stoutaholic
Well-Known Member
I am designing a heat exchanger to control my mash temperature. This is the standard HERMS design where the mash is pumped through a copper coil in a heated stock pot. In this case, the stock pot that contains the heat exchanger is only about 2 gallons and is heated by a 1500 Watt 120 volt hot plate, as that was simpler than installing a water heater element in the pot.
Anyway, I want a simple method of controlling the temperature of the mash by controlling power to the hotplate. I know there are simple temperature controllers for refrigerators, such as this one Refrigerator Thermostat Control- Analog :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies that come with a probe. I could probe the mash temperature with the thermostat probe, and then plug the hot-plate into the thermostat. So the hot-plate would turn on and off based upon the probed mash temperature.
The problem with this is that the thermostat linked above is not sensitive enough for controlling mash temps. It only adjusts to 3.5 degrees of the target temperature. Does anyone know of a similar type of thermostat that is more precise (i.e. that can keep the mash temp within 1 - 0.5 degrees of the target temp)? Has anyone used a similar setup for their HERMS? I dont want to mess around with a PID, SSR, pickaxe microprocessor, or anything like that. Trying to keep it simple.
Anyway, I want a simple method of controlling the temperature of the mash by controlling power to the hotplate. I know there are simple temperature controllers for refrigerators, such as this one Refrigerator Thermostat Control- Analog :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies that come with a probe. I could probe the mash temperature with the thermostat probe, and then plug the hot-plate into the thermostat. So the hot-plate would turn on and off based upon the probed mash temperature.
The problem with this is that the thermostat linked above is not sensitive enough for controlling mash temps. It only adjusts to 3.5 degrees of the target temperature. Does anyone know of a similar type of thermostat that is more precise (i.e. that can keep the mash temp within 1 - 0.5 degrees of the target temp)? Has anyone used a similar setup for their HERMS? I dont want to mess around with a PID, SSR, pickaxe microprocessor, or anything like that. Trying to keep it simple.