. I got it set at 50 preparing it for when I do my red lager sometime soon but I also have my 5 gallon keg of German wheat in there. Can't wait for it to cool so I can have a cold one. Any suggestions to the psi I should set? I have it at 23 psi right now
 
You could use a hooded or stopper thermowell:

http://morebeer.com/products/hood-thermowell-3-5-6-65-gallon-smooth-neck-carboys-15.html

This way you're reading the temperature of your actual fermentation, which can sometimes be 7-10°F above what the outside / ambient temperature is. If you have it set at 68°F but you're actual fermentation is 75°F, you're going to get some ester production (depending of course on the yeast strain used). Just a thought...

Cheers!

EDIT - If you're just using it for kegging / dispensing, the temperature won't fluctuate because you're not fermenting anymore (obviously..!)
 
BigFloyd is correct. Tape it to the side of the carboy and insulate it. I control mine to within 1 degree and I can ramp it up by 1 degree if I need to. If you just put it in the air, that doesn't tell you anything and as Jipper said, the temperature of the wort can easily be 7 -10 degrees higher than the ambient air temp. I'm doing a Belgian Blonde right not and my fermentation profile was to pitch my yeast at 64 and ramp up to 68 over the course of a week. At that time I'll bump it up to 70 - 72 to finish it off. You need to get as close to the temperature of the wort if you want to do this and not the air temp (or a glass of liquid for that matter). The ideal thing would be to use a thermowell and get inside the wort, but a lot of people have done temperature comparisons and have found that the temp of the wort, with a probe on the outside and insulated is no more than a degree of difference.

Fermentation control is the one thing that has improved my brewing more that any thing else.

Lager on!
 
BigFloyd said:
Serving pressure is usually around 8-12 psi depending on the length of your beer lines and the temp.
Click to expand...

7 ft but yeah 23 would be a tad fast lol. Thanks for looking out though Floyd
 
BigFloyd said:
You would end up with over-carbed beer and a lot of foam left at 23psi. I'd try 10 psi with a 7ft line and see how it does.
Click to expand...

I followed a forced carbonation chart. It's at 50 degrees and its a German wheat beer. It's my first time using the freezer so I could be wrong. Let me know and thanks
 

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