25 replies to this topic

[3rd party JKor]

As I was setting up my ferment chamber late last night, after pitching my two batches, I remembered I had a 4 channel datalogger handy and decided to hook it up and start logging my fermentation.  I have one thermocouple on each fermenter and one in free air in the chamber.  Here's what it looked like the first day:

 

 

You can see that each time the AC kicks on you get a big negative spike in the chamber temp.  Since only one temp controller is controlling the chamber I had to pick which fermenter to attach it to.  In this case I chose the Union Jack clone.  The dry stout is just along for the ride, but it's tracking quite nicely.  Both started fermenting quickly.  You can see the temp rise starting almost immediately, with the dry stout actually taking off a bit faster.

 

There's some weirdness going on starting at 18hrs with the AC cycling on/off much more rapidly all of a sudden.  Time-wise it was right around when I got home for work, so I might have shifted things around and caused the screw up.  The AC doesn't seem to be cycling on-off so quickly at the moment.  I'll have to keep an eye on that.

[3rd party JKor]

Also, part of the reason for the more rapid cycling that starts around 8 hours is that I reduced the deadband from 2 degrees to 1 degree.  I also brought the set point down one degree at that time, from 67 to 66.

[matt6150]

Sweet. I'm digging the Brewpi and being able to analyze the data. At the 18hr. mark that is probably when fermentation really started to take off at peak activity. Mine looks like that as well.

[matt6150]

So around the ~20hr mark of Aug 16th. mine started to cycle much more when activity really started rolling.

[positiveContact]

So around the ~20hr mark of Aug 16th. mine started to cycle much more when activity really started rolling.

 

damn, you really held that temperature right at 65F.  what is your setup like?  are concerned about all of the fridge cycling?

[matt6150]

damn, you really held that temperature right at 65F. what is your setup like? are concerned about all of the fridge cycling?

My setup is outlined here. https://www.brews-br...i/#entry2058116

The fridge probably does cycle to much and I need to change some settings. This is only my second beer in this thing so I still have some things to learn.

[HVB]

So around the ~20hr mark of Aug 16th. mine started to cycle much more when activity really started rolling.

So what did this cost you to build?  I am assuming the datalogger Jkor is using is of commercial quality and out of my budget

[matt6150]

So what did this cost you to build? I am assuming the datalogger Jkor is using is of commercial quality and out of my budget

Somewhere between $250-$300. The Brewpi Spark is $140 then you need a Raspberry Pi plus all the sensors, SSR's, WiFi dongle, power supply and any other components to build a housing or something for the SSR's. I love this thing. They are currently working on the programming for dual ferm chambers. So I will just need to build another SSR box and can control another chamber.

[positiveContact]

Somewhere between $250-$300. The Brewpi Spark is $140 then you need a Raspberry Pi plus all the sensors, SSR's, WiFi dongle, power supply and any other components to build a housing or something for the SSR's. I love this thing. They are currently working on the programming for dual ferm chambers. So I will just need to build another SSR box and can control another chamber.

 

well it's a pretty cool setup.  nice jorb.

 

I wonder if there is a cheap way to monitor what my STC-1000 is doing b/c that would be really nice information.  I sometimes worry that it's really cycling the chamber a lot.

 

you must have a compressor delay programmed in right?

Edited by Evil_Morty, 18 August 2015 - 05:23 AM.

[matt6150]

well it's a pretty cool setup. nice jorb.

I wonder if there is a cheap way to monitor what my STC-1000 is doing b/c that would be really nice information. I sometimes worry that it's really cycling the chamber a lot.

you must have a compressor delay programmed in right?

Yeah there are quite a few settings to it, I haven't touched them yet. It will also only run for a certain amount of time and then stop and wait for a bit to start up again. Apparently it learns your system and knows when to start and stop to keep a perfect temp.

[3rd party JKor]

I'm using an Omega HH309A.  $325 from Omega.  Looks like they can be had on ebay for much less.  There's also some pretty cheap board-only dataloggers on ebay.  Here is one with 4 sensors included for ~$40.  Doesn't appear to have any internal memory.  You would need a spare PC to leave it connected to.

[3rd party JKor]

My setup is outlined here. https://www.brews-br...i/#entry2058116

The fridge probably does cycle to much and I need to change some settings. This is only my second beer in this thing so I still have some things to learn.

 

 

Personally, I'd open up the control parameters a bit.  You really don't need the temp to stay that tight.  It doesn't look like your fridge is cycling a crazy amount, but it's definitely more than necessary.  I'd let it swing a full degree.  So SP+/-0.5F.

[3rd party JKor]

I think the issue with my AC cycling was that the tape covering the temp probe pulled up a little and was letting cool air behind the insulation pad holding the probe down so it would cool down very quickly as soon as the AC kicked on.  I put another piece of tape over it and that seems to have solved the problem.

 

The Dry Stout is definitely slowing down.  You could see from the data overnight that the temp is really being dragged down by the Union Jack controlling the ferment.  It makes sense since the UJ has twice as far to attenuate and it's using WLP002 vs. WLP001 for the stout.  The 002 is typically referred to as a fast fermenter, so it's likely kicking off more heat.  The 001 isn't a slouch by any means, but i don't think it will keep up with the 002.  I pulled the dry stout out of the chamber.  It's cool down in the basement, so it should pick up a bit but stay under control.

 

Here's the updated data for the overnight:

 

[HVB]

I'm using an Omega HH309A.  $325 from Omega.  Looks like they can be had on ebay for much less.  There's also some pretty cheap board-only dataloggers on ebay.  Here is one with 4 sensors included for ~$40.  Doesn't appear to have any internal memory.  You would need a spare PC to leave it connected to.

That is in the budget and I happen to have a spare old laptop or 2.

[matt6150]

Personally, I'd open up the control parameters a bit. You really don't need the temp to stay that tight. It doesn't look like your fridge is cycling a crazy amount, but it's definitely more than necessary. I'd let it swing a full degree. So SP+/-0.5F.

Yeah I need to get in there and look at it. There are so many things to adjust I don't know what to change.

[positiveContact]

I think the issue with my AC cycling was that the tape covering the temp probe pulled up a little and was letting cool air behind the insulation pad holding the probe down so it would cool down very quickly as soon as the AC kicked on.  I put another piece of tape over it and that seems to have solved the problem.

 

I think I had a similar problem.  When fermentation is pretty much done would it make sense to just stick my temp probe into a 2L of water and set the ambient temp I'm looking for?

[3rd party JKor]

I think I had a similar problem.  When fermentation is pretty much done would it make sense to just stick my temp probe into a 2L of water and set the ambient temp I'm looking for?

 

 

Yes, that should work.  I have a pint jar of water in my chamber for that purpose.

[bigdaddyale]

You can build your own BrewPi pretty cheap.

https://www.homebrew...ad.php?t=466106

There are other threads that can trick them out with a LCD screen and Bluetooth

They were fiddling around with Data logging with the STC1000 + but that project slowed down.

[bigdaddyale]

Here is the Wikia page.

https://diybrewpi.wi...DIYBrewPi_Wikia

[bigdaddyale]