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fermentation chamber temp control

 
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LGarby




Joined: 18 May 2014
Posts: 66



PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 6:51 pm    Post subject: fermentation chamber temp control Reply with quote


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Kal,

It doesn't appear that you use a thermowell in your brew buckets to measure the wort temp. Do you just set the temp on your fridges and find that the wort stays in the proper range? Do you trust the temperature regulator on your fridges or do you use an external controller and thermocouple. I have an external controller I made as my fridge is not consistent and was considering installing a thermowell into the brew bucket but if I can just put the thermocouple into the blowoff jar and measure the ambient temperature I can save some money/time and make cleanup easier.

Thoughts?

-Loren
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:49 pm    Post subject: Re: fermentation chamber temp control Reply with quote

LGarby wrote:
It doesn't appear that you use a thermowell in your brew buckets to measure the wort temp. Do you just set the temp on your fridges and find that the wort stays in the proper range?

Yup and yup! Given that they're wine fridges they have fan that run almost consistently to ensure even temperatures. If the fridge doesn't have a fan that runs all the time you may not get as consistent temps from top to bottom (every fridge will behave differently).

More info: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ferment-and-package

Quote:
Do you trust the temperature regulator on your fridges or do you use an external controller and thermocouple.

I don't use any sort of external controller. Wort temp's about 2 degrees warmer than the set temp during active fermentation so I just set the fridge a couple of degrees lower.

Quote:
I have an external controller I made as my fridge is not consistent and was considering installing a thermowell into the brew bucket but if I can just put the thermocouple into the blowoff jar and measure the ambient temperature I can save some money/time and make cleanup easier.

Thoughts?

Try the easier way, measure, if it works well I'd stick with the simple way. Good luck!

Kal

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David_H




Joined: 13 Nov 2013
Posts: 139
Location: Savannah, GA

Drinking: Dry Irish Stout, Electric Pale Ale, American Amber Ale, Irish Red Ale


PostLink    Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't remember where I read this, but the author conducted some research with temperature probes in the wort and in the air outside the wort (ie refrig temperature). In one test he used a the wort temperature to control the cooling and other he used the air temperature, recording both wort and air temperature. The one the resulted in the more stable wort temperature is the refrigerator air temperature.

The reasoning behind this is,
a) the temperature controller will fluctuate about +/- 1 degree
b) the wort (liquid in general) has a much higher thermal inertia than the air, therefore if the probe is in the wort it will take a long time to cool to the temperature and then a long time to warm back up. And in that time the wort will fluctuate the hold +/- 1 degree.
c) if the probe is measuring the air temperature around the wort, the air temperature will fluctuate the +/- 1 degree more often cycling up and down around the set point. The thermal inertia of the wort will then tend to hold the wort temperature in the middle of the air temperature cycles, ie holding the temperature more consistently at the desired set point.

Hope I explained that sufficiently.

David

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