Inkbird settings

[Aussiekraut]

I finally got my brew fridge ready (yayyyyyyy) and now I'm setting up the Inkbird. 

I have set the device to 18C with a cooling differential of .5C. What's good is that it kicks in at 18.5C but what isn't good is that it cools down to about 16.5. I take it that's got to do with the heat differential being set to 2C. Do I set the latter to 0C in order to keep the temp between 18 and 18.5?

Also, is it safe to keep things like yeast and hops in the brew fridge or is it too warm to keep these things?

 

[Marty_G]

I set both to 0.5 degrees but 0 sounds good to me ...  

 

[Lab Cat]

Setting a diff at 0 might make the fridge work too hard. As we know with brewing, the temp is changing a lot, especially during the initial stages of ferment. I set mine at 19 and diff of 5 either side. Ale yeast is fine between 18-20. I'm not too fussed about absolute precision because I brewed ambient for a few months, so 1C either side is a meh for me.

[Worthog]

I set the diff to 0.3c. With your probe nicely set under insulation taped to your FV your fridge won't work too hard. It takes a fair while for your wort to move 0.3c. You can also set your Inkbird fridge delay longer to ensure the compressor gets a rest if you're worried. But this should not be an issue with your probe insulated to the side of FV.

Cheers 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Is it just dangling in the fridge? If it's set to 18 degrees target temperature then it should turn off when it hits that, not keep it on lower than that, however if it measuring the air, it will cool down further after the fridge turns off before it warms up again. You're better off using worthogs suggestion. 

As for making the fridge work too hard, the inkbird has a differential on both sides unlike the stc that has a single setting that works on both sides. You have to set each one individually. 

Also, fermentation fridges are too warm for hops and yeast storage, not much different to room temperature. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Otto Von Blotto

[Lab Cat]

Yes, got to tape the probe to the FV. I use a fat strip cut from an old stubby to insulate it from the ambient temp in the fridge.

[Aussiekraut]

Yeah atm there is nothing in the fridge, so the probe is just dangling. I've set it to .05 heat and cooling difference (it won't allow 0, only .3). I guess because the probe isn't attached to anything, it cools things down to 16.5 before it turns off and warms up til it hits 18.5, when it starts cooling again. 

I guess once a brew is in and the probe is attached to the FV, it won't cool down to 16C. I don't intend to use a heat belt unless I have to.

Ok, so the yeast and hops stay in the kitchen fridge. SWMBO offered me space in the new kitchen fridge (yes, it is huge), so I won't say no but thought I might try to be nice. 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

That'll be what's doing it then. I usually have the probe dangling when I crash chill yeast starters and it always goes below the set point when the fridge turns off. When it's taped and insulated against the FV it won't drop below the set point during fermentation. It might drop a bit before fermentation kicks off properly, but it will only be like 0.1-0.2 degrees. 

[BlackSands]

The ideal method would be to use a thermowell, but these are rarely found on plastic fermenters of course.   Best control will always be achieved when the probe is in direct contact with the beer itself, but this is generally not done because of the contamination risk.    As others have mentioned, taping the probe to the side of your FV and also insulating it is the most common compromise.   There's a huge thermal lag when heating and cooling 23 litres of liquid compared to air so you really need the probe to be thermally 'connected' to the beer as best as you possibly can while insulating it from the influences of the air temperature.   

Also, one thing I did when I set mine up was to recalibrate the Inkbird so that the reading it displayed actually matches the reading of the beer as measured by a digital thermometer.   I did this by directly monitoring the temperature of water in the FV and once the environment has stabilised I adjusted the Inkbird accordingly.  In my case the offset was 0.7ºC. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by BlackSands

[Aussiekraut]

I didn't end up making beer yesterday as my back had other plans. I'll see how I go when I get home this arvo. I have a brand new stubby holder cut to bits and some gorilla tape to keep the probe on the FV.  

[Otto Von Blotto]

Packing foam is also good for insulation if you have any leftover from packages or whatever at any time.

I have started taping it to the FV before filling it since the probe wire is long enough to. It's much easier to get it taped down hard than with it upright in the fridge trying to avoid crushing the fridge light. Also if I put cold wort in like with lagers, the condensation doesn't affect it. 

[Thirsty Jim]

Oh no !  The inkbird killed my fridge !  Hang on...

I scored a free fridge off the hard rubbish and it has passed every test until today.  Today I tried to cold crash my brew and while I could hear a fan I couldn't hear a compressor and I was convinced the fridge had died.  I walked it out and unplugged it but when I did I spotted a wiring diagram on the back. Those things may as well be Hebrew as far as I am concerned but I did notice 'Overload Protection' printed on it.  When I got home from work I plugged it in and the fridge came back to life.  Yay !

I suspect the overload may have been tripped when I plugged it back into the Inkbird after having set the fridge to its coldest setting.  I had unplugged the fridge from the Inkbird as during ferment the ambient temp was so low the heat belt was doing all the work to keep the brew at 20º.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had an issue with the Inkbirds like this.  I notice that one of the settings on the Inkbird is for compressor delay (CP).  I set mine at 1 minute but a quick Google revealed that others set theirs for up to 10 minutes.

[Malter White]

5 minutes ago, James of Bayswater said:

Oh no !  The inkbird killed my fridge !  Hang on...

I scored a free fridge off the hard rubbish and it has passed every test until today.  Today I tried to cold crash my brew and while I could hear a fan I couldn't hear a compressor and I was convinced the fridge had died.  I walked it out and unplugged it but when I did I spotted a wiring diagram on the back. Those things may as well be Hebrew as far as I am concerned but I did notice 'Overload Protection' printed on it.  When I got home from work I plugged it in and the fridge came back to life.  Yay !

I suspect the overload may have been tripped when I plugged it back into the Inkbird after having set the fridge to its coldest setting.  I had unplugged the fridge from the Inkbird as during ferment the ambient temp was so low the heat belt was doing all the work to keep the brew at 20º.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had an issue with the Inkbirds like this.  I notice that one of the settings on the Inkbird is for compressor delay (CP).  I set mine at 1 minute but a quick Google revealed that others set theirs for up to 10 minutes.

This is an interesting comment for me, JoB. I never even knew what the CP meant so I just left it at it's default setting of 3 minutes. I'll be watching on for the replies from those with an idea because I have none.

[Shamus O'Sean]

I have my delay set to 4 minutes.  I have no idea either.  If the default was 3 minutes, 4 minutes must be better?

[Otto Von Blotto]

That doesn't make sense, all the inkbird does is turn the power on and off. It doesn't increase the power load or anything. You did plug the fridge into the right socket?

[Thirsty Jim]

Yes.   I couldn't plug into the wrong socket as the other socket has a heat belt plugged in.   I didn't change anything on the Inkbird other than the temperature setting.   

The only other thing I can think of is that the compressor over heated but I cold crashed my previous brew for a week previously and the fridge didn't miss a beat.  The compressor is not hot, there is no clicking (which you'd expect with a bad relay).  That it reset after being unplugged for a few hours suggests the overload has been tripped.  The question that bothers me is why has the overload been tripped ?   

Anyway I have reset the PT setting (compressor delay ) to 10 minutes and leave it run overnight.   I don't know they would include a compressor delay switch on the Inkbird if the compressor wasn't vulnerable to damage from rapid switching.

[Otto Von Blotto]

That exactly why there's a compressor delay in the controllers. They aren't designed to switch on and off really frequently. Both of mine are set to 10 minutes as well, but in reality it's rarely needed. The only time I've actually seen it delay the fridge turning on other than when I first turn the unit on after pitching a batch, is if I just have the probe dangling in the fridge when using it for chilling beer or whatever, and I open it just after it switches off. It usually jumps up the 2 degrees that would kick it in pretty quickly, and the unit flashes and doesn't turn the fridge on until the ten minutes have passed. 

I'm not really sure how a temperature controller could trip an overload. It doesn't increase power or anything. 

[Worthog]

@James of Bayswater, I set Compressor Delay to 10m. In the summer I remove heatbelt and only have fridge power connected to Inkbird. Inkbird is only a power switch, if your brew gets too hot or cold it either switches on the fridge or heat source. 

The fridge will simply do it's normal thing, coldness depending on where you set fridge thermostat. If Inkbird is set colder than your fridge can go Inkbird  simply remains switched on cold cycle and your fridge's thermal protection will switch fridge off for a time.

Cheers

Edited May 5, 2020 by Worthog

[Journeyman]

On 9/22/2019 at 10:03 AM, Aussiekraut said:

I finally got my brew fridge ready (yayyyyyyy) and now I'm setting up the Inkbird. 

I have set the device to 18C with a cooling differential of .5C. What's good is that it kicks in at 18.5C but what isn't good is that it cools down to about 16.5. I take it that's got to do with the heat differential being set to 2C. Do I set the latter to 0C in order to keep the temp between 18 and 18.5?

Also, is it safe to keep things like yeast and hops in the brew fridge or is it too warm to keep these things?

Moving the fridge can trip the protection - it's OK to move it vertically (like a Dalek moving around) but tipping it more than about 10° can cause it to not start up for several hours as the fluids go back where they should be.

I think most Inkbird users have 3 minutes as a minimum (mine is that) but it pays to spend a little time in the room and see how often your fridge is starting/stopping - too much of it can kill the fridge I think. But maybe your fridge has a restart protection so it doesn't stress the compressor?

I have my +/- settings at 0.3° - so far the On/Off cycle has been fine. I think the minimum spread is best to keep the beer temp as even as possible but that has to be weighed against life of the fridge.

I think at brew temps it is too warm for both yeast and hops. I keep my hops in the freezer and the yeast in my keg fridge (now) but the yeast has always been in a cold fridge.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Journeyman

[Otto Von Blotto]

Setting the difference that low would only make the fridge turn on and off too often if the probe is just dangling in there. If it's taped to the fermenter under foam or something to insulate it, it turns on and off less frequently than it does when being used as a normal fridge. That's why I change the difference to 2 degrees if the probe is just dangling in the fridge. 

I timed it once during fermentation with the probe on the fermenter. It'd turn on for about 6/7 minutes, then sit turned off for another 14/15 minutes before repeating the cycle. 

[Journeyman]

5 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Setting the difference that low would only make the fridge turn on and off too often if the probe is just dangling in there. If it's taped to the fermenter under foam or something to insulate it, it turns on and off less frequently than it does when being used as a normal fridge. That's why I change the difference to 2 degrees if the probe is just dangling in the fridge. 

I timed it once during fermentation with the probe on the fermenter. It'd turn on for about 6/7 minutes, then sit turned off for another 14/15 minutes before repeating the cycle. 

Do you bother with temp control in the keg fridge or just set the thermo and let the fridge do its thing?

And my probe is always under foam against one of the FV's.

 

Edited May 5, 2020 by Journeyman

[Titan]

11 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

Do you bother with temp control in the keg fridge or just set the thermo and let the fridge do its thing?

And my probe is always under foam against one of the FV's.

 

Let it do its thing.

[Otto Von Blotto]

1 hour ago, Journeyman said:

Do you bother with temp control in the keg fridge or just set the thermo and let the fridge do its thing?

And my probe is always under foam against one of the FV's.

 

No, as it's only chilling. I did work out where to set it with the inkbird in a keg of water when I first got the kegerator, so it just sits at that setting now. I'll probably always have kegerators while I have this bar set up because nothing else really fits in there.

[Thirsty Jim]

6 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

I'm not really sure how a temperature controller could trip an overload. It doesn't increase power or anything. 

By rapid cycling the compressor.    The Inkbird allows me to tell the fridge to do unhealthy things (for old hard rubbish fridges) like turn on and off every other minute when there is a +/- 1º variation at the probe.  That is how I had the Inkbird set to keep my brew fermenting at 20º, then I told the Inkbird to drop the temperature to freezing and I went to work - that's when the overload has tripped.

As you suggest I had the probe dangling at this point.  I didn't see much point in taping it back to the side of the FV because I just wanted it to get as cold as possible in two days.   If the temperature is fluctuating the Inkbird, under those settings could potentially be turning the compressor on and off every other minute each time the temperature was 1º off target. Rapid cycling would certainly generate heat which the overload circuit could interpret as impending failure and kick in to protect the compressor.  That's my theory anyway.   I don't know that it was rapid cycling though coz I was at work.

At present all is well but I am only using the Inkbird as a thermometer.  The fridge is plugged into the mains and has brought the temperature on the FV down from 14.3º to 6.2º in 16 hours.  The good news is that if there is a issue with the start relay or the overload switch they are both cheap and easy to replace.   A fridge mechanic I spoke to  said he had repaired 'thousands of fridges' and he could count on one hand the number that had compressor failure.  It's the relays that give up.

The moral of the story me is that the PT (compressor protection) setting on the Inkbird should be set to 10 minute delay.  10 minutes is not going to make much difference to the temperature of the brew but is going to save stressing out the compressor.   The Inkbird is working fine.  The problem is likely to have been what I was telling it to do.

Thanks all for your advice.

In other news I stuck the Inkbird probe in my ear.  Either I need to recalibrate or I have coronavirus.    

[Journeyman]

7 minutes ago, James of Bayswater said:

As you suggest I had the probe dangling at this point.  I didn't see much point in taping it back to the side of the FV because I just wanted it to get as cold as possible in two days

Wouldn't this happen faster if you taped it to the FV with insulation? Just dangling seems contraindicated as the fridge cycles on, cools the probe and turns off, then the FV warms the air in the fridge and it comes on again. If the probe is measuring the FV the fridge will stay on until the FV drops to temp.