Temperature probe inside bucket... How?

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bfinleyui

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So I've got this temp sensor on the way, along with some food-grade heatshrink. My question is, how do I get it in the bucket or carboy with an airtight seal? The sensor itself is about 6-7mm, but the wire is a mm or two narrower than that.

It's going inside a freezer to help control a temp controller. I'd rather have one submerged for an accurate temp, than taped to the outside of the bucket/carboy.

Thoughts?
 
Sanitize it, run it thru a 3-piece airlock without the top part on. Put the top part of it on and then fill with star san or whatever sanitizer u use and then put that little cap with the hole on it over that and snap it on. U will prob need to drill a small hole in that, off towards the edge for an easy on/off process.
 
Forgive the crude drawing but this should give u an idea of what i mean. The lower right is the top lid i was talking about and the red line is the prob itself.

airlock with probe.jpg
 
Personally I'd probably just build a thermowell. You can drill a hole in the bucket lid, and get a rubber grommet for that hole.

Get yourself a piece of SS tubing that is big enough to hold your temp probe (probably 1/4"). You could probably use copper, but I'd try to get SS. Solder a cap on the end of or hammer the bottom flat to seal one end of the tube. Drop the thermowell through the lid far enough that it is sumberged in the wort. Your temp probe can then be dropped into the thermowell. You should get a pretty good reading of internal tempurature. It will also keep you probe from getting wet, which I try to avoid.

They sell them too : http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shop/carboys-accessories/stopper-thermowell/

This approach will also work in a carboy or a better-bottle with a dual-holed stopper.

Here's an example : http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shop/carboys-accessories/carboy-cap-for-6-5-gallon-carboy/
 
You do know that the thermocouple you bought is a digital thermocouple that needs to interface to a microprocessor, and not a standard thermocouple?
 
You can buy thermowells online...i got my SSteel one for like 15 bucks. Drill a hole, stick it in and whala.
 
ThatGeekGuy said:
You do know that the thermocouple you bought is a digital thermocouple that needs to interface to a microprocessor, and not a standard thermocouple?
Click to expand...

Yep, it's running quite nicely sitting in a glass of water hooked up to my arduino.

EY6Wtn0.jpg
 
b-boy said:
Personally I'd probably just build a thermowell. You can drill a hole in the bucket lid, and get a rubber grommet for that hole.

Get yourself a piece of SS tubing that is big enough to hold your temp probe (probably 1/4"). You could probably use copper, but I'd try to get SS. Solder a cap on the end of or hammer the bottom flat to seal one end of the tube. Drop the thermowell through the lid far enough that it is sumberged in the wort. Your temp probe can then be dropped into the thermowell. You should get a pretty good reading of internal tempurature. It will also keep you probe from getting wet, which I try to avoid.

They sell them too : http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shop/carboys-accessories/stopper-thermowell/

This approach will also work in a carboy or a better-bottle with a dual-holed stopper.

Here's an example : http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shop/carboys-accessories/carboy-cap-for-6-5-gallon-carboy/
Click to expand...

I wouldn't use copper in fermenting beer. I read somewhere in the forum that copper is good in mash tuns and brew kettles but should be kept away from fermenting beer due to some unfriendly compounds being absorbed in the beer. Just my $0.02 worth.
 
bfinleyui said:
Yep, it's running quite nicely sitting in a glass of water hooked up to my arduino.
Click to expand...

Sweet. If you were using a standard type K thermocouple, you could just buy an Omega KTSS-14U-12. It's a 12" long stainless steel sheathed thermocouple, you could just add a grommeted hole to your fermenter and slide it in. I'm getting ready to do this with one of my buckets, and use it to replace the thermocouple on the Ranco controller for my chest freezer.
 

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