cvillebrewer
New Member
I used a Ranco temp controller yesterday outside in a test of my HERMS brewing system. I had the temp probe in a short insulated thermowell placed directly in the stream of the liquid I am trying to take the temp on. The temperature read 145 degrees consistently for one hour. To test the accuracy of the RANCO I placed another themometer in the the thermowell with the Ranco probe and the temp read 148 degrees which was actually my desired temp. Over the hour I kept testing this and the RANCO consistently read three degrees lower.
After I was done with my test I took the ranco probe and the other thermometer and placed them both in the outside air which read 38 degrees for both thermometers which was confusing as the there was a temp differential in my initial tests. In my initial setup, I had the Ranco Probe in the thermowell, but then the line (roughly 6 feet) connecting the probe to the controller was completely out in the outside air which was 38 degrees. Could the sharp differential between the temp of the thermowell where the probe was (148 degrees) and the probe line which was out in the cold (38 degrees) cause the temp that is read by the RANCO controller to actually be less than the true temp in the thermowell?
This is not a huge problem for me to the extent that I can adjust for it (i.e add back three degrees) but I was wondering if anyone had any information on if this is likely what is happening and if so, if you have any information on a more precise measure to adjust for this.
After I was done with my test I took the ranco probe and the other thermometer and placed them both in the outside air which read 38 degrees for both thermometers which was confusing as the there was a temp differential in my initial tests. In my initial setup, I had the Ranco Probe in the thermowell, but then the line (roughly 6 feet) connecting the probe to the controller was completely out in the outside air which was 38 degrees. Could the sharp differential between the temp of the thermowell where the probe was (148 degrees) and the probe line which was out in the cold (38 degrees) cause the temp that is read by the RANCO controller to actually be less than the true temp in the thermowell?
This is not a huge problem for me to the extent that I can adjust for it (i.e add back three degrees) but I was wondering if anyone had any information on if this is likely what is happening and if so, if you have any information on a more precise measure to adjust for this.
