Thermowell in Bucket Lid

[Breck09]

Been thinking about trying to install a thermowell into one of my plastic buckets and was trying to think of how to do it. My idea is drilling a hole for the thermowell and placing it inside the hole and then caulking around so that it is air/water tight. Would there be any issue with silicone caulk like that coming in contact with fermenting beer seeing as there is a possibility of krausen hitting the lid? Thanks.

 

[ong]

I would just drill a second hole into your #10 stopper (next to the airlock hole) and run the thermowell down. I’ve done this and it works great, and there’s no threat of leaking. It’s easier to drill a stopper if you freeze it solid first, btw.

 

[Breck09]

This is for a plastic bucket not a carboy.

 

[cmpk24]

all you need is another grommet similar to the one that your airlock goes into. Drill a second hole in the lid, insert grommet and thermowell.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

just drill another hole for an airlock stopper. The hole in the middle is the exact size for a themowell. No need to seal it or anything else. Makes cleaning real easy. Just slide it out.

 

[Indian_villager]

I have one of the inkbird controllers with the 12" probe. The probe is mounted to a size 00 stopper that I drilled out. I have holes in all my fermenters that fit a size 00 stopper so I can pop this sucker into anything.

 

[Breck09]

Awesome, thanks guys.

 

[bigtex52]

I use a short piece of silicon tubing as a grommet. The inside diameter of the tubing should be the same nominal OD as the thermowell and the hole in the lid should be just fractionally smaller than the OD of the tubing. Slip the piece of tubing in the hole and push the thermowell through which seals everything up nicely.

 

[Spartan1979]

all you need is another grommet similar to the one that your airlock goes into. Drill a second hole in the lid, insert grommet and thermowell.

I've done this in the past and it works well. Just put the grommet in before the lid goes on. Once I tried to add the grommet after the lid was in place and it fell into the beer.

 

[mrdauber64]

I bought one of these. It has two holes, one for a thermowell and one for your airlock. Just drill your airlock hole bigger and put the stopper in there. The plug makes a nice tight seal.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZJQVDF/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[N3Bruce]

I use 1/4" mylar faced insulating foam I had left over from building my house, cut it into about a 6 inch square, and duct tape it on 3 sides to the side of the bucket, then stick the probe into the pocket. This will isolate the probe from the outside temperature fluctuations, and keep the probe dry as well.

 

[wsmith1625]

 

[N3Bruce]

No thread is truly dead.