Thermometer and thermocoupler combo unit

pickles said:

I am sourcing parts for an electric boil kettle and came across this interesting piece. I am wondering if this would be compatible with a PID (probably Auber). In my mind if it will work it would eliminate one fitting on keg and also be a water tight thermocoupler. I read a post lately from Pol about his not being water tight. I know very little about electronics, so bear with me.

Here she is:

Specs:
"50 to 300°F (10 to 150°C) temperature range with an accuracy of ±1% of full scale. It features a 1/2" NPT(M) connection, 3" dial, 6 inch long by 1/4" diameter stem, 304 SS case and stem and glass lens. Built-in 4 to 20 mA transmitter allows data transfer to a PC, control room, or other data acquisition devices."

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HarkinBanks said:

What the heck is that?

Best way to add a thermocouple to an e-kettle in my opinion is to do it via a sightglass. You can get a 4" thermocouple from auberins and a sightglass from bargain fittings. Hook it up to a PID and the PID will give you temp readings while heating and cooling.

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Sawdustguy said:

What are you talking about? Why in God's name would he neer a sightglass? This thing is perfect for his application. It will screw right into the 1/2" coupler welded right into the side of his keggle or brewpot. The thermometer also has a 4 to 20 mA output which a Auber Instruments PID can use with a 50 Ohm shunt resistor so he doesn't need a second coupler on his brew pot for a thermocouple.

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pickles said:

Search thermometer in the ebay store. I just bought one and they have one left but a 9" probe on it.

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HarkinBanks said:

Lots of people want sightglasses, even in keggles. I was just giving the guy another way to get a sightglass and a thermocouple in the same hole and still get a temp read-out.

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Sawdustguy said:

I understand that, but that would require a separate thermocouple and thermometer and two couplings on his brew pot which he is trying to avoid. He is probably using the PID to control the temperature and wants to verify the temp with a thermometer.

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Sawdustguy said:

I understand that, but that would require a separate thermocouple and thermometer and two couplings on his brew pot which he is trying to avoid. He is probably using the PID to control the temperature and wants to verify the temp with a thermometer.

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HarkinBanks said:

Seems like overkill to add another thermometer if you don't trust your PID readout.

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HarkinBanks said:

You can just put the waterproof thermocouple through the sightglass couple and use one hole if you use this sightglass http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop1.html

Once your PID is configured it should give you accurate temp readings of the wort. One hole, sightglass and thermocouple, to me, that saves another hole in the kettle. Seems like overkill to add another thermometer if you don't trust your PID readout.

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pickles said:

It's been purchased so it's a mute point. The bottomline is I wanted it but wanted to make sure it would work. It is a slick way to give me an analog and digital temp.

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