Guest Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 It isn't going to overshoot that much that it would really matter. I'm in Tassie as you may know. Therefore, I need both as we get scorching hot days and the very next you could be freezing your left ear off. If I were in Cairns for example, I wouldn't bother with a heater as the general temps are above what is required anyway. If they do drop on the occassional night then by the time the fridge regulates this through your wort it is all irrelevant anyway. Having said that, there are also beer styles that you may need a heater for example a Saison. Best thing to do is sort a heating device out if or when you need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Yes, the temperature of the AIR will overshoot downward. But the liquid doesn't. This is exactly why I ran my experiments, to see if there was any point in having a heat source as well. In the first one I just dangled the probe in the fridge and yes, the air temp dropped about a degree below the set temp on the controller after the fridge had turned off. It took about ten minutes for it to complete the cycle of dropping one degree and returning back up to 0.3C above set temp. When I was measuring the liquid temp it overshot 0.1C if at all. I experimented with 2 litres, and also a 25 litre cube. It overshot more often on the 2 litre bottle, and I'm not even sure I saw it overshoot once on the cube. This cube wasn't fermenting either. It must be considered that fermentation produces heat itself. It also took a lot longer than ten minutes to get back to the 0.3C above. Based off this, I can't really understand why there's a need for a heat source, once desired temp is achieved. Even though the variations in air temp are larger, the effect they have on the liquid temp is so negligible that it's not even worth considering. Of course, this is just how it worked out on my fridge. It may be a little different for others, though I can't imagine it would be much. It all comes down to basic science that varying the temperature of a volume of liquid takes a lot longer than the same volume of air. If the air only takes 10 minutes (give or take) to complete its cycle of cooling and heating back up, what effect is it really going to have on 20,21,25 litres of fermenting wort?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest1525228310 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Yes, the temperature of the AIR will overshoot downward. But the liquid doesn't. This is exactly why I ran my experiments, to see if there was any point in having a heat source as well. Thanks Bill & Kelsey I did a test a while back with a probe in the centre of the FV and whilst I was not up and down all night monitoring the temperature of the liquid mass it showed virtually no change with just cooling. Certainly the air temperature and the skin of the container may have fluctuated a little but the probe was steady. I think being inside an insulated container(fridge) probably mitigates the changes in outside temperature quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Flea Posted February 1, 2013 Author Share Posted February 1, 2013 Hi John, I don't need a heater and it don't over shoot on the down more than 0,5C. I have disconected the fridges thermocouple and just run it with my probe and controler. I even took out the defrost heater and was thinking in using that as a heater if need be in winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest1525228310 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Hi John, I don't need a heater and it don't over shoot on the down more than 0,5C. I have disconected the fridges thermocouple and just run it with my probe and controler. I even took out the defrost heater and was thinking in using that as a heater if need be in winter. Thanks Pieter Would the fridge thermocouple ever come into play when using your external controller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Flea Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 John, I completely removed the fridge thermocouple. My controler is all I need. The controler got alarm settings for protection,that will cut the compressor. We normally set our ovens in the factory like this for overheating. Here I just use it as the oppesite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest1525228310 Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 John, I completely removed the fridge thermocouple. My controler is all I need. The controler got alarm settings for protection,that will cut the compressor. We normally set our ovens in the factory like this for overheating. Here I just use it as the oppesite. True Pieter I must confess I find some comfort in knowing the fridge's own internal temperature controller is there as a backup. While it never does anything when the STC is attached, if I screw up and program some insanely low temperature on the STC 1000 at least the FV will not freeze as the fridge temperature control will switch off the compressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 It was my understanding that the STC1000 actually replaces the fridge's thermostat when the fridge is plugged into it, since in effect it works in exactly the same way. Fridges switch on and off all the time to maintain the temperature they're set at, the only reason we use STC's is to be able to do this at a higher temp suitable for brewing. But yeah, it does mitigate the outside temperature changes etc, that's the whole reason they're insulated and sealed, wouldn't be much use otherwise [lol] . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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