Guest Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Lusty' date=' it's actually a standard fridge they're just using to store wine in, it's not switched on or anything - it's practically an extra cupboard at the moment.[/quote'] Sweet! You're laughing now! [cool] Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Yep, now just order the thing and wire it up. The fridge is like 60 or 70 years old or something[lol] but it works fine. Hopefully I can get it sorted before I put my next brew in the FV, but I will keep my frozen water bottles just in case anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Well I will be joining the Brewfridge Brigade soon now. Just ordered my unit off eBay, so when it gets here we will wire it up in a case and whatever. Despite being a bit hungover and spaced out, I did manage to order a 220V model. [lol] Then just move the fermented grape juice out of the fridge and remove the shelving for whenever I'm ready to ferment my next brew. Looking forward to my first proper temp controlled brew! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 You won't regret it mate. I just pitched my EBS @ 24C, chucked it in with the STC on 19C and won't need to look at it again all week, no matter how hot it gets. It really is the only way to do things properly IHMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Yeah, I don't disagree. I just wasn't expecting to be offered the old fridge to use, otherwise I would have asked a long time ago. [lol] So obviously the cooling side is plugged into the fridge, do you plug anything into the heating side and stick that inside the fridge as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Absolutely. Even in 40C weather, the fridge can overshoot and keep cooling the beer after it has been switched off. At this stage the controller needs to kick the heat in for a few minutes to stabilise temps. I use my heat belt wrapped around the FV, but I have a feeling that is not the best way to do it. I think AdamH has two terra cotta pots with the belt around them. I asked about it in a post earlier today, but the thread went on to another page right after my post so I think it got a little lost (either that or no one loves me [pinched]). The general consensus seems to be that cooling/heating the air around the FV to alter temps is better than directly cooling/heating the liquid. [unsure] Someone else will surely jump in with the goos (EDIT: goods [lol]) soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Fair enough. Yeah I have a heat belt thingy, it can probably just sit in the fridge beside the FV or something. I don't know, I'll work something out when I get it all done up and working. I'm also thinking it could be useful for cooling down my cubes ready for pitching before tipping them in the FV. And another thing I completely forgot about and just remembered, CC! Am I right in saying with CCing that it's done straight after fermentation has finished for a few days to a week? I mean, I've read about it but because I didn't have the fridge and stuff I didn't really take note of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Fair enough. Yeah I have a heat belt thingy' date=' it can probably just sit in the fridge beside the FV or something. I don't know, I'll work something out when I get it all done up and working. I'm also thinking it could be useful for cooling down my cubes ready for pitching before tipping them in the FV. And another thing I completely forgot about and just remembered, CC! Am I right in saying with CCing that it's done straight after fermentation has finished for a few days to a week? I mean, I've read about it but because I didn't have the fridge and stuff I didn't really take note of anything.[/quote'] Yep, hit FG, give it a few more days and then cc for a few days to a week. I tend to cc at 2 degrees for at least 3 days and if I am too busy to bottle on a weekend it gets an extra week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Cool as! <-- see what I did there? [roll] [lol] Anyway, that all sounds pretty straightforward. I might have to build some kind of shelf or box to sit the FV up on to make it easier to draw samples for gravity testing. But other than that it's just a waiting game for the unit to arrive. I'm pretty excited about it haha [lol] Thanks everyone for your comments and advice, much appreciated! [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Wow. Ordered Sunday arvo and it arrives within 48 hours! How's that for quick delivery? Will have to wire it up with Dad this week which means it'll be all ready for my next brew, as it'll be a few weeks before I have enough empties again. [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Wow. Ordered Sunday arvo and it arrives within 48 hours! How's that for quick delivery? Will have to wire it up with Dad this week which means it'll be all ready for my next brew' date=' as it'll be a few weeks before I have enough empties again. [happy'] hey Kelsey where did you order it from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Hey Ned, I bought it from here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-Temperature-Controller-Sensor-Heating-cooling-control-STC-1000-220VAC-/400371647936?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item5d380285c0 However, when I bought it, it was only $30, I don't know why it's gone up to $81. Anyway, if you go onto eBay and just search stc-1000 there's bloody heaps that come up, most range between 20 and 30 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainiac Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 You won't regret it mate. I just pitched my EBS @ 24C' date=' chucked it in with the STC on 19C and won't need to look at it again all week, no matter how hot it gets. It really is the only way to do things properly IHMO.[/quote'] Or yoiu could move Maine and just set it on the counter and wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 [lol] I think I'll take the cheaper option here of a free fridge and a temp controller.. [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 So we just wired this thing up and hooked it up to the fridge to give it a test. Everything on it works fine apart from the bit where it's meant to turn the fridge on. Tested the plugs with a multimeter and there's no voltage coming through them even though the thing clicks on. Hopefully it's just a wire come loose or something. I noticed when I took it out of the box that something was rattling inside it so I'm hoping it's not faulty. [pouty] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Hey Ned, I bought it from here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-Temperature-Controller-Sensor-Heating-cooling-control-STC-1000-220VAC-/400371647936?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item5d380285c0 However, when I bought it, it was only $30, I don't know why it's gone up to $81. Anyway, if you go onto eBay and just search stc-1000 there's bloody heaps that come up, most range between 20 and 30 bucks. thankyou otto....i saw theres another place at Condell Park that sells them too seems to be alot of them.theres even a guy in aussie that makes the box power points etc and sells for 90.00 i think it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Yeah I've heard of at least one place that sells them all fully wired up in a box. It's good if you've got no effin idea about electronics. I'm gonna hazard a guess that this one is faulty though. Dad went out earlier and was gonna have a look at it when he came back, just got back from work earlier to find the thing taken out of its box and put back in the packaging. Dunno whether to get a refund and buy one elsewhere or get a replacement from the same mob. I'm thinking the former at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Well, I take all that back[lol] Turns out it wasn't wired properly since the diagram on the unit itself isn't really all that straightforward, and doesn't appear to explain exactly where the wires are meant to go. I had a look at Bill's diagram in this thread as well as googling some other neater versions and it's been fixed up now and working fine. I've got it plugged into the fridge just to test it without anything in there except the wine that was already in there, set to 18C. It's currently sitting at 22 and lowering, was at about 29ish. Phew!! I'm also going to conduct a bit of an experiment. Since I don't go to work until about 3.30pm, I'm going to leave the fridge plugged into it for another hour or so, and then unplug the fridge but leave the STC plugged in with the probe inside it to see how slowly or quickly it warms up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Yes, I know I keep posting like a madman on this thread. Anyway I've conducted a little experiment with the fridge using a 2L bottle of water yesterday and overnight. Set fridge to 18C. 0.3C 'differential' or whatever it's called. Attached probe to side of bottle with tape and covered in foam to insulate it. Anyway fridge kicks off at 18C, and the temp was lucky if it got to 17.9. It pretty much stayed constant on 18, before gradually warming up to 18.3 before the fridge kicked in again. This was with just plain water. I turned the fridge off overnight but left it closed to see where it got to, about 8 or 9 hours later it had reached 22C. Conversely, when I had the probe just dangling in the air in the fridge, the fridge would turn off and the temp would lower by about a degree before warming back up. Based on this experiment I've come up with a theory. We all know that fermentation produces its own heat. It's also common knowledge that changing the temperature of "large" volumes of liquid such as a batch of beer takes a lot longer than changing the temp of the air surrounding it. And would certainly take longer than 2 litres of water. So, my theory is, when I get around to fermenting my next batch in the fridge, that I won't need a heating side. Even if the fridge temp overshoots, it won't stay there long enough to affect the temp of the brew itself anyway. 1. Because the brew will produce its own heat. 2. The abovementioned changing temp of liquids, 3. The fridge is off. I'm going to conduct another experiment like the one above but using a full cube of wort this time, to see how it goes. My guess is that it wouldn't even go below 18 once the fridge turns off simply because of the volume of liquid. This could just be characteristics of my fridge, given how old it is. The seals probably aren't as good as they were, but based on this experiment so far, I can't see any reason to bother putting a heating device into it. The temperature regulation I achieved on only 2L of plain water just doesn't warrant it. [joyful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 looks liek someone caught the stc1000 bug. I had it hooked up to all sorts of things when I got mine. No need to overanalyse it. Just set your temperatures, strap it to the FV and leave it alone Although playing with it is a given just as enjoyable as 'sampling' your first beers too young [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 [lol] Yeah I probably have. It's always the same when I get a new toy. However my experiments seem to back up what you've said there. I've just put my porter cube in there now for the second experiment on the larger volume of liquid. It's sitting about 29 at the moment since it was just out in the open air so it probably won't be down in the two hours before I leave for work. Coincidentally, it's about 12 hours from now that I'll get home again so it'll be interesting to see how far it comes down in 12 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Fermenting: Napisan What's your expected ABV? [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 About 10%. At least it will be better than the cube of air. [lol] [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 The thing with this thread is...i already got the stc1000 bug but i dont have the spare cash as yet lol...another addiction to look forwartd to lol.cheers Ned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Lol I know the feeling. I was in the same boat when I wanted to move to all grain but my job at the time didn't give me any spare cash at all really. I got my current one in August and was able to make the move in October. I spent about $700 on my setup, that was including the bulk grains and hops. The urn was $270, The grain mill was about $225. I probably could have done it cheaper but anyway[lol]. My fridge for this was free as it was already here not being used, so just the $30odd for the STC. All I need to do now is pull some space out of my arse to have a keg setup! [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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