Temp Probe too close to element?

[MplsUgly]

Im a little concerned that my RTD is too close to my heating element. Today I soldered on my triclovers and HERMS coil fittings but my RTD that enters with my sight gauge on a tee lands really close to my element. I don't know what I can d about this other than add another port but it's not like I have space anywhere else??

Is this going to be a problem?

Other than this, after wet testing my newly converted boil kettle and HLT I'm really happy about how this is coming along!

 

[sillbeer]

Fill it up and see if it accurately measures the temperature of the water. Test the water with another known good thermometer.

I put my temperature probe in a T at the outlet just after the ball valve.

 

[stevehaun]

I think it will be fine, especially if you recirculate the water in your HLT. Personally, I put the temp probe for my HLT in a tee at the top of my mash tun. I control the temp of the wort as it returns to the top of the mash.

 

[augiedoggy]

I agree with above.. if you arent recirculating your HLT water the temps wont be even anyways and the temp readout wont be accurate regardless of where it is... I find mine changes every time I give mine a stir.

 

[MplsUgly]

Ok I suppose recirculating is kind of a must with this system. I wasn't planning on adding a second pump for a while but I guess I should just bite the bullet. Maybe I'll get a cheap eBay plastic thermal system pump.

When I mounted my elements I was surprised at how far off the bottom they are. Recirculating in the HLT sounds like it will reduce any negative effects of this but I wonder if in the boil kettle you end up with almost some boil dead space?

 

[itsnotrequired]

When I mounted my elements I was surprised at how far off the bottom they are. Recirculating in the HLT sounds like it will reduce any negative effects of this but I wonder if in the boil kettle you end up with almost some boil dead space?

there should be plenty of churn during the boil, temps should read accurately regardless of location in the kettle. the mounting height is really more a function of batch size than anything else (i.e. mounting height of the element determines minimum size possible).

 

[augiedoggy]

there should be plenty of churn during the boil, temps should read accurately regardless of location in the kettle. the mounting height is really more a function of batch size than anything else (i.e. mounting height of the element determines minimum size possible).

boil?

I thought we were talking about a HLT here?

 

[jekeane]

You’ll want to be recirculating your hlt otherwise you’ll get pretty significant stratification which will mess with your mash temperatures through the coil.

The simple $25 eBay little brown pumps would suffice

 

[MplsUgly]

Yes I was taking about probe placement in the HLT but then made a comment about element placement in both boil and hlt.

 

[stevehaun]

I do not recirculate the water in my HLT. I don't care if there is temp stratification in my HLT as I am controlling the temp of the wort as it returns to the top of the mash.

 

[augiedoggy]

I do not recirculate the water in my HLT. I don't care if there is temp stratification in my HLT as I am controlling the temp of the wort as it returns to the top of the mash.

dont you care about the accuracy of your strike and sparge water? I no longer use a herms but I do care about accurate temps.. Thats half the reason for the temp probe and pid control for me.

When I did have a herms it was very inconsistent, I chalked this up to not having recirculation and thus unknown water temps around my herms coils.. the water next to my sensor(especially if its near the element ) would have less bearing on the water around the herms wich would be cooled by it and the large time delay before that temp difference transferred to the temp probe area would cause temp swings .. at least it seemed to for me. I built a stirrer which helped dramatically with this but by that time I had already started plans for switching to rims.

 

[stevehaun]

Good question. I do care about the accuracy of my strike water. I fill my mash tun with strike water and then pump it thru the herms coil until I achieve the proper mash in temp. I control the temp of the strike water as it returns to the top of the mash tun and monitor the temp as it leaves the bottom of the mash tun. In my current 10 gallon system, they are usually within 1F of each other.
As for sparge water, I definitely do not want it too hot. Most of the time I do not mash out and therefore my sparge water is 2-3F warmer than my mash temp. I do have a thermowell in my HLT so if I do happen to mash out I can slip a thermocouple in the thermowell and confirm that my sparge water is not too hot.

 

[itsnotrequired]

Good question. I do care about the accuracy of my strike water. I fill my mash tun with strike water and then pump it thru the herms coil until I achieve the proper mash in temp. I control the temp of the strike water as it returns to the top of the mash tun and monitor the temp as it leaves the bottom of the mash tun. In my current 10 gallon system, they are usually within 1F of each other.
As for sparge water, I definitely do not want it too hot. Most of the time I do not mash out and therefore my sparge water is 2-3F warmer than my mash temp. I do have a thermowell in my HLT so if I do happen to mash out I can slip a thermocouple in the thermowell and confirm that my sparge water is not too hot.

a lot of this is a function of the hlt temp probe location. mine is in a tee on the hlt outlet valve so i would definitely have issues with mash temp control, as the 'stagnant' water in the tee near the bottom of the tank would trick the system into thinking the hlt water is a lot cooler than it actually is, causing excessive heat input from the element and overshooting temps. if the hlt temp probe was in the kettle wall, say, halfway up, the readings would more accurately reflect the actual hlt temp and lead to better control.

 

[stevehaun]

My HLT temp probe is in a tee on the top of my mash tun so stratification in the HLT is irrelevant.

 

[Dcpcooks]

Ok I suppose recirculating is kind of a must with this system. I wasn't planning on adding a second pump for a while but I guess I should just bite the bullet. Maybe I'll get a cheap eBay plastic thermal system pump.

When I mounted my elements I was surprised at how far off the bottom they are. Recirculating in the HLT sounds like it will reduce any negative effects of this but I wonder if in the boil kettle you end up with almost some boil dead space?

Your liquor in the HLT will be hotter than the wort recirculating in the coil. You may have a delta of 3 degrees or a delta of 10 degrees you’ll have to see where your gear ends up. The important thing to keep in mind is you need to monitor the temperature of wort out of the herms coil.

You won’t have boil dead space. The natural convection of the boil will take care of That for you.