Brew fridge question/problem

[AndyG4]

this might be a completely stupid question with a really obvious answer.

 

i have a porter on at the moment. yeast was pitched at 24 degrees.

 

fridge has been set at 17.6 degrees since it was put in there on sunday (6 days ago).

 

i've done a really good job of not torturing myself by checking it ever day.

 

i open the fridge today and both of the stick on thermometers (one coopers, one bought from big w because i wasn't trusting the Coopers one) indicate 20 degrees. they are located at the "front" of the fermenter (so i can see it when i open the fridge), located about 15 centimeters apart and at slightly different heights.)

 

my brew fridge is tiny. i think it's only 215l. the coopers diy fermenter barely fits in it (in fact if you don't turn it around so the tap is in the corner, it doesn't close).

 

the stc censor is at the back, insulated as best as i could using a bit paper towel and stuck to the fermenter.

 

so:

- i know the back of the fridge is colder than the front, but 2 degrees seems crazy.

- i know the paper towel isn't an ideal solution, but if anything it would be "heating up" the censor - so if the brew is at 16 degrees but showing 18 degrees, i could've understood that.

 

i'm out of ideas. can anyone let me know what might be going on here? perhaps it's more a question of fridge electronics than brewing - i'm not sure.

[rossm]

...well I am not sure Andy, but I wouldn't think those stick on thermometers would be deadly accurate, in fact I would have thought 2 degrees would be around the tolerance you would expect from them.

[The Brew Master]

Andy, you need to get a piece of polystyrene & place it over the temp probe then shield it with a piece of cardboard. You can keep it in place with an ocky strap or the elastic out of your jocks. I would imagine that your temp probe is indicating the fridge temp, not the wort temp.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter