brewers belt in garage on insulated fermentation barrel

[Titanium Tone]

Hi Escapizm
Thats the fella, i think its a 15 mm hole you need to drill in the centre of the FV lid (You will need to check when the gland arrives make sure its a tight fit) the gland then fits into it and secures itself via a nut you then pass the probe through the gland and it should hang a few inches of the bottom of the FV once your happy with the postion you tighten the outer nut and this screws down onto the cable holding it in place. The probe is made of plastic and is quite safe sitting in the beer. Give me a shout if i can be of anymore help.Tone.

[escapizm]

Tone

Finished fermenting brew last night and was looking to clean kit, do you pull the thermostat out each time? It’s very tight around the gland and wasn’t keen pulling it too much, I pushed it out tin the end but was bit chewy…

Thinking of adding male female connector so I can detach long lead from the wall mounted ATC800 a few inches above the gland,

escapizm

[Titanium Tone]

Hello Mate,
Pleased to see you have made your first brew. As far as the probe goes i too found the same problem so what i do is undo the nut on the underside of the FV lid and remove cable gland and probe all in one piece this way when you replace it the probe is at the right depth. I also thought about trying to fit a male/female conection for easy removal from main unit but am not sure if this will affect the probes sensitivity please let me know how you get on if you go for it.TT.

[escapizm]

HI Tone

Discussed plug and socket with maplins guy, he said plug with few ohms extra resistance would not make difference so bought 2.5m stereo jack plug & socket about £4 the lot, soldered it up and all works fine, ill update with pics later.

I'll now clamp cable with cable gland and leave in place, uncouple jack plug and clean FV and lid with solution with the thermostat permanently attached.

Just got to remember to slide back of socket up the cable before soldering end on as you can’t get it on after and I had to unsolder again do it again.

escapizm

[floydmeddler]

So, does this method leave you with an air tight fermenter? I.e, will co2 escape through any gaps?

Cheers

[escapizm]

So, does this method leave you with an air tight fermenter? I.e, will co2 escape through any gaps?

Cheers

HI Its pretty air tight (i leave in place when i wash and swill and no fluid comes out) but i do have an airlock on there to. Works really well and is so simple. One tip is try and solder once! i had to do it a few times and i think i oxidised the connections as it needs a tweak sometimes as it doesnt contact now and again.

[brewjohn]

I sit my fermenter on a 40 watt heated base and being in electronics knocked together a simple triac temperature control. Without that it would creep up to nearly 30 deg even in an unheated garage. Now it sits all day and night around 20-22 deg. I think its important to have some kind of control even with low wattage heaters

[scottmoss]

Hi,

I've just been searching ebay and I've found this heater:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Weipro-MX1022-300 ... 286.c0.m14

Do you think this would be any good?

Cheers

[Parabolic]

scottmoss,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAGEN-ELITE-QUALI ... 2001r39825

these heaters are perfect,, they are just like the ones you buy in a homebrew place for 22 quid. but in a different package and brand name. see here is the homebrew version http://www.homebrewcentre.co.uk/product ... 82&cID=120
I wish I did research before I went and got one from the homebrew shop as it would of saved me a few quid.
I might be gettting one anyway as I could do with another for my beer fermenter.

aparently they are adjustable from 20-30degrees absoloutely perfect range for homebrew!

Lee

[scottmoss]

scottmoss,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAGEN-ELITE-QUALI ... 2001r39825

these heaters are perfect,, they are just like the ones you buy in a homebrew place for 22 quid. but in a different package and brand name. see here is the homebrew version http://www.homebrewcentre.co.uk/product ... 82&cID=120
I wish I did research before I went and got one from the homebrew shop as it would of saved me a few quid.
I might be gettting one anyway as I could do with another for my beer fermenter.

aparently they are adjustable from 20-30degrees absoloutely perfect range for homebrew!

Lee

Hello, thanks for the info.

My only concern with that option is taking the heater out of the lid for cleaning as it has a big round ball on top of it. What would you suggest?

[escapizm]

For cleanliness you cant top a brew belt, mines well insulated (carry mats) and once the fluid is up to temp the heater hardley comes on, the only protrusion is the ATC thermostat that is permenanlty fitted thro a cable gland in the top of my FV, its detachable via male and female audio jack plug for ease of cleaning.

[Parabolic]

I would go with a brew belt for cleanliness as agree with you becasue my heater I have to clean and its so anoying to do it, but I have laid off buying a brew belt because they don't have thermostats. and I work away from home 8hrs a day and would not trust something with out one.