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Date: 03 Jun 2006 19:20:09
From: HAL 9000
Subject: Kegerator Thermostat On The Cheap
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I'm thinking of buying a freezer for kegs and fermentation.
Will I be able to wire up, say, my old house a/c-heater thermostat to keep
the freezer at the right temperature; or will I need a better (and more
expensive) temperature controller?
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Date: 03 Jun 2006 23:28:32
From: Scott Alfter
Subject: Re: Kegerator Thermostat On The Cheap
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In article <Jhlgg.1544$9f2.975@trnddc04 >,
HAL 9000 <SorryDave@Icantdothat.com > wrote:
>I'm thinking of buying a freezer for kegs and fermentation.
>
>Will I be able to wire up, say, my old house a/c-heater thermostat to keep
>the freezer at the right temperature; or will I need a better (and more
>expensive) temperature controller?
Been there, done that. It works, but you'll have a hard time finding an
HVAC-type thermostat that'll go below 40°. I started with a Hunter digital
thermostat that'd go there (cheapie $15-$20 unit from Wal-Mart, IIRC), but
it's somewhat hit or miss as to what other models would work. I wouldn't
even bother with an analog HVAC thermostat, as they're not particularly
accurate and they probably won't go much below 50-55°.
Nowadays, the fermenter fridge is controlled by an old Apple IIe with a
DS18B20 connected through some simple interface logic on the joystick port;
it allows temperatures to be tracked and changed up/down over time in a
controlled manner (from fermentation in the 50s to diacetyl rest in the 70s
to lagering in the 30s). The kegerator had a similar setup on it for a
while (except the computer was a IIGS instead of a IIe), but it now has a
Johnson analog controller (same as the one Williams sells, but this one came
from the local homebrew shop). For maintaining a constant temperature all
the time, it works well enough.
_/_
/ v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
\_^_/ rm -rf /bin/laden >What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?
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Date: 04 Jun 2006 00:36:43
From: HAL 9000
Subject: Re: Kegerator Thermostat On The Cheap
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I like the DS18B20. I could probably attach that to an AVR. Seems like a
good project for the future, but it got too warm for beer at room
temperature this week and I've got 2 kegs that need to be cool yesterday, so
for now, whatever works will do.
I just got the freezer home, there's a small screw on the existing
thermostat that I assume is an adjuster, I'll play with that. Has anybody
managed to take apart and adjust an existing freezer thermostat to get it in
the ball park for beer?
"Scott Alfter" <scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us > wrote in message
news:44821b20$0$18487$9a6e19ea@news.newshosting.com...
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> In article <Jhlgg.1544$9f2.975@trnddc04>,
> HAL 9000 <SorryDave@Icantdothat.com> wrote:
>>I'm thinking of buying a freezer for kegs and fermentation.
>>
>>Will I be able to wire up, say, my old house a/c-heater thermostat to keep
>>the freezer at the right temperature; or will I need a better (and more
>>expensive) temperature controller?
>
> Been there, done that. It works, but you'll have a hard time finding an
> HVAC-type thermostat that'll go below 40°. I started with a Hunter
> digital
> thermostat that'd go there (cheapie $15-$20 unit from Wal-Mart, IIRC), but
> it's somewhat hit or miss as to what other models would work. I wouldn't
> even bother with an analog HVAC thermostat, as they're not particularly
> accurate and they probably won't go much below 50-55°.
>
> Nowadays, the fermenter fridge is controlled by an old Apple IIe with a
> DS18B20 connected through some simple interface logic on the joystick
> port;
> it allows temperatures to be tracked and changed up/down over time in a
> controlled manner (from fermentation in the 50s to diacetyl rest in the
> 70s
> to lagering in the 30s). The kegerator had a similar setup on it for a
> while (except the computer was a IIGS instead of a IIe), but it now has a
> Johnson analog controller (same as the one Williams sells, but this one
> came
> from the local homebrew shop). For maintaining a constant temperature all
> the time, it works well enough.
>
> _/_
> / v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
> (IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
> \_^_/ rm -rf /bin/laden >What's the most annoying thing on
> Usenet?
>
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>
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> 8/Nl0x468FB435x4cKc42IA=
> =MWpP
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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