Inkbird and tube heater

[Rodcx500z]

My question is will i need to bypass the thermostat in the fridge, bear in mind i am an electrical numpty, the fridge is less than a year old

 

[Buffers brewery]

My opinion....no. I have an old Bosch fridge that gets down to 3C for cold crashing and up to 22C for fermentation. Just plug tube heater in the Heat socket and fridge in fridge socket and Inkbird sorts it out. If it's too cold the heater is turned ON or if it's too hot the fridge is turned ON. If the temperature is correct, both are turned OFF. Just make sure the fridge stat is turned to MAX.

 

[The Baron]

No I think the inkbird will only tell the thermostat to kick in when it gets to fridge temps I believe Rod in laymans terms -no expert

 

[Rodcx500z]

Thanks chaps, i will try this way first, they arrive tomorrow. This opens up a whole new avenue to me

 

[The Baron]

I am looking to go full blown temp control as I have a small fridge that may become available in my outside bar soon.

 

[Buffers brewery]

The main debate about brew fridges tends to be where you position the temperature sensor. Some advocate on the FV others position it in the fridge space. I'm of the latter persuasion for no other reason than I don't want the faff of securing it to the FV. Haven't noticed any significant issues with my beer but then have nothing to compare it with.

 

[Rodcx500z]

The main debate about brew fridges tends to be where you position the temperature sensor. Some advocate on the FV others position it in the fridge space. I'm of the latter persuasion for no other reason than I don't want the faff of securing it to the FV. Haven't noticed any significant issues with my beer but then have nothing to compare it with.

I was thinking in the fridge but, not directly over the heater, i can see me buying a thermowell for presser fermenters

 

[The Baron]

you could wrap the temp sensor in a little foam to hopefully stop quick fluctuations wherever you put it.
I am hoping to get mine sorted in a few months all dependant on the attitude of SWMBO

 

[Buffers brewery]

Mine is located on the fridge wall about half way up the FV height if that makes any sense.

 

[Rodcx500z]

you could wrap the temp sensor in a little foam to hopefully stop quick fluctuations wherever you put it.
I am hoping to get mine sorted in a few months all dependant on the attitude of SWMBO

A fancy meal come's to mind you know it makes sense

 

[nickjdavis]

My view is that we are trying to control the fermentation temp of the beer....not the temp of the fridge airspace. The air will warm up/cool down a lot quicker than the large volume of fermenting beer.

At the very least you should be sticking the inkbird sensor to the side of the FV and insulating it from the fridge air with a couple of nice layers of bubble wrap.

In an ideal world your FV should have some sort of thermowell into which you can place the inkbird sensor thus measuring the beer inside the FV.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Some advocate on the FV others position it in the fridge space.

See what I mean .
I think if I were able to heat/cool the fermenting beer directly in the FV I'd agree totally with @nickjdavis but I'm not so I'm pretty relaxed about sensor positioning.

 

[Clint]

Temp sensor stuffed behind some high density foam that has been stuck to the fv with double sided tape.

 

[Sprocker]

I was thinking in the fridge but, not directly over the heater, i can see me buying a thermowell for presser fermenters

I had a thermowell in my all rounder and found the temp fluctuated much more than when I had the probe stuck to the side.
I've now gone back to having the probe on the outside.

 

[LeeH]

I had a thermowell in my all rounder and found the temp fluctuated much more than when I had the probe stuck to the side.
I've now gone back to having the probe on the outside.

All this confirms is that you had a stable external temperature, but an unknown internal temp.

 

[Wynne]

Depending on the ambient temperature outside the fridge and whether I am fermenting or cold crashing, I usually only connect either the fridge or the heater to reduce temperature volatility. Like @Clint and others, I attach the probe to the fermenter and cover with a piece of foam as it is the temperature of the fermenting beer that I’m trying to control.

 

[Clint]

I find once things settle during standard range,say 19c, nothing seems to switch on or off it's just at the extreme ranges.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

My question is will i need to bypass the thermostat in the fridge, bear in mind i am an electrical numpty, the fridge is less than a year old

I’d say no, unless you want the temperature to go down lower than 1-2 degrees. I have an inkbird controlling both of mine and haven’t touched the internal thermostats. I set them to 1 degree when cold crashing. One of them gets down to about 1.5 degrees before the internal thermostat turns it off and the other to 1 degree. I’m happy with that.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Most fridges max setting is fridge is on all the time and not controlled by thermostat so I set fridge to this setting. What you don't want is the fridge thermostat kicking in and out when you're trying to cold crash so by setting the fridge to be on constantly then you''re totally under ink bird control.

 

[Worf]

Most fridges max setting is fridge is on all the time and not controlled by thermostat so I set fridge to this setting. What you don't want is the fridge thermostat kicking in and out when you're trying to cold crash so by setting the fridge to be on constantly then you''re totally under ink bird control.

I have an external thermostat controller on my fridge (well, actually, it's a freezer) with an internal sensor. My big problem is winter... the unit is outside. Even here in the desert, there are periods that the outside temp doesn't get high enough to force the unit to run, this the wort never gets warm
I use a kitchen cupboard on the batches much to my missus' likes.