Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Where's the best place to get a submersion heater online and what's the best one to get? I'm not sure if I should go with an aquarium heater or a proper Home brew heater because they often come with the bungs and stoppers etc. What do you all use? It's for my 60 Litre drum...
Thanks :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I dont have a submersible but im soon to use a STC1000 with a heating belt. hit up google/ebay for the STC. all round i dont think it will cost much more than $50 and it does hot and cold

actually... just did a search myself :O)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-Aquarium-STC1000-Incubator-Cold-Chain-Temp-SN-/161722795971?hash=item25a76e07c3:g:RpQAAOSwrklVbTd4 for a cheap STC 1000

and a heating belt

so for a little over $30 is the kit. just need to destroy an old extension cord and maybe add a double wall powerpoint thing, put it in a box and bobs your uncle. just wire it up like this thread on another home brew site and get it checked of course :-B

i know its not submersible but thought i would mention it anyway just in case.

just did a submersiable heater search :laughing-rolling:

well... hey are much cheaper than an STC setup 8-}

but have less accuracy

WTDist wrote:I dont have a submersible but im soon to use a STC1000 with a heating belt. hit up google/ebay for the STC. all round i dont think it will cost much more than $50 and it does hot and cold

actually... just did a search myself :O)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-Aquarium-STC1000-Incubator-Cold-Chain-Temp-SN-/161722795971?hash=item25a76e07c3:g:RpQAAOSwrklVbTd4 for a cheap STC 1000

and a heating belt

so for a little over $30 is the kit. just need to destroy an old extension cord and maybe add a double wall powerpoint thing, put it in a box and bobs your uncle. just wire it up like this thread on another home brew site and get it checked of course :-B

i know its not submersible but thought i would mention it anyway just in case.

Great idea but not sure if I'm that confident in the preperation. wiring and set up. I'm currently looking at this one http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Home-Brew-Homebrew-equipment-Immersion-Heater-Tstat-/311543678842?hash=item488973477a:m:m75iFsE2_YzBc1RfHK9IcHg
or just a basic aquarium heater.

41 AUD

I have been using a small glass aquarium heater for heating 60 washes works ok.

An stc is great but you still need the heat source for it to work.

not sure how cold it gets in VIC.
Here in ireland my 50W aquarium heater was fine in a 30l insulated fermenter in the winter, I ferment inside but in the laundry where it drops to 10C during the old days.
I switched up to a 110 l fermenter that i have 20kg of grains and 80 l of water in at a time and 50W was not able to cope, i now have a 300W one on order, 10 bucks from ebay, free delivery. happy days

Also I use baking yeast so i need the ferments to be in and about 30C to work at a decent rate.

Go fror stainless steel ones they are more durable
A mate has these in an 80 litre olive barrel
they have easy adjustable temp control
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aqua-One-50W ... SwBLlVJ4Bm

Aussiedownunder01 wrote:Go fror stainless steel ones they are more durable
A mate has these in an 80 litre olive barrel
they have easy adjustable temp control
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aqua-One-50W ... SwBLlVJ4Bm

Thanks for the link. That's exactly what I'm looking for. Cheers

Word of warning on some of the cheap aquarium heaters. I bought about 5 of them a while back, threw one in, switched it on and poof. They float :angry-banghead: so they overheat and explode all through your wash. The next one i stuck it to the side and worked well for a bit before the suction cups let go and then poof again, another wash ruined :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: I eventually got one to stay under by tying a stainless weight to it but it only lasted one or two ferments. Since then I have bought the expensive name brand ones and they've been good so far.

woodduck wrote:Word of warning on some of the cheap aquarium heaters. I bought about 5 of them a while back, threw one in, switched it on and poof. They float :angry-banghead: so they overheat and explode all through your wash. The next one i stuck it to the side and worked well for a bit before the suction cups let go and then poof again, another wash ruined :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: I eventually got one to stay under by tying a stainless weight to it but it only lasted one or two ferments. Since then I have bought the expensive name brand ones and they've been good so far.

:text-+1:
I have kept tropical cichlids for several years and your bang on the money woody. The cheap ones don't last long.

Eheim are pricey but the magic smoke tends to stay inside. the cheap ones fail at the most inconvenient moments, and that's assuming they aren't making the water in the tank live!

woodduck wrote:Word of warning on some of the cheap aquarium heaters. I bought about 5 of them a while back, threw one in, switched it on and poof. They float :angry-banghead: so they overheat and explode all through your wash. The next one i stuck it to the side and worked well for a bit before the suction cups let go and then poof again, another wash ruined :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: I eventually got one to stay under by tying a stainless weight to it but it only lasted one or two ferments. Since then I have bought the expensive name brand ones and they've been good so far.

Yeah I won't be buying any cheap Chinese heaters and I'm sticking with the ones that are sold in Oz because they have to have safety standards. Aqua One is a brand that was recommended to me. Apparently they are pretty sturdy and I'm sticking with the stainless steel ones too - less likely to shatter :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Can you let me know which brand you go with? Cheers

Yep aqua one is what I use. I haven't got the stainless ones but they definitely sound like a good idea.

woodduck wrote:Yep aqua one is what I use. I haven't got the stainless ones but they definitely sound like a good idea.

:text-+1:

Same here Aqua brand no issues but stainless would give more piece of mind. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I had no idea stainless was an option. Will have to have a look.
I found some nice grommets that fit the top of Aqua-zone range of heaters to solve my smashy glass problem. Works really well so far.

I have access to bulk alcohol cubes through work so i generally use these as fermenters

Where'd you get the grommets from?

Place around the corner from my work in Burleigh. Called P&M Plastics. Will double check the measurements but pretty sure they are a 25mmx32mm.

hey underground44 give me a ring mate
charlie