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Might well do. But then the damage is mostly spark erosion when they switch, and if that's only infrequently, I wouldn't be worried. Probably more chance of things going wrong due to having stuffed two wires as opposed to one into the terminal in all likelihood.

As long as you're not exceeding the contact rating on a set of contacts, then just use one set. It's going to be bloody noisy if you use it with a PID though, and I wouldn't bet on it lasting long in that case. Much better to get an SSR IMO.

It needs a 12V supply from somewhere, butchering an old wall wart is the cheapest, but a decent switchmode 12V isn't going to be expensive either. The best way to find out if you can run an SSR off it would be to meter the output terminals with a voltmeter. If it's spitting out anything above...

Steam. Decent nozzle to direct it into all the corners and nothing will last long. Failing that, misting the entire thing with videne would be a good option. I wonder what would happen if you put videne in the steam generator...

Mount it vertically so it never needs to move. Otherwise, this or this and this

This is late, but brilliant! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oax3cUFsBSw

Sit the fermenter on the floor, mount the heater vertically in the back corner. Problem solved.

If you can read a hydrometer to .01, I'd be very impressed. Mine you couldn't read to better than 0.5 on a good day. A refractometer is in principle much easier to read accurately. The thing to remember is that the refractometer measures the refractive index, a very different property. For a...

I don't want a calculator, I want theory! Don't say I'm going to need to go and derive some expressions myself... My attempts to do that for ABV calculations have been pretty unsuccessful...

Where can you get hold of the formulae?

Don't let Aleman see that 1l starter!

The seal in the top of a normal demijohn is just an electrical grommet. From memory it's 13mm, but I don't have one to hand to check. Ask a friendly electrician and you might get a load free :thumb:

Unreliable unit? If the el cheapo does the job and the expensive one doesn't, return the lakeland one for a refund, and get some more of the ebay ones! More cause for celebration than irritation! Tim

I'm in general very skeptical of the plastic bucket/kettle element boilers. Cheap but unsafe imo. There are a few threads around about boilers, I've had one running recently, and Aleman and someone else who I can't currently remember have both done How To's on boilers from the SS pots. My...

I hope it's not trying to pull 25A through a 2.5mm2 cable either! Can't put 16A sockets on a ring, would need to be a radial. Minor point but worth bearing in mind. If there is only one plug, get the plugtop off and see what's in it in the place of a fuse. Could be entertaining. One thing...

They're totally submersible. Just be sure to get a good seal if you do run the cable through the wall of the FV, BigYin did it through a rubber bung of greater diameter than the heater, I think so that the entire assembly could easily be removed for cleaning etc. Thread about it here

If the case is somewhat old and becoming somewhat rusty or otherwise nasty and you don't fancy dunking it in the brew, I'd suggest building a water bath for your fermenter. Get a large plastic tub/storage crate that will hold water, and ideally is either just over the full height of your...

This one? I seem to be posting this link quite a bit at the moment...

Baby bottle sanitiser is just slightly diluted bleach, so no benefits there, just more expensive for the same thing. The problem with bleach is that it takes 15-30 mins to work, which can be a pain when bottling etc. You can also get contact sterilisers which work immediately. They are more...

Stick it in a duct, so you can pull through any new power cables, network cables etc as required. A full electric AG set up may well overload a hastily installed garage supply. Just remember to leave the pull though rope in the duct.