Temperture controllers

[brewfan86]

So I am a newbie to homebrewing only have 3 batches in but I made the jump a while ago and bought a chest freezer for my new hobby but of-course it didn't have a temperature control and I found out I had to buy one in order for my new freezer to be useful to me. So I went online to northern brewer and got a Johnson A 419 control it seemed to get good reviews frm customers.So With no experience and no clue of how to use it, I referred to the manual and tried to get the hang of it i set my set point but I found tht the cooler got noticeably cooler then my set point after it cut off. I placed the probe dead center of my chest freezer its 5.0 cubic ft and was empty at the time I tested it out. I asked the owner of a local brewery nearby, who's always friendly to a new home brewer like myself, for some input. He told me I had bought the wrong kind ..tht I needed a 2 stage so i could run a heat source to on and the other to my chest freezer simultaneously . I live in Southern California rarely does it get too cold to brew the problem is it getting too hot. The A419 allows a heat mode if necessary in case I would need it though. My question is is it really necessary for me to have both a heating and cooling source simultaneously working to get a nice controlled fermentation?? I'd appreciate any help thanx in advance.

 

[ILoveBeer2]

it would be better to have a two stage. However, you can set it for heat or cooling as necessary. Summer is always warm, put it on cooling. Winter is mostly cool, setup a heat source. Spring and fall is when it will get difficult. Use your best judgement and set for heat or cooling based on weather and your freezer locaton. Remember, active fermentation will result in warmer beer than the ambient temperature.

Got to love So Cal weather. As it can be 80 or 60 in March.

 

[doc5md]

If you really only need to cool your fermenters down, then the single stage controller will be fine. Since I brew in the northern part of the country, I need heat sometimes and cooling other times.
As for testing the controller and probe... I put my controller probe in ice water to make sure it was accurate before using it in the fridge/freezer.
Also when putting the probe in the freezer, I'd recommend you either have it in a jar of water or taped fast to the full fermenter (I tape it fast, then insulate it by taping an old pair of socks over it. Having some thermal mass may improve things for you.
I hope that was helpful.

 

[MisterClean]

From what I have read, on that controller you can set a differential set point. You need to set it within one or 2 degrees of your desired set point, otherwise you will get larger temp swings before the controller activates. IE a setpoint of 63, with a differential point of 5 will allow the temp to hit 68 degrees, and won't cut off until it hits 58.

Another way you can more accurately control is by placing your probe in a glass of water, or taping it directly to your fermenter (putting styrofoam over the exposed part of the probe will help even more)

edit:eh after re-reading I might be wrong on the DP, seems the dp is for switching on a heating device.

 

[thadius856]

My question is is it really necessary for me to have both a heating and cooling source simultaneously working to get a nice controlled fermentation?? I'd appreciate any help thanx in advance.

No. I used the same setup as you described.

There's two things that could be going on here.

1- It's getting colder than the set point because you don't have a recirculating fan. By the time the still air gets cool enough for the controller to kick off the freezer, the walls are now* ice cold. Chilling continues past cutoff point as everything gets back into equilibrium (freezing walls warm, warm air chills, even though power is now off). Solution: Add a small fan to circulate air inside. It can be left running 24/7 and doesn't need to be controlled at all. It will also stabilize temperatures greatly.

2- You have the thing programmed wrong. When setting it, you should have one open jumper pair and one closed jumper pair for the proper cut-in/cut-out configuration. That way, it kicks the freezer on at the set point plus differential and cools it until it reaches the set point, at which point it kicks off. If you have it set incorrectly, it'll kick on at the set point and kick off at the set point minus differential.

 

[thadius856]

From what I have read, on that controller you can set a differential set point. You need to set it within one or 2 degrees of your desired set point, otherwise you will get larger temp swings before the controller activates. IE a setpoint of 63, with a differential point of 5 will allow the temp to hit 68 degrees, and won't cut off until it hits 58.

No, that's not true with this controller. See my last post.

http://cgproducts.johnsoncontrols.com/MET_PDF/125188.PDF

Look at page 5. It explains how the cut-in, cut-out system works. You want this thing programmed for "Cooling, cut-out" or "Heating, cut-in". For cooling, the Set Point is the coolest you want the freezer to possibly get. For heating, the set point is still the coolest you want the freezer to possibly get. The differential is the difference that the controller should allow before trying to take action to correct the situation.

Page 7 shows the jumper configuration for these two modes.

 

[Mirkin]

I use a STC1000 (just ebay search) with the freezer set up into the cold and a small desk fan in the heating cycle. With temp variation set for .5 C

Fermentation naturally generates some heat and the fan motor will put out some heat and the air movement from the fan keeps the temperature the same while it rises slightly. Keeps me chugging spot on.

 

[WDT]

So I am a newbie to homebrewing only have 3 batches in but I made the jump a while ago and bought a chest freezer for my new hobby but of-course it didn't have a temperature control and I found out I had to buy one in order for my new freezer to be useful to me. So I went online to northern brewer and got a Johnson A 419 control it seemed to get good reviews frm customers.So With no experience and no clue of how to use it, I referred to the manual and tried to get the hang of it i set my set point but I found tht the cooler got noticeably cooler then my set point after it cut off. I placed the probe dead center of my chest freezer its 5.0 cubic ft and was empty at the time I tested it out. I asked the owner of a local brewery nearby, who's always friendly to a new home brewer like myself, for some input. He told me I had bought the wrong kind ..tht I needed a 2 stage so i could run a heat source to on and the other to my chest freezer simultaneously . I live in Southern California rarely does it get too cold to brew the problem is it getting too hot. The A419 allows a heat mode if necessary in case I would need it though. My question is is it really necessary for me to have both a heating and cooling source simultaneously working to get a nice controlled fermentation?? I'd appreciate any help thanx in advance.

I only use mine in cooling mode (central cali). If it gets colder than your set point then you can plug in a heater or some device to keep your fermenter space warm. You'll then have to set the controller to heating mode or "reverse acting" if it calls it that in the manual. a two stage controller will just do both heating and cooling.

I'd also tape the probe to the side of the fermenter. Set your differential to 1 and call it good.

 

[thadius856]

A light bulb in a paint can is a good, cheap heating device.

I dont think you need a dual controller in CA unless you live up in the Sierras. Just reprogram it twice per year.

 

[brewfan86]

Thank you for all the advice fellow home brewers,I think I got it! I didn't want to deal with the trouble shooting once brew day came so I decided to play around with some of your ideas.. So first off I opened the control and made sure the settings were right. It was default at cooling mode cut in. I set it to cooling mode cut off. I picked the lowest point if want my temperature to hit and a differential of 2 just for ****s and giggles. Then I taped my probe to my fermenter (bucket) which was filled with room temperature water. This way I wouldn't be reading the ambient temperature which swings a whole lot easier. Its been working great keeps the contents of the bucket within the range I wanted. So the next brew day and fermentation should be a breeze. I appreciate all the help thanx alot

 

[kontrol]

Could you use the STC1000 with some of the Remote prob I've seen people here talk? So you could put the prob inside the fermenter to get the accurate reading of the beer temp?