Home made thermowell....

[r8rphan]

Can copper tubing be used for a thermowell?
Or is there a problem with leaving copper in the ferment?

 

[JuanMoore]

Copper is great for the boil side of a brewery, but should not be put in long term contact with fermenting beer. The acidity of the beer will dissolve the copper and create copper sulphate, which is poisonous. The small amount of copper in contact from a small thermowell might not be enough to create dangerous levels, but why risk it?

 

[Flomaster]

I scored some 1/2" SS tubing on amazon.com for about $5 for a 6ft piece. I've used it to make my own thermowell and jalapeno seed remover/scraper.

-=Jason=-

 

[r8rphan]

I scored some 1/2" SS tubing on amazon.com for about $5 for a 6ft piece. I've used it to make my own thermowell and jalapeno seed remover/scraper.

-=Jason=-

I was looking yesterday on the net, and found some SS at various places for a few bucks.. But how do I seal up the one end? Can I just use MAPP gas and standard copper soldering techniques? Or do I have to weld it?

Also, Brass tubing is readily available as well, and I know that can be soldered easily.. Does that have the same issues with metal contamination?

 

[day_trippr]

Brass usually has some lead content, probably best to avoid sticking it in a fermenter.

There's a sticky topic in this very forum on how to solder stainless steel. If you crimped the end of SS tubing flat it shouldn't be hard to seal it closed...

Cheers!

 

[mikeal]

They sell thermowells here for $14. Ace hardware sometimes has SS tubing. You can use regular lead free solder with liquid flux to seal the crimped end of ss tubing. Silver solder makes a stronger bond, but it probably isn't necessary in this case. Everyone raves about Harris Stay Brite 8 silver solder, but it is $70 a roll. I got a small Stay Brite (not Stay Brite 8) and flux kit here last week and it works fine. Look here and here for HBT threads on soldering SS. When they say to watch out for the fumes from the boiling flux, they aren't kidding. It's not a "I probably shouldn't be breathing this..." thing, it is an "OMFG, my lungs are burning!" thing. Just make sure the room is ventilated and you don't stick your head in a keg with boiling flux in it.

 

[r8rphan]

The problems with all the thermowells I see for sale everywhere, is that virtually none of them bother to list the ID and OD.. So I have no idea if they will work for my application...

 

[mikeal]

"made from 3/8" .035 wall tubing to last a life time and will accept any probe up to .29" in diameter"