Cooler Losing Heat

Hello,

I use a Coleman picnic cooler for mashing. I have drilled a hole for a themometer in the side and screwed it in. I probably made about five beers and only lost a couple degrees but now for some reason when I mash I lose 10-12 degrees over 60 min. I preheat the cooler everytime. I start at 156 and by the end I'm down to 145 ....Any ideas?

That's weird, I currently use a Coleman Extreme cooler and lose maybe a degree or two in an hour. I'd guess about the only thing you can do is occasionally add more 170-180 deg water to bring it back up.

Is it possible that something has changed in your process since your thermometer is in a fixed position. I know that with my probe thermometer I have the freedom of moving it around in the mash to verify that the temp is the same throughout the cooler. Are you stirring well to mix and distribute the temp. Perhaps the thermometer is just not getting a good reading?

By drilling a hole in it you may have trashed the cooler. Did you seal around the temp probe? If the cooler has cracks on the inside or otherwise the insulation between the two layers of plastic becomes saturated the cooler is worthless and garbage there is no way to dry it out. Put some hot water in it and then feel the outside of it 10 minutes later, if it feels warm, trash it.

Mikethepoolguy said:

By drilling a hole in it you may have trashed the cooler. Did you seal around the temp probe? If the cooler has cracks on the inside or otherwise the insulation between the two layers of plastic becomes saturated the cooler is worthless and garbage there is no way to dry it out. Put some hot water in it and then feel the outside of it 10 minutes later, if it feels warm, trash it.

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+1. If you drilled a hole through an area, you must have had to seal it somehow. Otherwise, the wort could be getting between the layers of plastic into the insulation. i'm guessing it's new cooler time.

maybe you have been losing that much heat the whole time or maybe your thermometer is in a place where it gets colder than the rest of the mash. My point is that the temperature might not be uniform throughout the mash and your measuring has changed.

is your cooler lid insulated? might be one reason you lose so much heat. or you may just need to use some food safe silicone caulk to seal your thermometer hole up better.

Sometimes when I check temps I freak because they're so much lower than they should be. But then I stir it a little and the temp bounces back up.

Have you tried adding a foam board "float" on top of your mash? Cut the foam board to fit fairly snugly into the cooler. Wrap it with multiple layers of saran wrap each use.

:rockin: