Where to Buy Thermocouple or RTD?

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RonRock

RonRock

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Anybody have a good source for Thermocouples or RTD's? I recently bought a PID that will work with either type sensor. I don't know the difference between the two, so how do I decide which I need?

I found thermocouples at Automation Direct but they run about $30.00 plus shipping. Seems a little expensive for a temp sensor. I could make my own if I knew what parts to buy. Maybe I could save a buck that way. IDK just looking for suggestions.
 
May I suggest Auberins.com. They have both thermocouple and RTD.

I have 2 RTD temperature probes. I've heard the wires are a little more forgiving for RTD than Thermocouple. but I have no experience with a thermocouple.
 
If you buy an Ebay special from China and it doesn't work you are basically out of luck. Shipping it back or trying to get money back is tedious at best. Experienced that.

If you buy from Auber, you pay more but get support and someone who will make it good. I blew out two SSR's and he sold me replacements at half price to help me recover from a disaster caused by Ebay China components that failed and caused the blow out.

I can't help but promote his good deed.
 
grainger.com search for "pt100" (which is a RTD)

there are several different probe legnths, ranging from $14 to $20
 
stlbeer said:
May I suggest Auberins.com. They have both thermocouple and RTD.

I have 2 RTD temperature probes. I've heard the wires are a little more forgiving for RTD than Thermocouple. but I have no experience with a thermocouple.
Click to expand...

Just a heads up: The probes from Auber are too small a diameter for thermowells. The probes at AutomationDirect are actually a good price and a high quality product.
 
To compensate for differences in lead wire resistance. I made some 20' cables with doorbell wire (3wire) and they read the same as the 4' wires, so I'm thinking that 4wire isn't really needed for our needs as brewers.

Did you get those ebay RTDs yet?
 
I bought one of the RTDs from ebay upon recommendation by Walker when looking for e-build options. The thing is pretty solid and reads well. No issues with it and only $17 shipped. It arrived about 2 weeks after order.
 
4 wire RTDs are fully redundit up to 1000' wire lenght, to make it a 3 wire you hook both white wires toghter, I purchased 1 to test, accurate right off the bat no offset required
then I bought 10 more for our Fermentors and for 16.00 shipped for a $50.00 probe,
I would do it again
 
Thanks for the pointer Henry. I happened to have a $7.00 discount on Ebay that was going to expire yesterday. Used it on one of the RTD's and ended up owing $8.00 and change. Not bad, I would have just lost the discount if this had not came around.

Now if I get restless I can get one from the local Grainger and have a spare when the Ebay item arrives.

Cool.
 
OneHoppyGuy said:
Just a heads up: The probes from Auber are too small a diameter for thermowells. The probes at AutomationDirect are actually a good price and a high quality product.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have 2 TCs and an RTD I can't use from them. I did find that you could use a compression fitting at the fat end where it steps up but apparently they don't weld/seal the different sizes together so they leaked into the probe.

I like their screw in RTDs but they are just a little too short,

I need to get a little farther into my HLT, I'm wondering if I could use something like this to put an Auber RTD in:

Brewers Hardware 8" Non Heat-Shielded 1/2" MNPT Stainless Steel Thermowell

If it works, it would only cost me $50 for an RTD. Any thoughts?
 
Anyone try the liquid tight 4" thermocouple listed on auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry ?

Liquid tight K type, 4 in probe, 1/2 NPT Thread [TC-K100M1/2NPT] - $26.95 : auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry

12NPTc.jpg


-Steve
 
 
Henrythe9th said:
I just purchased 11 of these 4 wire Watlow RTD with spring nuts 6 ft amor cable you can't beat it.
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
Click to expand...

So I ordered and just received one of these and I have 2 concerns. One, the auction lists this as "New other (see details): A new, unused item with absolutely no signs of wear. The item may be missing the original packaging, or in the original packaging but not sealed. The item may be a factory second or a new, unused item with defects. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections." The one I received had in fact been used. The probe was slightly bent (not a big deal) and there was pipe dope on the threads and other junk on the armor. Maybe not a huge deal due to the price but then don't say new. Maybe it was tested at the factory?

The other issue is how the probe attaches to the threaded part. It seems slide in and out on a spring. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see this as being water tight. I'll check with the vendor.

Has anyone use one of these probes yet? I don't feel like breaking down my current setup to have to put it back together again.
 
Bigscience said:
So I ordered and just received one of these and I have 2 concerns. One, the auction lists this as "New other (see details): A new, unused item with absolutely no signs of wear. The item may be missing the original packaging, or in the original packaging but not sealed. The item may be a factory second or a new, unused item with defects. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections." The one I received had in fact been used. The probe was slightly bent (not a big deal) and there was pipe dope on the threads and other junk on the armor. Maybe not a huge deal due to the price but then don't say new. Maybe it was tested at the factory?

The other issue is how the probe attaches to the threaded part. It seems slide in and out on a spring. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see this as being water tight. I'll check with the vendor.

Has anyone use one of these probes yet? I don't feel like breaking down my current setup to have to put it back together again.
Click to expand...


I ordered three of these a week ago and received them on Tuesday. I can confirm that they are NOT water-tight. There is a small o-ring around the exit port for the probe which is only water-resistant allowing water to seep through the hex fitting along the probe. Granted, it's a very slow leak... in an hour-long mash or boil, my guess is that you'd lose a quart of liquid (more if you're boiling 10 gallons or more, less if you're boiling/mashing a couple gallons).

Of course, there's always the option of a thermowell, but personally, I don't want to add 15-20 seconds of delay in measurement (directly inserted, the delay is only 5-7 seconds), so I thought about going the route of filling the hex fitting with NSF silicone and then sliding the probe in.

Otherwise, the RTD's were in new condition... they are OEM so no packaging, but no visible signs of use were indicated on any of the three. All showed identical resistances at room temp when measured with a multi-meter.
 
Oddly enough when I used the new replacement probe for a brew it didn't leak at all. I filtered my water the night before and 12 hours later, no leaks. After 4 hours of brewing, no leaks either.

Did you tighten the little nut at the back? All I can think of is it's some kind of compression system.

On another note the same seller has a 12" probe with a 1/4 compression fitting listed as a TC but when I got it it was an RTD.
 
The best supplier I have found for these items is Roxspur Measurement & Control. They are very competitive, quick delivery and technical sales is second to none. Website is www.roxspur.com I can provide details for my sales rep there if you are interested.
 

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