Heat Mats ....?

[Ditch]

Trug of water with the fish tank heater in it? Yes, mate. Eats far too much space and mine simply never got the heat up anyway.

I have my own (stuck) thread on Kits. It's ridiculously long now. But, that's where I normally air my ravings. I brought this one question out of there because we were all just looking blankly at each other when I asked about it

[Ditch]

Sbonders; A site I intend to buy from also sells suitable thermostats. Sort with a probe on the end of a long cable. One of them.

[sbond10]

Any links ditch and idea of total cost ?

I considered the bath tub with a fish tank heater turned into a none starter.
Looked at brewbelts/ brew mats ran thru a thermostat thru a st1000 started getting way above my head in terms of cost and complex wiring ( I've learnt electrical engineering isn't my calling)

[Ditch]

Go back to page 1. 9th post. That's the mat I have in mind. It's a bit of a beast!

I figure to tame that beast with a MiniStat 100. Under Thermostats, on the same site.

All told? I hope to come in at around forty quid. Not bad for operating Two FV's inside my close fitting, Kingspan chamber

[sbond10]

Looking good but it the ministry says it's gotta be positioned 9 inches away from the mat that's not 2 inches as someone suggests ?

Noticed this on amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00BVYCZ84

And someone in reviews says they've used it for brewing with a heat mat wouldn't have a clue how to wire it tho. Your ministat could be the solution if the 9 inch gap could be avoided

[Ditch]

That's an ATC 100, mate. What everyone uses in their hot / cold brewing boxes. That'd do it, I should think. Don't know why I didn't think of that myself.

Creeping forward, see? Test out one thing at a time. Will it work with a mat? Thermostat's Made to.

Regards the 9" rule? Remember, they're talking about living reptiles which need to be able to move to cooler places. Beer wants the opposite. Anyway; Get it cracked, in an FV of water and that should give ye the ground plan.

[sbond10]

A couple more things ditch

A quick search of ministat 100 brings up a reptile forum stating there prone to large fluxs in temp control could be an issue as beer gives off heat whilst fermenting ?

What weight can these mats take even a obese lizard anit gonna weigh as much as a Fv or 2 and I reckon dropping a Fv on one isn't going to be good.

I reckon an atc1000 would be the way to go slightly cheaper if you/ could get someone to wire it. Mr lards sells a prewired one but it's way way out of my range

[Fil]

Yes. heat will rise and will eventually normalise thru a vessel, you will get the bulk to target but in little steps with much less chance of any overheating

the ministat minimum temp is 19C?? and i didnt watch the ad vid but didnt see what sort of probe or its accuracy?? Personally i think its worth getting an stc1000 then come summer, and if your tinkering leads u that way u can use the same controller for cooling too. go brewfridge

the wiring is basically simple, u break the live feed (brown wire) to your heater, and attach each end to the heating relay terminals on the stc1000 device.

when presented with lots of terminals on a box it can be daunting but break it down to simple circuits 1) power to the device, 2)probe attachment, 3) heating relay, 4) cooling relay.. And its not too tricky
If a real problem there are a few really good diagrams kicking about, i will search for one if needed?

the stc1000 is cheaper, and a far more useful tool with a complete range of temps for u to select (fancy lagering?) And uses a probe type with a known accuracy..

just my thoughts tho.

[Nikster]

Trug of water with the fish tank heater in it?

Yeah, although I don't use a trug, was a pain in the arse finding something that would hold water and fit the FV in that wasn't too big, I ended up using a small wash basket from aldi, fill with 10litres of water as the FV displaces most of it and use one of those German heaters you recommended, I think I went for a 55w one.

I have to cover the FV and bath with an old sleeping bag though otherwise when the temp is like it is now for me, 8c in garage the heater has it's work cut out, so you have a bit of warm water, an air cloud above that that is warm and the whole FV gets a good spread of the warm love.

Whatever method, I'd never go back to using a brew belt ever again, I'll be interested to see how you get on with pad though as I need all the space I can get as well.

[sbond10]

What's the difference between an atc1000 and stc 1000

[Fil]

What's the difference between an atc1000 and stc 1000

typo methinks there is an ATC800+ controller, bigger fitted with bigger load relays for chillingand a wipe of display, less functions (no calibration etc)

i use one in my small brewfridge..


an stc1000 is a smaller device i have one mounted in this shelf chiller for heating and cooling of an fv

[Ditch]

Yeppers. I was quoting " STC / ATC / 100 / 1000 from dim memory of old posts I'd read on here, years ago Thanks for clearing that up for us, Fil

I'll probably be getting one of the little units then. Too right I like the idea of being able to hold temperatures down. That's just sexy! Back in the day, when I kept amphibians, I day dreamed of such a device. That, or one of those glass fronted fridges. (Horribly expensive! )

Because, some newts and shit need to be kept cool, when they hatch in the height of summer. Only way we had, then, was to stick them in the fridge in the kitchen.

These days, look, I could build a whole wall display cabinet of cool, baby salamanders and actually get to enjoy Seeing them.

Anyway, I digress .....

Nikster; Yeppers. For more than one reason, I'm relocating and altering my own set up soon. I have a very nice little spot for exactly what I envisage. It's going to be, frankly, cool as all hell!

Now, I still have at least one more, tiny, wrinkle to sort out. But, that may be peculiar to my gear and my ways? Dunno.

Anyway, I'll be continuing to discuss ~ and ultimately reveal ~ my Great Work on my own thread. On the Kits board. I like to keep my ramblinga and ravings there. It saves me having to explain my thinking, all over again, the moment I step outside that comfort zone

[sbond10]

The next question is cooling but without a fridge now that looks erm exspensive

[Fil]

The next question is cooling but without a fridge now that looks erm exspensive

freecycle a fridge or ebay a shelfchiller for a tenner its the right time of year
however with a shelf chiller an internal SS coil or external copper one can be expensive

[sbond10]

Fridge is a no go and if I could get a shelve chiller for a tenner I'd snap one up but as you say stainless pipe is a fortune.