Fermentation temperature control

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I_used_to_brew
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Fermentation temperature control

Post by I_used_to_brew »

I mentioned about these locally put-together temperature controllers in another thread, but it's worthy of it's own thread.

Tim sells ready wired full function temperature controllers on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0758943700 and direct http://www.cedaronics.co.uk/

Mine has just arrived and I can say it's very well put together and saves all the woes of attempting to wire one up, sourcing enclosures and cable glands etc. You do pay for the convenience but it's worth it.

I've picked up a cheap larder fridge and I have a small tube heater, I'll document my brew-fridge experience as I go.
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I_used_to_brew
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by I_used_to_brew »

And that was it.

5 minutes to suss out a suitable place to drill a hole for the sensor cable and heater lead to go through.

Plug temperature controller into mains, plug heater into "heat" socket, plug fridge into "cool" socket.

Set temperature, check everything is working, silicone up the hole.
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alikocho
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by alikocho »

This looks good, but I don't understand something. It says it can either heat OR cool, whereas the rival controller says it does both. But as heating and cooling are not things one would do at the same time, presumably, does the switching trick mean that actually this works?

I know this might not make huge sense - the Janet's Brown Ale is getting to me (thanks to Tasty McDole for a great recipe).
Ali

BJCP National Judge
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American Homebrewers' Association International Subcommittee
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I_used_to_brew
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by I_used_to_brew »

It does both heating and cooling but of course you wouldn't want it to do both at the same time.

It's set up by default to allow a 0.5c variation from target temp and a minimum of 3 minutes between fridge on and fridge off to spare the compressor.

Trivial to set up.
Cedaronics
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by Cedaronics »

Hi all, nice to be here.

I'm Tim from Cedaronics, and I make the units in question that Trunky has got an example of.
To address the concern about 'heat and cool at the same time', this is of course, not true. It cannot happen.

The controller I produce can heat AND cool, yes, but that does NOT mean it does these things at the same time. There is no such thing as a controller that can heat AND cool, at the same time. I happen to also sell a single output thermostatic controller that is heat OR cool, but that is simply a choice the operator makes at the time of programming.

So on the single controller, you might seek to achieve and maintain a certain temperature, and the unit switches on or off, as it sees fit, to achieve that. It might be 'on' and reach 25°C, and when that temperature is reached, the device switches off. You might, on the other hand, want to achieve 6°C in order to cool something. Same thing happens.

With the STC-1000, it has two outputs, and will cycle automatically between them depending on what you are trying to do. You might program in a temperature of 25°C, and if the ambient is 20°, the heating output circuit will become live, and assuming you've put a heating element on the end of it, that will heat up accordingly. If the ambient, however, is 40°C (let's say you're in Madrid in summer!), the cooling circuit will become live and, again, assuming you have a cooling device on the end of the lead (like a fridge or a fan, or freezer???), then the circuit will stay in that state until the object is achieved.

Many people also ask about the function of 'compressor delay'. If you were to switch the fridge on/off in quick succession, you will damage the compressor (the compressor works with that nasty, or what used to be nasty suff, CFCs). By having a delay of three minutes on the STC-1000 (or whatever controller you have) you prevent this rapid on/off situation.

To explain in depth (sorry), if the ambient was 7°C and your target for brewing was 6°C, every time you hit 6° the cooling circuit would open, but the moment the fridge got back up by 1° to 7°, whoomf! - the fridge would start up again, compromising the compressor. CD prevents this happening. You might also read about 'differential' when looking at other controllers, and this is very much, but not exactly, the same thing.

Sorry to ramble on a bit, I thought I would just intro myself and make it clear about what the STC is all about. As Roger has said, it's a piece of cake to use, and to most people, that's what really matters.

Tim
Cedaronics.
eBay - 'Cedaronics' for new STC-1000s from Elitech
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I_used_to_brew
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by I_used_to_brew »

In a matter of days, this has been enormous use; Dropped the yeast out of a beer then chilled it further, added pvpp to drop out the chill haze and bingo one chill-haze proofed beer.

Now it's got a l*ger in there banging away at 8c. Then it will hold the l*ger in cornies for an extended conditioning period. I was going to sell some more cornies now that I've got some more of the cuter, squatter ones, but, looks like I'll use 'em in the fridge for conditioning.
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alikocho
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by alikocho »

Trunky wrote: Now it's got a l*ger in there banging away at 8c. Then it will hold the l*ger in cornies for an extended conditioning period. I was going to sell some more cornies now that I've got some more of the cuter, squatter ones, but, looks like I'll use 'em in the fridge for conditioning.
That lager had a massive 4 litre starter's worth of yeast. Glad it's going.
Ali

BJCP National Judge
BJCP Assistant Regional Director (North-East/Europe)
American Homebrewers' Association International Subcommittee
Organizer, National Homebrew Competition
CBA UK Competition and Training Coordinator

http://serenbrewing.com
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I_used_to_brew
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by I_used_to_brew »

Y'know Ali, it's quite freaky seeing a krausen at such low temperatures, it's getting bigger each day too (I do see it in cider, but that's a whole different ball game...).

Clearly good quality yeast and a well made starter :)
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alikocho
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by alikocho »

Yeah, lager yeast is freaky like that. That strain in particular seems to develop pretty forcefully. I had to use anti-foam to keep it in the flask as I stepped it up.

No problem on the starter. I quite enjoy the yeast ranching.
Ali

BJCP National Judge
BJCP Assistant Regional Director (North-East/Europe)
American Homebrewers' Association International Subcommittee
Organizer, National Homebrew Competition
CBA UK Competition and Training Coordinator

http://serenbrewing.com
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Bimster
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Re: Fermentation temperature control

Post by Bimster »

Anyone got any idea what's going on with Cedaronics as every time I click on Roger's link,
Tim sells ready wired full function temperature controllers on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0758943700 and direct http://www.cedaronics.co.uk/
I get informed that their website is 'undergoing maintenance.'

Do they still exist?
James

BJCP Certified Judge
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