Ferm Chamber Temp Probe Question for other Ferm Chamber Owners

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
limulus

limulus

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,526
Reaction score
124
Location
ATL Burbs
Hello Lads,
I recently finished a fermentation cabinet using a 5050 BTU AC unit and an STC-1000 controller (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/5000-btu-fermention-chamber-419304/ ). It works great. I currently have my temp probe suspended from the ceiling and with the fermentation cabinet empty, it cycles on every 2-2.5 minutes and runs 40-45secs.

Do those of you with similar setups place your probe in open air, liquid, tape to a fermenter or insert into a thermo well on a fermenter? Obviously, the thermo well option is probably the best, but I use HDPE fermenters. My keezer uses this same controller and I have the probe in a 1L bottle of water which works great.
 
I tape my probe to the side of the carboy. Put a piece of paper towel between teh tape and the probe.
 
Indytruks138 said:
I tape my probe to the side of the carboy. Put a piece of paper towel between teh tape and the probe.
Click to expand...
^^This^^ is exactly what I do when I'm warming with my dual stage temp controller. My fermentation chamber has a thermostat wired to the inside but, if I used a temp controller to cool, I'd do the same thing with the probe taped to the outside of the fermenter with a paper towel (folded about 16 times) on the outside of the probe.
 
I made a 2 inch wide nylon and elastic belt that cinches closed with velcro. It holds the probe firmly to the carboy under a 1/2" thick square of closed cell pipe insulation. It reads within a degree of the actual wort temperature.
 
Why did nobody else mention that his ferm container seems to be switching on and off way too often?

Every 2 minutes? You may seriously need thicker insulation. My freezer comes on once an hour for 5 minutes if that.

Granted your measuring the air, but you really need to max out the min compressor cycle time on the STC to 10 minutes.
You may also want to adjust your temperature window to not be so tight?

Thermowell will always be your best option. Not sure what you mean by a HDPE fermenter, just a bucket?

I just took my bucket lid, drilled another hole in it for a 2nd stopper. Stoppers come with 3/8" holes to hold air locks, and most thermowells will have 3/8" OD. Jam it in the stopper, put the stopper in the center hole in your bucket lid and your done. Or just drill like a 5/8" hole in your lid, and shove the thermowell through to get a tight fit...although i had issues doing it this way and had to seal it with some silicone or jbweld.

Turning on your AC unit every 3 minutes is going to blow it out quick.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Why did nobody else mention that his ferm container seems to be switching on and off way too often?

Every 2 minutes? You may seriously need thicker insulation. My freezer comes on once an hour for 5 minutes if that.

Granted your measuring the air, but you really need to max out the min compressor cycle time on the STC to 10 minutes.
You may also want to adjust your temperature window to not be so tight?

Thermowell will always be your best option. Not sure what you mean by a HDPE fermenter, just a bucket?

I just took my bucket lid, drilled another hole in it for a 2nd stopper. Stoppers come with 3/8" holes to hold air locks, and most thermowells will have 3/8" OD. Jam it in the stopper, put the stopper in the center hole in your bucket lid and your done. Or just drill like a 5/8" hole in your lid, and shove the thermowell through to get a tight fit...although i had issues doing it this way and had to seal it with some silicone or jbweld.

Turning on your AC unit every 3 minutes is going to blow it out quick.
Click to expand...


This is not a freezer. It is a 4x4x4 box with 1" of foam on the sides and top. It has 4" of insulation on the bottom. It is powered by an AC unit. My keezer which also uses an STC-1000 only comes on every 1:45-2hrs. Typically, window AC units come on quite frequently from what I've seen. Min only runs for 45 seconds. My cabinet is also empty right now and may not cycle on as often with some mass inside. I can add more foam if needed. Home Depot is only 1.5 mi away!

My fermenters are these not buckets. I don't like glass carboys:

DSC_0363.jpg
 
Every 45 seconds is still ridiculously fast, im far from an expert but from all my research that will blow up the AC unit compressor fast.

Maybe someone else who has one of these AC chambers can chime in.

I know for Freezers for Keezers they tell you to set the STC-1000 to the max compressor delay of 10 minutes.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Every 45 seconds is still ridiculously fast, im far from an expert but from all my research that will blow up the AC unit compressor fast.

Maybe someone else who has one of these AC chambers can chime in.

I know for Freezers for Keezers they tell you to set the STC-1000 to the max compressor delay of 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

No, it only runs for 45 seconds. We'll see what happens once I get a full fermenter inside.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Every 45 seconds is still ridiculously fast, im far from an expert but from all my research that will blow up the AC unit compressor fast.

...

I know for Freezers for Keezers they tell you to set the STC-1000 to the max compressor delay of 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

Agreed, short cycles like what the OP is seeing are very hard on the compressor.

With the probe hanging in air, the cold blast when the A/C comes on cools it quickly, and it shuts off, then warms in a few minutes and there you go.

Tape the probe to a fermentor as others suggested, or tape it to a gallon jug of water. Anything to give it a little thermal mass. Like the 1L bottle you use in your keezer (assuming the probe can be submerged).

-kenc
 
Might consider putting your thermometer into the wort. The problem you may be having is that the air temp around the thermometer is getting plenty cold (shutting of A/C), but the wort isn't cold and eventually re-heats the therm and the loop restarts. Eventually things will equilibrate, but it's going to take some time (and perhaps a compressor). Are you letting the fan run when the compressor is off? If not, this might be worth trying. The coil will be plenty cold. Running the fan would also helps prevent the coils from freezing.

Not sure how sophisticated you want to get, but if you were to measure the wort temp and call for A/C, you could let the A/C run until the air temp was just above freezing. Just keep in mind that the thermal mass of a couple of 5 gallon pails is huge compared to the volume of "cold" air in your fermenter.

P
 
Thanks everyone. I'm either going to use a 1L bottle of water as in my keezer or tape the probe to a fermenter when I brew something. Right now, the cabinet is empty and the probe is hanging in the air diagonally from the AC output.

I've thought about this and my keezer only runs about every 1:45:00-2hrs. That beer is kegged and not generating any heat. A thermowell would be the best, but I think taping the probe to the side of a fermenter would be better than inserting it into a 1L bottle of water which is not generating any heat like fermenting wort.

After I try both ways, I'll report back. Either way, it is better than my old method of carrying the full fermenter to the basement for primary/secondary. Then back up to the garage for crash cooling in a fridge that is not just for beer. Then kegging and taking back down to the basement bar/keezer. Sometimes, building stuff is fun. I can't believe I did not do this a looong time ago.
 

Similar threads

Jim Snell
Fermentation Chamber - Temp Control Questions
Replies
2
Views
887
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
A
Using Freezer Ferm Chamber for Multiple Brews
Replies
1
Views
771
RM-MN
R
BayerischBier
Glycol options? AC vs. freezer G-loop?
Replies
1
Views
951
BayerischBier
BayerischBier
kmall002
For Sale Ferm Chamber, Stout Conical, other items - updated post
Replies
6
Views
2K
LegacyBanker
L
FloppyKnockers
Ferm chamber set-up
Replies
6
Views
1K
FloppyKnockers
FloppyKnockers
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top