Just ordered 7gal SS Brewtech Unitank....one question...

[fotomatt1]

I had been going back and forth between a Spike unitank vs. the SS Brewtech for a while now. There's clearly pros and cons to both of these high quality products. The Black Friday deal is what sealed it for me for the SS. My only question is, are any of you using a Tilt hydrometer in a 7 gal SS Brewtech Unitank successfully? It doesn't look like there's a ton of room in there. I'm wondering if it's better to insert the Tilt before putting the lid / coil into the fermenter, or putting it in the center of the chiller coil, or will it get stuck? Any help is appreciated. I only brew 5 gal batches, so didn't want to get a larger one at this point.

 

[CodeSection]

While I own a Spike CF10, I believe you have plenty of room in the unitank. There must be sufficient headspace in there otherwise you would have kraussen exploding out of the blowoff making a mess. You are not filling the tank all the way to the top....

Do not insert the Tilt in the center of the cooling coil. There is no reason to restrict the Tilt and doing so could cause it during fermentation to bind inside the cooling coil rendering it useless.

Just drop in the Tilt through the 3" TC cap after pitching the yeast and before inserting the cooling coil.

 

[jekeane]

I got 3 tilts for my spike conicals and they are the worst impulse homebrew purchase I’ve made.

You will likely need to purchase the tilt repeater if your recording source in more than 2 feet away from your conical.

 

[fotomatt1]

I got 3 tilts for my spike conicals and they are the worst impulse homebrew purchase I’ve made.

You will likely need to purchase the tilt repeater if your recording source in more than 2 feet away from your conical.

I have a raspberry pi right next to my fermenter that records the data and uploads to the cloud every 15 mins.

 

[CodeSection]

I got 3 tilts for my spike conicals and they are the worst impulse homebrew purchase I’ve made.

You will likely need to purchase the tilt repeater if your recording source in more than 2 feet away from your conical.

So true. I use an iPhone 5 leaning either in the handle or on top of the lid.

 

[Jtvann]

I use a tilt in my 14g unitank. I even drop it directly inside the chiller coil ... it works just fine.

 

[CodeSection]

I use a tilt in my 14g unitank. I even drop it directly inside the chiller coil ... it works just fine.

I'm not sure why one would insert the Tilt inside the cooling coil in such a restrictive enclosure that could cause it to bind in the coils. That could easily happen with a very active fermentation. There is no benefit with that placement.

It seems having it float freely outside the restrictive cooling coil would be the preferred choice since there is more room to float in...

 

[LeeH]

I just plop mine in the top though the TC in the lid but I do find my v4 iSpindel a little better though.

 

[Jtvann]

I'm not sure why one would insert the Tilt inside the cooling coil in such a restrictive enclosure that could cause it to bind in the coils. That could easily happen with a very active fermentation. There is no benefit with that placement.

It seems having it float freely outside the restrictive cooling coil would be the preferred choice since there is more room to float in...

The chiller coil is a good 6 inch diameter. I'm not sure what other folks are saying when they drop it through the top 3 inch TC port ... that puts it inside the chiller coil.

It's not restricted at all floating inside a 6 inch circle.

 

[CodeSection]

The chiller coil is a good 6 inch diameter. I'm not sure what other folks are saying when they drop it through the top 3 inch TC port ... that puts it inside the chiller coil.

It's not restricted at all floating inside a 6 inch circle.

To clarify, I believe other people, including myself, are saying to drop it in the unitank before inserting the cooling coil. There is no benefit inserting it inside the coil. It doesn't matter if the cooling coil is 6" as is the case with SSB or 4" as is the case with Spike, it is still a restrictive space that could cause the Tilt to bind. Again, there is simply no benefit with that placement.

I believe the better choice is to allow the Tilt to float freely outside the cooling coil where there is much more room. To each their own...

 

[Jtvann]

To clarify, I believe other people, including myself, are saying to drop it in the unitank before inserting the cooling coil. There is no benefit inserting it inside the coil. It doesn't matter if the cooling coil is 6" as is the case with SSB or 4" as is the case with Spike, it is still a restrictive space that could cause the Tilt to bind. Again, there is simply no benefit with that placement.

I believe the better choice is to allow the Tilt to float freely outside the cooling coil where there is much more room. To each their own...

You can put a tilt in a red solo cup if you want to and it won't bind. The principle of the thing is that it floats and the angle from the calibrated weight gives a reading. A tilt has never been good as an instantaneous accuracy device. It shows great trends.

I dont know what kind of concrete krausen you guys have that causes your tilts to bind. It doesn't matter where you put the tilt as long as it floats without making contact on more than one hard surface. It can rest comfortably directly up against a wall or coil or whatever you want it to ... the bottom of the tilt will float or adjust accordingly.

Not to bust out a ruler or anything, but there could actually be more lateral movement inside the coil than there is between the coil and wall of unitank. Either way you look at it, it bumps into things during active fermentation.

I'm not going to argue that inside the coil works better. There is no better or worse, it works wherever toy drop it.

 

[Vale71]

Not to bust out a ruler or anything, but there could actually be more lateral movement inside the coil than there is between the coil and wall of unitank. Either way you look at it, it bumps into things during active fermentation.

In the 7gal version this is probably actually the case, but not in the larger versions.