Johnson Analog Temperature Controller Temperature Profile

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Coastarine

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I've been meaning to do this for a while now but I burned my temperature probe cable and I had to wait for a new one to come in.

I have a johnson analog temperature controller seen at the top of the page here NORTHERN BREWER: Fermentation Temperature Control

I wanted to know just what temperature my fridge was compared to the temperature setting. In the experiment I had the controller set to 35*F, and the bulb of the controller as well as the temperature probe resting on a cardboard six-pack carrier to get a good air temp. As you can see it was a pretty even bounce between just under 38 and 43 *F. I figure that puts the beer at 40*F or just above.
Johnson.jpg
 
Interesting. Obviously a very well insulated unit. I wish I could do readouts from my controller. I do know that I have my controller set at 36 and my kegerator turns on every 49 minutes for a span of 7 minutes
 
Well the keezer is out in the laundry room which is not climate controlled and it was a cool evening last night so I'm sure that makes a difference with respect to how long it shuts off.
 
What is the size of your kegerator? (Arneba28) Basically I'm trying to see if I should buy a temperature controller or use your approximate on/off power estimations and size of kegerator to just buy a $10 power timer and do some trial and error. It could be worth a try?
 
There are all sorts of variables at play here - the ambient temperature around the fridge, how many times you open/close the fridge door, the volume of air vs. thermal mass of cold kegs in the fridge at any given time, adding in a keg of warm beer, etc. Every one of those factors would make the fridge need to turn on/off at different rates depending on what's going on. I suppose with careful data logging, you could develop a system to account for all the variables (for example, perhaps you could implement a pattern in which the fridge cycles on more often for the first 24 hours after adding a warm keg). in the long run those factors would more or less even out, but in the short term you'd risk either frozen kegs or slightly warm beer every now and then.
 

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