ATC 800+

[therebelmc]

Blimey!! didn't expect to start a war, fact is i wired it up as prev posted, attached the probe to the outside of the FV about half way up. insulated it with dense foam and placed one of those sticky strip thermometers close by. results are ATC showing between 19 and 21 degrees give or take a gnat's and the strip measured a pretty constant 18.5/19 degrees throughout. much better than my last effort with 2 tank heaters submerged in a bucket. Cheers MIck.

[richc]

Nah, not a war, just discussion, this is how you work out what the right way to do things is Anyway, whatever you do to control temperature is a lot better than doing nothing, temperature control during fermentation is one of the most over looked factors in making great beer.

[Kev888]

Nah, not a war, just discussion, this is how you work out what the right way to do things is

I completely agree - hope it didn't come across as competitive, apologies if it did. IMHO things are rarely black and white and theres usually room for different methods and opinions, so it can save a lot of trial and error to exchange these various ideas. I really value JBK and the people who contribute to it for this - we seem to get a good mix of encouragement and yet also honest, constructive discussion and disagreement without things (generally) deteriorating into point scoring, and I've learnt a lot as a result.

Cheers
kev

[Dave S]

Bump!!

This should be in AG but never mind.

I'm just part way through fermenting a brew using temp control for the first time - and I'm pretty impressed so far. I decided to have the sensor immersed in the wort, as it seemed to be the right place to be measuring. The swing is very slow as I'd expect and seems to be keeping within the +/- 1C range. However, reading this thread I'm wondering if it's best to have the sensor outside on the FV. I'm using a belt for heating.

Any update of opinion on this?

[Jocky]

Measure the temperature of whatever medium you are directly heating.

i.e. if you are using a tube heater in a fridge, you are heating the air, meaning you should measure the temperature of the air. If you measure the fermenter temperature you'll end up with very hot air around the fermenter for a long time until the fermenter catches up, and possibly partially baked beer because of it.

In your case, you are heating the fermenter directly with a heating belt, so I'd recommend measuring the temperature of the fermenter. You don't have to put it in the wort - just put some insulation over the sensor (e.g. tin foil and polystyrene block) and attach it firmly to the outside of the fermenter.

I do this - although I actually use two carboys and just wedge the sensor between them.

[Dave S]

Measure the temperature of whatever medium you are directly heating.

i.e. if you are using a tube heater in a fridge, you are heating the air, meaning you should measure the temperature of the air. If you measure the fermenter temperature you'll end up with very hot air around the fermenter for a long time until the fermenter catches up, and possibly partially baked beer because of it.

In your case, you are heating the fermenter directly with a heating belt, so I'd recommend measuring the temperature of the fermenter. You don't have to put it in the wort - just put some insulation over the sensor (e.g. tin foil and polystyrene block) and attach it firmly to the outside of the fermenter.

I do this - although I actually use two carboys and just wedge the sensor between them.

Thanks Jocky

I've also got a glass thermometer sitting on top of the FV and the temp is within half a degree of the sensor reading, so I'm pretty happy with that - assuming of course that the sensor is correct, (the glass one tracks almost exactly with my Thermapen).