Tube heater not working (mostly?)

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bottles
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Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by bottles » Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:08 pm

Hi all,
My tube heater in my fermentation fridge stops working intermittently. Some times it works for most of a brew. When it has stopped I've taken it apart to see if anything is broken. Found nothing broken and had resistance through the piece which would start heating up when plugged in. All connections seem fine.
After putting the heater back together it works fine for a time then started working intermittently. Today I finished making some cider and put it in the fermentation fridge running off a stc 1000. The heater isn't working. Again!????
I've tried to search if anyone had had similar issues with no luck.
Thanks all
Andrew

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IPA
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Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by IPA » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:08 am

Please describe how you have connected the fridge and heater.
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Bad 'Ed
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Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by Bad 'Ed » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:55 am

I had the same issue. I decided it wasn't worth wasting another brew on (I obviously found out when I was trying to use it) so I just bought a new one and that worked fine.

I know I was 'fixing' a problem without knowing what the real issue was but they're only £20 or so and I figured it was more likely to be the problem than the STC1000.
Never enough time...

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bitter_dave
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Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by bitter_dave » Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:19 pm

I had a tube heater die on me earlier than I would have expected and, like Bad Ed, I replaced it for a £17:

https://www.toolstation.com/tubular-heater/p32265

My theory was that cold crashing in the fridge reduced its life expectancy, but this is based on pure speculation. I would rather have mended it (if only for environmental reasons) but would not be sure where to begin!

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LeeH
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Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by LeeH » Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:34 pm

They have a high temp cut out in them so they can turn off in an enclosed space and then come back on making it appear as a intermittent fault.

Does it work as soon as you plug it in?
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bottles
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Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by bottles » Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:09 pm

My fermentation fridge runs off a stc1000. The fridge and tube heater are controlled by the etc. This time the heater didn't work from the get go.
I'm going to get a new tube heater. I would like to find out what is wrong so I can keep the old one as a spare.
Thanks.
Andrew

bottles
Steady Drinker
Posts: 80
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:24 am

Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by bottles » Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:10 pm

My fermentation fridge runs off a stc1000. The fridge and tube heater are controlled by the etc. This time the heater didn't work from the get go.
I'm going to get a new tube heater. I would like to find out what is wrong so I can keep the old one as a spare.
Thanks.
Andrew

McMullan

Re: Tube heater not working (mostly?)

Post by McMullan » Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:02 pm

I swapped to heat cables about 5 years ago. Pretty much in continuous use and I haven't had any failures. If distributed around the inside walls of the fridge, you'll get more even heating too. Electrical tape sticks the cable very well the wall.

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