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bwarbiany wrote:It's dangerous to both. One way to avoid this, however, is to consider putting the temp probe in a thermowell and into some liquid. With the added thermal mass, the compressor will cycle MUCH less frequently than if you're putting the sensor into open air.
^^^^^^^ This!
I have mine on 1 degree and it only cycles a few times a day. Keep the kegerator full and the probe in liquid and it cycles much less.
ocluke wrote:
My differential is 1 degree as well. Hmm...I much prefer 1 degree over 3 for keeping things stable, but if it's killing my refrigerators, I may bump it up. Thanks for the tip. Do you know if short cycles on compressors is dangerous to refrigerators and freezers alike, or just freezers?
It's dangerous to both. One way to avoid this, however, is to consider putting the temp probe in a thermowell and into some liquid. With the added thermal mass, the compressor will cycle MUCH less frequently than if you're putting the sensor into open air.
My temp probe is always in liquid. In my fermentation fridge, it goes inside a thermowell in the fermentor so that I'm controlling fermentation temps (not the temp of some liquid not experiencing an exothermic reaction that causes the fermenting beer to be 5-7 degrees higher), and in my keezer and beer cellars it is usually inside a bottle or growler full of Star San. Sounds like I haven't been quite as bad as I thought. Still, I'll consider changing the differential on my fermentation fridge to 2 degrees. I think my other fridges have a 2 degree differential already. I'll bump those to 3. Thanks.
Luke
MetaBrewing - A homebrewing blog documenting experiments with equipment, processes, recipes, hops, wild yeast, and whatever else happens to sneak its way in.
When fermenting, the probe was in a thermowell inside the fermenter. However, in between batches, I was just leaving it exposed to the air inside. With that low differential, I am guessing I was working that compressor A LOT when not actively fermenting. Which would be weeks at a time... Especially last year, when I was remodeling the house, and not brewing as much. Yikes!
I will need to make a thermowell/liquid plug for off-duty storage... Do you think an old White Labs tube with water in it would suffice for a vessel? Or should I use an old soda bottle or something?
--LexusChris
"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields
I will need to make a thermowell/liquid plug for off-duty storage... Do you think an old White Labs tube with water in it would suffice for a vessel? Or should I use an old soda bottle or something?
--LexusChris
The greater the thermal mass the slower the movement in temperature change. I would use something similar in volume to the liquid you are trying keep stable at a specific temperature. If a bottle fridge, I'd use an empty Gatorade bottle of the same volume (so you can drill a hole in the lid). If a keezer, I use an empty growler because it is the largest container that fits in my keezer, and it's still smaller than the kegs.
Luke
MetaBrewing - A homebrewing blog documenting experiments with equipment, processes, recipes, hops, wild yeast, and whatever else happens to sneak its way in.
lexuschris wrote:
I will need to make a thermowell/liquid plug for off-duty storage... Do you think an old White Labs tube with water in it would suffice for a vessel? Or should I use an old soda bottle or something?
--LexusChris
If you use a bottle, make sure the probe can be immersed in liquid
lexuschris wrote:
I will need to make a thermowell/liquid plug for off-duty storage... Do you think an old White Labs tube with water in it would suffice for a vessel? Or should I use an old soda bottle or something?
--LexusChris
If you use a bottle, make sure the probe can be immersed in liquid
I think I'll pick up a thermowell from Brewer's Hardware and perhaps use a Gatorade bottle as suggested.
I'm a digital guy, through and through. This analog stuff just gives me headaches.
--LexusChris
"A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her." – W.C. Fields
I use one of the old Extract Malt containers I had from Morebeer ... put a thermowell into the top and viola! It is about the same diameter as a keg which is why I chose it. I've used 1 degree since I built it nearly 10 years ago.
