Temp question - johnson digital

[david0161]

I am starting to get frustrated with this fridge....anyway I have a Johnson controls digital controller and I have the probe taped to the side of the keg at 36degrees carbing. Whenever I open the fridge door, the control shows like 46ish in no time and then the compressor kicks on and runs for what seems to be hours to get back down. I have the probe insulated against the keg with bubble wrap but dang, has to be an easier way to keep the keg at the carb temp and save the fridge!

 

[binkman]

I've heard of people sticking the probe into a sup of water thats affixed to the side of the fridge/keg/carboy/etc. It should insulate it at least a little from the sudden air temp change from opening the door.

 

[bigirishape]

I've heard the same as binkman. I'll be buying a temp controller here soon to get my chest freezer ready for my initial kegging experiment. Everything I've read points to immersing the probe in a container of water, not touching the sides, to more accurately reflect the beer temperature inside of your container (keg, carboy, etc...).

 

[david0161]

I thought about the water and came to the conclusion that the water in the cup will cool and heat up much faster than the kegs will so I guess it wouldn't really be an accurate representation of the beer temp, correct me if I'm wrong. I understand the water will slow down compressor cycling so it pretty much just seems like a battle - fridge vs beer. I thought about hanging the probe in the air but then I'm not measuring the beer temp that I want the beer to carb at. At the time, taping the probe to the keg seemed like a great idea to accurately measure the beer temp so I get the correct volumes of co2 that I am shooting for. I know there has been lots of threads on this and everyone has their own opinion but I haven't been convinced of any particular way, any ideas of probe placement when carbing/serving from fridge?

 

[wildwest450]

Yes, who doesn't want to measure the temp of 5 gallons of beer by placing a probe in 8 ozs of water? I always ferment with the probe taped to the side, I just hang it in the open air for my kegerator and leave the lid closed.

The op needs to quit checking on his beer so much, and buy a new fridge, if it's taking hours it's broke.

_

 

[D-MOTITAN]

Yes, who doesn't want to measure the temp of 5 gallons of beer by placing a probe in 8 ozs of water? I always ferment with the probe taped to the side, I just hang it in the open air for my kegerator and leave the lid closed.

The op needs to quit checking on his beer so much, and buy a new fridge, if it's taking hours it's broke.

_

+1 mine is just swinging in the breeze.......

 

[david0161]

Yes, who doesn't want to measure the temp of 5 gallons of beer by placing a probe in 8 ozs of water? I always ferment with the probe taped to the side, I just hang it in the open air for my kegerator and leave the lid closed.

The op needs to quit checking on his beer so much, and buy a new fridge, if it's taking hours it's broke.

_

it's my first time kegging so a little paranoid, I know haha. The fridge is probably 14-15 yrs old so imagine it's about time for that chest freezer I've had my eye on. The compressor stopped working for a bit last night so even more reason. First time running this particular fridge also...