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Main
Date: 07 Sep 2006 23:50:42
From: Brian Foster
Subject: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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Bought one of these today:
http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/62/635.htm?737
I recently swapped some golf equipment for a 20 cu ft freezer up,
refrigerator that is keeping itself quite cool in my garage right now.
Since I have no experience with this controller, and it came with no
instructions, I'll ask the group if there is anything I should beware of
when I hook this thing up?
It looks pretty straight forward. But then most things do right before they
blow up, catch on fire, or cause a flood :)
Thanks
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 01:30:35
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 23:50:42 GMT, <brianfoster@houston.rr.com > wrote:
> Bought one of these today:
> http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/62/635.htm?737
>
> I recently swapped some golf equipment for a 20 cu ft freezer up,
> refrigerator that is keeping itself quite cool in my garage right now.
>
> Since I have no experience with this controller, and it came with no
> instructions, I'll ask the group if there is anything I should beware of
> when I hook this thing up?
>
> It looks pretty straight forward. But then most things do right before they
> blow up, catch on fire, or cause a flood :)
I've got a Ranco, but they're pretty similar to the Johnson controllers. Both
are really good choices, IMO. Mine's pretty simple to use, there's nothing
I can think of that you really need to be worried about assuming that yours
works the same way. All they really do is monitor the temp and then
cut off/on the power to the fridge. It's fairly straight forward.
John.
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 17:23:49
From: coloradobrewer
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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Brian Foster wrote:
> Bought one of these today:
> http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/62/635.htm?737
>
> I recently swapped some golf equipment for a 20 cu ft freezer up,
> refrigerator that is keeping itself quite cool in my garage right now.
>
> Since I have no experience with this controller, and it came with no
> instructions, I'll ask the group if there is anything I should beware of
> when I hook this thing up?
>
> It looks pretty straight forward. But then most things do right before they
> blow up, catch on fire, or cause a flood :)
>
> Thanks
With my controller, the temperature I set it at isn't necessarily the
temperature my fermenting beer thermometer says. The thermometer on
the beer is often 4 or 5 degrees higher than my controller setting.
This can be a factor when doing primary fermentation of lagers if you
set it at 58 and it's actually at 62 in your carboy. Just an FYI.
DC
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 01:35:02
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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On 7 Sep 2006 17:23:49 -0700, <David.James.Cooper@gmail.com > wrote:
>
> Brian Foster wrote:
>> Bought one of these today:
>> http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/62/635.htm?737
>>
>> I recently swapped some golf equipment for a 20 cu ft freezer up,
>> refrigerator that is keeping itself quite cool in my garage right now.
>>
>> Since I have no experience with this controller, and it came with no
>> instructions, I'll ask the group if there is anything I should beware of
>> when I hook this thing up?
>>
>> It looks pretty straight forward. But then most things do right before they
>> blow up, catch on fire, or cause a flood :)
>>
>> Thanks
>
> With my controller, the temperature I set it at isn't necessarily the
> temperature my fermenting beer thermometer says. The thermometer on
> the beer is often 4 or 5 degrees higher than my controller setting.
> This can be a factor when doing primary fermentation of lagers if you
> set it at 58 and it's actually at 62 in your carboy. Just an FYI.
> DC
Yeah, this is normal and something you'll want to take into account. The
fermentation will create it's own heat, so the beer temp is usually a little
bit higher than the fridge temp. For example, if I want to ferment with
the beer around 65F, I'll set the controller for 62F or something like
that. The higher your fermentation temp, the more heat it will create. So
it'll only be a couple degrees in the 60s, but 5+ degrees in the 70s.
John.
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 20:40:21
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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"coloradobrewer" <David.James.Cooper@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1157675029.111930.168090@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> Brian Foster wrote:
> > Bought one of these today:
> > http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/62/635.htm?737
> >
> > I recently swapped some golf equipment for a 20 cu ft freezer up,
> > refrigerator that is keeping itself quite cool in my garage right now.
> >
> > Since I have no experience with this controller, and it came with no
> > instructions, I'll ask the group if there is anything I should beware of
> > when I hook this thing up?
> >
> > It looks pretty straight forward. But then most things do right before
they
> > blow up, catch on fire, or cause a flood :)
> >
> > Thanks
>
> With my controller, the temperature I set it at isn't necessarily the
> temperature my fermenting beer thermometer says. The thermometer on
> the beer is often 4 or 5 degrees higher than my controller setting.
> This can be a factor when doing primary fermentation of lagers if you
> set it at 58 and it's actually at 62 in your carboy. Just an FYI.
> DC
>
Yes I forgot that point, the ferm in the beginning especially is higher by
4-6 degrees than the ambient (fridge) temp. I have stick on thermometers on
all my carboys and buckets. I usually set the fridge for 60F in the
beginning once it shows signs of activity at 68 wort temp and it usually
keeps the wort at about 66f temp due to the 4 degree swing from 60 to 64F
with the johnson controller....for some reason when I set the controller for
66 though it swings the other way...hits 66 then fridge drops to 62 before
cutting off again. In a few hours, though my wheats seem for some reason to
get almost 7 degrees higher at their peak.
Gerard
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 01:37:44
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 20:40:21 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
> though my wheats seem for some reason to get almost 7 degrees higher
> at their peak.
Just a wild guess, but wheats are also known for having a denser/stickier
krausen. Perhaps the heavier krausen is trapping in more heat than other
beers?
John.
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 11:25:53
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net > wrote in message
news:slrneg1igq.4pd.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 20:40:21 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net> wrote:
> > though my wheats seem for some reason to get almost 7 degrees higher
> > at their peak.
>
> Just a wild guess, but wheats are also known for having a denser/stickier
> krausen. Perhaps the heavier krausen is trapping in more heat than other
> beers?
>
>
> John.
Yea that and I'm no expert maybe it's just illusion, but wheats just seem to
ferment out faster as well which might be like running a car on nitro, kinda
heats things up more.
Gerard
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Date: 07 Sep 2006 20:17:44
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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"Brian Foster" <brianfoster@houston.rr.com > wrote in message
news:mf2Mg.14225$o42.5513@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> Bought one of these today:
> http://www.brewcitysupplies.com/62/635.htm?737
>
> I recently swapped some golf equipment for a 20 cu ft freezer up,
> refrigerator that is keeping itself quite cool in my garage right now.
>
> Since I have no experience with this controller, and it came with no
> instructions, I'll ask the group if there is anything I should beware of
> when I hook this thing up?
>
> It looks pretty straight forward. But then most things do right before
they
> blow up, catch on fire, or cause a flood :)
>
> Thanks
>
>
Pretty basic. I just got one, I put the probe wire over the top of the door
closest to the hinges as it seals best that way and make sure the probe
doesn't touch any of the freezer or carboys, etc...kinda have it sit so it's
mid air, pretty easy to do since the wire is semi rigid. Test it out a bit
to get used to the temp swing though...depending on what temp I set mine at
sometimes it swings up 4 degrees before cutting on sometimes it cuts on when
it hits the set temp then drops 4 degrees.
Gerard
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 01:35:17
From: TARogue
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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On 2006-09-08, Gerard Eberlein <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
>
> Pretty basic. I just got one, I put the probe wire over the top of the door
> closest to the hinges as it seals best that way and make sure the probe
> doesn't touch any of the freezer or carboys, etc...kinda have it sit so it's
> mid air, pretty easy to do since the wire is semi rigid. Test it out a bit
> to get used to the temp swing though...depending on what temp I set mine at
> sometimes it swings up 4 degrees before cutting on sometimes it cuts on when
> it hits the set temp then drops 4 degrees.
>
Does the sudden stop and start have any effect on the motor? I was
thinking of getting a colling fridge or freezer with an external
thermostat, when asked about hurting the cooling motor with the sharp
ons and offs.
Thanks
Tom
--
TARogue (t o m (at) t a r o g u e . n e t)
"So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous
to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind." Ecclesiastes 2:17
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Date: 08 Sep 2006 11:23:41
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: Controling Refrigerator Temps
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"TARogue" <look@my.sig > wrote in message
news:slrneg1i6l.5ib.look@littlefear.outhaus...
> On 2006-09-08, Gerard Eberlein <dormouse@charter.net> wrote:
> >
> > Pretty basic. I just got one, I put the probe wire over the top of the
door
> > closest to the hinges as it seals best that way and make sure the probe
> > doesn't touch any of the freezer or carboys, etc...kinda have it sit so
it's
> > mid air, pretty easy to do since the wire is semi rigid. Test it out a
bit
> > to get used to the temp swing though...depending on what temp I set mine
at
> > sometimes it swings up 4 degrees before cutting on sometimes it cuts on
when
> > it hits the set temp then drops 4 degrees.
> >
> Does the sudden stop and start have any effect on the motor? I was
> thinking of getting a colling fridge or freezer with an external
> thermostat, when asked about hurting the cooling motor with the sharp
> ons and offs.
Actually it was designed to do the 4 degree swing so it would put less
stress on the fridge/freezer, rather then cutting on when the temp just
rises one or 2 degrees. I never timed it but I haven't noticed my fridge
running any more or less than when I used it for food and sodas.
Gerard
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