Titan Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 I just ran an experiment on this and really not surprised with the result. Remember the data i present here is a measurement of the liquid in the airlock. I ran for 2 days with the inkbird just dangling in the freezer and past 12 hours with it taped under insulation on the fv. My conclusion is i get a smoother transition of temperature with the probe just dangling in there. Hoping this screen shot shows what im talking about. The big dip in temperature is when i stuck the probe back on the fv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Yeah but you can't really compare 50mL or so of still water in an airlock to 20 odd litres of beer actively producing heat in a fermenter. The smaller amount is bound to change temp more erratically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirsty Jim Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 On 2/9/2019 at 3:25 AM, ChristinaS1 said: I believe freezers have more insulation, so might be more energy efficient, especially if you keep it in a shed. I have a small chest freezer myself, which can only fit one fermenter. One thing about it that I don't like is it is hard on the back. I like to ferment in glass, which weighs 6.5kg empty. Fill it with wort and it is about 29.5kg. I actually can't lift the carboy high enough to get it over the edge when it is full, so I only fill it to 18L, which saves me 5kg, and top it up at bottling time. If I accidentally fill it up too much I use a couple of chairs to get the carboy in: put the carboy on one, stand on the other, then hoist the carboy onto the edge of the freezer, get off the chair and lower the carboy into the freezer (while standing on the ground). I would not recommend a freezer to anyone with back trouble or a hernia. The freezer is showing no signs of breaking down, but I am getting a fridge next time. Cheers, Christina. I was heading toward a chest freezer until Christina made that excellent post. I am of an age where these things are very important (and OH&S must have rubbed off on me). Then, just this weekend a mate offered me this, gratis... Refrigerated, fits two kegs plus space, on castors, stainless steel drip tray and tap, lock offs, free. Yes please. I just need to supply the kegs and gas. For $100 I could convert it to 2 taps. Happy days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Hi Titan What was the target temperature? Your study appears to support both my view (initially) and Otto's (once active fermenting gets underway). Remembering that the temperature being measured on your screenshot is the airlock temp. The temp very quickly drops to about 17 and then slowly drops to about 16.5 over the next 12 or so hours. Then this rises to about 17 again over the next day and a half. Fermenting temperatures causing an increase? That certainly seems to be the case once you tape the probe to the fermenter, it must detect a warmer temperature in the fermenter, hence the quick drop. To me this supports Otto's comments about active fermenting increasing temperature. My view is dangle until active fermenting starts and then tape to the fermenter so your probe is detecting fermentation temperature and your fridge/freezer is cooling accordingly. Cheers Shamus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 6 minutes ago, James of Bayswater said: Then, just this weekend a mate offered me this, gratis Hi James, Can I be your friend's friend too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirsty Jim Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I haven't actually seen the unit yet but he has confirmed it is the same as pictured and I am welcome to it. He is a manager of a country racecourse and I'd imagine it has been left behind from some marquee or promotion. He assures me it is good condition and is taking up room in his shed. The catch is I have to go to Whoop Whoop to pick it up ... and of course I'll have to bring some brew to seal the deal and his missus will have to cook me breakfast in order to get me off her couch in the morning ... my life is so hard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 On 2/14/2019 at 9:15 PM, Shamus O'Sean said: Hi Titan What was the target temperature? Your study appears to support both my view (initially) and Otto's (once active fermenting gets underway). Remembering that the temperature being measured on your screenshot is the airlock temp. The temp very quickly drops to about 17 and then slowly drops to about 16.5 over the next 12 or so hours. Then this rises to about 17 again over the next day and a half. Fermenting temperatures causing an increase? That certainly seems to be the case once you tape the probe to the fermenter, it must detect a warmer temperature in the fermenter, hence the quick drop. To me this supports Otto's comments about active fermenting increasing temperature. My view is dangle until active fermenting starts and then tape to the fermenter so your probe is detecting fermentation temperature and your fridge/freezer is cooling accordingly. Cheers Shamus Yes, but the quick drop is irrelevant because the temperature of the brew itself would not be dropping anywhere near as quickly as the water in an airlock, and this would still be the case if the probe was taped to the fermenter from the start. When I pitch a batch warmer than my intended ferment temp I fully expect that the fridge will sit at a temperature quite a bit under the temperature of the brew while the brew is cooling down. If you set the controller to ferment temp and dangle the probe, then it only cools the air to that temperature meaning the brew will take far longer to reach the target temperature. I stuck a cube in the fridge last night before bed, it was probably sitting at around 25+ at the time, maybe closer to 30. The probe was just dangling because I had the yeast starter in there, controller set to zero with a 2 degree difference, which I always do with starters and will probably do with cold crashing during the warmer months now as well. When I looked at it this morning it was reading about 5-6 degrees because the wort was preventing it from cooling to the target temperature, but the wort in the cube had only dropped to about 16 (estimate based on pitching temp of 17.5 about 45 minutes after removing it from the fridge). If I'd set the controller to 18 degrees I doubt the wort would have reached it by the time I pitched it. If you tape the probe to the fermenter, obviously the fridge or freezer will switch off when it reaches target temperature, thus cooling stops, perhaps with a bit of residual for a minute or so. This wort being warmer than the air along with the unit not actively cooling anymore will help the air inside to warm up and equalise with the wort far more than the air temperature dropping the wort temp, preventing the wort temp from dropping significantly if at all. Remember air temperature can be changed a lot quicker than a volume of liquid like that. In my view, dangling the probe until fermentation starts is an unnecessary process that just adds more work, based on over 100 batches done in the fridge with the probe taped to the fermenter from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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