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Thermometers

Started by Richard, February 22, 2011, 05:30:56 PM

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Richard

Ok, so I have one of those digital thermometers with a probe on the end of a long wire. Just the other day it decided that boiling water was 103C so I gave it a little test against the other thermometers I had lying around. The other two I had (electric) both agreed that the temperature of boiling water was (shock; horror) 100C. So I've been using a thermometer for my mashing which is basically, broken.

Just wondering if people have any particular model or brand they swear by. I'm fairly sure a stuck ferment I had off my second AG batch is down to bad mash temperature control.
Charter Member

Kegged: air.
Primary: air.
Bulk Aging: Silence of the Lambics (Pitched 13/05/2012).
Owed: JQ LSA x 1, Kyle Stout x 1 & IPA x 1.

Kyle

If the long metal probe of the digital thermometer was near the bottom of the pot, it might be slightly above 100C, since the burner is right under it
Charter Member

On Tap: DIPA, Vienna SMaSH, Imp Stout
Planned: IPA
Fermenting: --

Richard

this was fairly consistent regardless of position... although I now think I might have broken the probe by immersing it  :roll:
Charter Member

Kegged: air.
Primary: air.
Bulk Aging: Silence of the Lambics (Pitched 13/05/2012).
Owed: JQ LSA x 1, Kyle Stout x 1 & IPA x 1.

Hawoh

There is a waterproof digital probe thermometer at Davidson Food Equipment, but without knowing, I'm guessing it would be rather pricey.

Another option is to waterproof your next one. I lost the link where I had found the idea (I had the same mishap).
- Get silicone aquarium air tubing (by the foot) at one of the local pet stores
- Run the probe through, stopping just before the wiring
- Seal with 1-2 rubber o-rings (Hardware store, don't know the size off the top of my head)

If I remember I'll take a picture of mine and post it... it seems to work great.

Also, after ruining my first one, I experimented with a couple thermometer iterations. So now I have 2-3 in my mash and strike water. Between them all, I'm covered if one is mis-calibrated or fails.

Hawoh


Richard

Thanks for the photos -- makes sense now I see it. not sure about the o-rings but I suspect it'll be clearer if I just wander into an aquarium store with the probe and have a little look at the tubing

btw -- yours says "over by 3C" -- I read something that suggests you need to interpolate between 0C and 100C for actual offsets, as it varies with extremity. I also read that you can fix these damn things by basically cooking the probe at a high temperature, which I'm going to try today. $20 is $20, after all.
Charter Member

Kegged: air.
Primary: air.
Bulk Aging: Silence of the Lambics (Pitched 13/05/2012).
Owed: JQ LSA x 1, Kyle Stout x 1 & IPA x 1.

Hawoh

I think the rubber O-Rings are 3/8"  - Can find them in the plumbing section of the hardware store

The +3°C  note on that is a note to myself in relation to the several thermometers I have. Calibrated them all together, and this one is off by +3 relative to the one I deemed to be the most accurate.

Richard

Is it really a constant +3C across the 0-100C range? Must be broken firm/software if so.
Charter Member

Kegged: air.
Primary: air.
Bulk Aging: Silence of the Lambics (Pitched 13/05/2012).
Owed: JQ LSA x 1, Kyle Stout x 1 & IPA x 1.

Shawn

A little late to be getting into it... but I used to have one of those same type of thermometers - probe on the end of a long wire. Now I just have one that has a ~2.5-3 inch probe sticking right out of the thermometer, which itself isn't much bigger or thicker than a pen. Seems to work great (when I tested it at freezing and boiling, it was pretty much spot on), and only cost 8-10 bucks at Canadian Tire.

If you want, I'll take a look at the brand when I get home and let you know.

Richard

Shawn: one of the other ones I tested this against was probably exactly the same one you're talking about. I prefer the ones with a probe on a wire, though, because I can just dunk it in whatever I'm measuring and seal things up over the top of it.
Charter Member

Kegged: air.
Primary: air.
Bulk Aging: Silence of the Lambics (Pitched 13/05/2012).
Owed: JQ LSA x 1, Kyle Stout x 1 & IPA x 1.

Hawoh

Quote from: "Shawn"A little late to be getting into it... but I used to have one of those same type of thermometers - probe on the end of a long wire. Now I just have one that has a ~2.5-3 inch probe sticking right out of the thermometer, which itself isn't much bigger or thicker than a pen. Seems to work great (when I tested it at freezing and boiling, it was pretty much spot on), and only cost 8-10 bucks at Canadian Tire.

If you want, I'll take a look at the brand when I get home and let you know.

I think I may have the same one Shawn is talking about, if so, I believe Taylor is the brand on mine. I've found that one to be the most accurate of my collection.

Richard

Aye that's the one I've got without a wire... Taylor 9841. I guess I'll just use that for exact measurements.
Charter Member

Kegged: air.
Primary: air.
Bulk Aging: Silence of the Lambics (Pitched 13/05/2012).
Owed: JQ LSA x 1, Kyle Stout x 1 & IPA x 1.