Controller sensor???

[bing09]

I read a thread that said to drill a hole in an old yeast vial seal it up with silicone and it is then waterproof? How does this work? If the sensor is not in contact with the wall of the vial than how can it accurately sense the temp of the wort? (I am assuming that once it is sealed in the vial...that you put the vial in the fermenting wort is that correct? Or is it used for people u put their carboy in water and then put the vial in the water? Sorry for all the questions but I'm just trying to figure this out because I am looking for a better way to accurately measure my wort temp with my temp controller sensor. I currently just tape it to the side of the fermentor and hope that it is reading the wort temp and not the ambient air. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MalFet]

I read a thread that said to drill a hole in an old yeast vial seal it up with silicone and it is then waterproof? How does this work? If the sensor is not in contact with the wall of the vial than how can it accurately sense the temp of the wort? (I am assuming that once it is sealed in the vial...that you put the vial in the fermenting wort is that correct? Or is it used for people u put their carboy in water and then put the vial in the water? Sorry for all the questions but I'm just trying to figure this out because I am looking for a better way to accurately measure my wort temp with my temp controller sensor. I currently just tape it to the side of the fermentor and hope that it is reading the wort temp and not the ambient air. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

The sensor reads the air in the tube, which quickly equilibrates to the beer temperature. You could put it in your wort, but all those grooves seem like a sanitation challenge to me. If you really want to read liquid temp, consider getting a thermowell from Darrell at brewershardware.com

 

[Catt22]

IMO, you don't need to put the probe into a yeast vial or any other container, including a thermowell. Do what you are presently doing only cover the probe with some type of insulation. The insulation will trap the heat radiating from the fermenter and this will provide a very close approximation of the fermenter's internal tempearature. I do it a slightly different way. I position the controller probe in the air and use a second digital thermometer with the probe attached to the fermenter and covered with bubble foil insulation. I then adjust the controller according to the thermometer reading. I like to use the commonly available cheap digital indoor/outdoor thermometers for this and I've found them to be surprisingly accurate. Don't worry about the air temperature swings. The fermenting beer will settle in at a very stable average temperature. Be sure to allow at least 24 hours for temperatures to stabilize when making adjustments.

 

[bing09]

I guess I forgot to mention that in my original post, but I do currently have cut out a square piece of one inch foam insulation that I had layin around. It seems to work pretty well. I didn't want to buy a thermowell because although I have two carboys... I ferment in kegs as well so the thermowell would only be used a fraction of the time. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Catt22]

I guess I forgot to mention that in my original post, but I do currently have cut out a square piece of one inch foam insulation that I had layin around. It seems to work pretty well. I didn't want to buy a thermowell because although I have two carboys... I ferment in kegs as well so the thermowell would only be used a fraction of the time. Thanks for the ideas!

IMO, the way you have it set up now should work just fine.