Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

scythe wrote:Look for an o-ring splicing kit.
Sick the ends together with super glue.
Loctite 406 i think.

That's it! Thank you for that, I would never had thought of it, but it's pretty obvious when you know it.

Bundaboy wrote:

hillzabilly wrote:I donot use less myself,the only reason I can think of why one would ,was to slow down fermentation as the more volume you have the more difficult it can be to keep it on temp at the vigarouse early stage were she's generating a lot of warmth,thats when haveing some form of temp control be it fermenting fridge ,air con ,cooling jacket will be a big benefit.And a little more yeast for me makes sure your brew gets going before infections can start ,its the cover of CO2 that helps keep the badies out,and the sooner she starts the sooner she'is done .cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Great, thanks, that keeps it simple.

I do my fermenting in the laundry where it rarely gets above 22C - the odd times it has been I just push my portable AC in there.

To be honest the problem will be keeping it warm enough but I think that mass of water will stay warm over night well enough.

My bro had the same issue in melbourn,so he got a heater belt from the brew store and used a timer on the power point ,set the time to go on 6pm to 6am ,worked well ,the heater belts are adjustable and will fit a wide variety of fermenters.As mentioned earlia the temp at the start of fermentation is useually higher (less heating reqd)compared to the later stages wich is were your brew is more likely to stall if it cools down (keep it at temp at the end of fermentation) :handgestures-thumbupleft: .cheers hillzabilly

hillzabilly wrote:My bro had the same issue in melbourn,so he got a heater belt from the brew store and used a timer on the power point ,set the time to go on 6pm to 6am ,worked well ,the heater belts are adjustable and will fit a wide variety of fermenters.As mentioned earlia the temp at the start of fermentation is useually higher (less heating reqd)compared to the later stages wich is were your brew is more likely to stall if it cools down (keep it at temp at the end of fermentation) :handgestures-thumbupleft: .cheers hillzabilly

Yeah I opted for the heat pad unfortunately (for my normal size fermenters - have only used it once) - I have a spare electric blanket - I wonder how that would go? I have one of those stc-1000 temp controllers I could use it with.

yea man use the STC, its what im going to use. got mine made just haven't started a ferment for a while

WTDist wrote:yea man use the STC, its what im going to use. got mine made just haven't started a ferment for a while

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

Wich ever way ya go ,give it a test run with just water for a few days-week and see if you can maintane the required temp you need ,befor commiting to such a large batch ,would be my sugestion.cheers hillzabily ;-)

hillzabilly wrote:Wich ever way ya go ,give it a test run with just water for a few days-week and see if you can maintane the required temp you need ,befor commiting to such a large batch ,would be my sugestion.cheers hillzabily ;-)

Yep - I had better put on a couple of "normal" ferments on as back up ;-)

I calculate the cost of a 150lt TPW ferment at around $36-$40 - so yeah a failure would be a little disappointing.

I have done a dozen or so "washes" now without any failures but one should never get over confident.

To be honest though the weather here is perfect for fermenting with little to no chance of the ambient temp dipping below 18, and even if we had a cold snap the o/n temp in my laundry wouldn't get below 15 - I would expect the thermal inertia of 150L to contain that.

In a month or 2 the situation will be different (but not catastrophic as I have a well insulated home). It probably would only require a blanket or doona.

I dunno I might risk it as $30 odd is not a lot to drop for a lesson learnt. But in any case I need to get more supplies to do 150L. (Oh and that is non-trivial where I am as fuel costs alone would approach that $30 odd).

Cheers mate and thanks heaps for your help.

I use an aquarium heater to keep my washes warm they are thermostatically controlled.

Nino wrote:I use an aquarium heater to keep my washes warm they are thermostatically controlled.

Oh yes, I have been reading about that approach. I actually have an immersion heater, it's not thermostatically controlled but as I mentioned earlier I have an STC 1000, but I just can't convince myself, no matter how clean I make it, that in won't infect the wash :-(

Bundaboy wrote:

Nino wrote:I use an aquarium heater to keep my washes warm they are thermostatically controlled.

Oh yes, I have been reading about that approach. I actually have an immersion heater, it's not thermostatically controlled but as I mentioned earlier I have an STC 1000, but I just can't convince myself, no matter how clean I make it, that in won't infect the wash :-(

tape it to the side of your fermenter and slightly insulate the thermometer probe so it reads the fermenter temp. wont be inside but should give a good reading +/- 1 degree

WTDist wrote:tape it to the side of your fermenter and slightly insulate the thermometer probe so it reads the fermenter temp. wont be inside but should give a good reading +/- 1 degree

My apologies:

Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio. (Struggling to be brief I become obscure.)

Yeah, I was really referring to the immersion heater, these things were meant to bring water to the boil, so no problems with infection, keeping a wash at 28C is another matter. Sorry.

Bundaboy wrote:

WTDist wrote:tape it to the side of your fermenter and slightly insulate the thermometer probe so it reads the fermenter temp. wont be inside but should give a good reading +/- 1 degree

My apologies:

Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio. (Struggling to be brief I become obscure.)

Yeah, I was really referring to the immersion heater, these things were meant to bring water to the boil, so no problems with infection, keeping a wash at 28C is another matter. Sorry.

do you mean with the STC? or am i thinking of wrong device?

WTDist wrote:

Bundaboy wrote:

WTDist wrote:tape it to the side of your fermenter and slightly insulate the thermometer probe so it reads the fermenter temp. wont be inside but should give a good reading +/- 1 degree

My apologies:

Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio. (Struggling to be brief I become obscure.)

Yeah, I was really referring to the immersion heater, these things were meant to bring water to the boil, so no problems with infection, keeping a wash at 28C is another matter. Sorry.

do you mean with the STC? or am i thinking of wrong device?

No sorry, I am referring to the immersion heater itself, what I am saying is I have one of those small immersion heaters that you use when travelling to boil a pot of water for tea, coffee, etc.

What bothers me about using that (in lieu of an aquarium heater) is keeping if free of bacteria etc - and to be honest, on a rethink I don't think it would work anyway as the cord on it must be kept dry I think. That's pretty difficult to do in a vigorous wash.

ok, so I get it.
besides cord issue which I would have though a cord on an immersion heater would be at least water safe?... why not use the immersion heater or heating pad (or both together) through the STC, it will go to the temp of the STC and oscillate on/off at the temp you set it to rather than slowly boil. The STC1000 is just a switch that goes on and off as needed to stay and maintain a temp. I havent used it for fermenting yet but so far i have heat distress aged and made yogurt with it. Best ive made yet with the STC holding the right temp for cultures.

I guess if you had an electric blanket you could also use that maybe but i would guess the temp probe of the STC would need to be in the fermenter to not get a false reading from the blanket.

WTDist wrote:ok, so I get it.
besides cord issue which I would have though a cord on an immersion heater would be at least water safe?... why not use the immersion heater or heating pad (or both together) through the STC, it will go to the temp of the STC and oscillate on/off at the temp you set it to rather than slowly boil. The STC1000 is just a switch that goes on and off as needed to stay and maintain a temp. I havent used it for fermenting yet but so far i have heat distress aged and made yogurt with it. Best ive made yet with the STC holding the right temp for cultures.

I guess if you had an electric blanket you could also use that maybe but i would guess the temp probe of the STC would need to be in the fermenter to not get a false reading from the blanket.

Sorry once again, I seem to have been as clear as mud.

Yes that's exactly what I would be doing with the heater. The only problem I have with the concept is I don't feel confident about getting it totally bacteria free (and I don't know if it is safe to submerge the cord - it may be but I have no information on that), and, of course, that has nothing to do with the STC.

The other issue I would see as a potential problem is the thermal inertia of a 150L ferment - used as is the element would probably overheat (boil) the wash at the point at which it is immersed unless the STC temp probe is there as well - and that means I might be keeping just the local area around the heater warm.

As I have an SCR controller as well I could probably prevent over heating by reducing the max power the heater can consume.

I don't think I can use the pad to any effect on a 150L ferment - at least using it as it would normally be used?

I am probably better off getting an aquarium heater large enough for that sized wash.

Bundaboy wrote:

WTDist wrote:

Bundaboy wrote:

WTDist wrote:tape it to the side of your fermenter and slightly insulate the thermometer probe so it reads the fermenter temp. wont be inside but should give a good reading +/- 1 degree

My apologies:

Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio. (Struggling to be brief I become obscure.)

Yeah, I was really referring to the immersion heater, these things were meant to bring water to the boil, so no problems with infection, keeping a wash at 28C is another matter. Sorry.

do you mean with the STC? or am i thinking of wrong device?

No sorry, I am referring to the immersion heater itself, what I am saying is I have one of those small immersion heaters that you use when travelling to boil a pot of water for tea, coffee, etc.

What bothers me about using that (in lieu of an aquarium heater) is keeping if free of bacteria etc - and to be honest, on a rethink I don't think it would work anyway as the cord on it must be kept dry I think. That's pretty difficult to do in a vigorous wash.

immersion heater cord would be water tight back to the plug so long as nothing gets in the power point submerge as much cord as needed..

In cold weather could try a yeast that works at colder temperature.

what temperature water can the immersion heater handle, even though its a heater 8-}

maybe it being in boiling water for a bit might sterilise it?

WTDist wrote:what temperature water can the immersion heater handle, even though its a heater 8-}

maybe it being in boiling water for a bit might sterilise it?

Oh it's for boiling a cup of tea similar to this one: http://www.traveluniverse.com.au/Water- ... vQodFu0Lvg

I don't think these are meant to be totally immersed.

It might be ok for a 25L but I think I would need something a bit beefier for 160L

Or you could use a small electric fan heater with thermo control to keep your laundry at about 25'c and all ya brews should be fine ,and foam or wood between fermenters and cold floor's wich can sap the warmth from ya brew,only safety issue for me would be to fit a smoke detector in the laundry as I donot like to leave those heaters on wilst sleeping,and consider spillage and electricity are not your friends.cheers hillzabilly ;-)