Thermothingy Rant!!!

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Kayos

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OH....coool!! There is a way to put a thermometer in my 10 gallon round cooler! I will buy this thermothingy for $12 and put my thermometer that came with my turkey fryer in it.

Yea, great...in theory.

What a terrible design. As I am drilling into my MLT I am thinking, "this is scary. this is the most expensive single piece of equipment I have and I am drilling a hole in it." Like an idiot I drilled away. As I put the bulkhead into it, I am thinking "so I have to hold this round thing with plyers on the inside, as I wrench the outside of it?" Used vice grips and it was an absolute bear making the thing even halfway snug against the cooler. Got through the whole thing and it didn't leak at all, so I thought I was good to go.

Today -- brew day. Leaked out the side of the thing as well as around where the thermometer goes through. Had to heat up and measure the strike water twice. Good thing I am a water before grain guy.


In conclusion, if I has it to do over again, I would not ever drill a hole into a good MLT. Especially if there was no nut on the inside to wrench on. I have a weldless thermometer in my HLT, and it is fine, but I now understand why people pay for the things to get welded on when they are ordered.

\rant off\
 
I bought one from NothernBrewer recently, and even the guy there said it's not really a good idea to drill through your MLT.

So it's been sitting on my workbench for about two months. This thread just made up my mind NOT to attempt it.

Sorry about your problem, that sucks. But it may have saved others from attempting the same thing.

:)
 
I had frustrating problems with my thermosights, too. I put them on my keggles and every one wouldn't tighten enough. After ruining several nipples (I was lucky enough to find a local hardware store that had the same size in SS), I ended up buying numerous SS washers and installing them on either side. In some cases, there are 3 washers on one side. I also used a lot of teflon tape. This pretty much got it to work, but I still have a very slow drip in my HLT.

The problem I had was that the short nipples that come with the thermosight are flared, i.e., they increase in diameter the further something is threaded on. So, it can only thread so far.

Overall, I'm happy with the end result, but they weren't near as simple to install as I was lead to believe.
 
Not to bring the rant down, but I have a thermothingy on my HLT Keggle and it works exactly as described and was very easy to install. I am sorry you guys had such a hassle with them. For the price, they are a ridiculously cheap sight glass and thermometer port that work pretty well. If you want the best of something, you generally have to pay for it. Just my .02
 
Boerderij Kabouter said:
Not to bring the rant down, but I have a thermothingy on my HLT Keggle and it works exactly as described and was very easy to install. I am sorry you guys had such a hassle with them. For the price, they are a ridiculously cheap sight glass and thermometer port that work pretty well. If you want the best of something, you generally have to pay for it. Just my .02

Are they made by Zymico? If so, maybe they improved the design. None of mine would thread enough to be tight. Some were even loose to the point you could spin them and they were tightened as far as they could possibly go (almost didn't get them back off). (PS: I'm very mechanically competent;))
 
I was going to buy one of these next time I placed an order. I don't understand why it wouldn't work, I have a weldless thermometer on my boil kettle and it has never leaked. The only thing that really bugs me when brewing is not knowing exactly what temp it is in my mash, and I hate to open the lid and lose heat.

Does anyone know if these will fit a Blichmann Brewmometer?
 
Yeah, I think they are made by Zymico, but don't quote me on that. They were ordered from Northern Brewer about a year ago. Also, I do get a drip out of the connection about once every five minutes, but I think that is acceptable for what I paid.

Did you tell whoever you bought those from that the fitting were not properly sized? Perhaps you could get a refund or at least some store credit. I have found that as long as you are gracious, companies like to get feedback from unhappy customers.
 
I have one on my HLT (converted keg) that works fine. So I decided to put one in my MLT (round cooler). Well first I drilled the hole and then put the nipple in only to find out it was two short :(. So i press in the outside of the cooler just enough for the compression fitting just caught some threads. Put in some water to test and it leaked. So I tighted the fitting more and striped the threads..... So I will go to HD and find a longer nipple and other parts to make a new one...
 
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