Tube heater

Twostage · Oct 27, 2024

After years of using 40 watt light bulbs as the heat source for my brew fridge I decided to 'upgrade' to a 60 watt heat tube, primarily because they are splash proof. Did the install this morning, set my controller for 19c and set it away as a test. Over two hours later it has crawled up to 18c having started at 10c. Looking at the graph of the temperature rise it looks like 19c is a stretch for it so doing a Kviek at 30 odd is not going to be possible.

Is this in line with other people's experience with them ? My light bulbs would have got there in a few minutes. I'm thinking I might have to change tack and construct splash proof housings for the bulbs.

Rwilts · Oct 27, 2024

I am not surprised , i have on in my keezer - Have never considered it a fast option, but neither have i used one for fermentation temp control..

Caramel Ox · Oct 27, 2024

Have you checked to see if the heater has a built in thermostat? It may be set low and limiting the heating. I have one but it’s not seen much duty.

MashBag · Oct 27, 2024

Stop being so splashy

Buffers brewery · Oct 27, 2024

As @Caramel Ox says, make sure the tubes inbuilt thermostat is turned to maximum. (I removed the thermostat altogether in mine. Works fine.)

Twostage · Oct 27, 2024

@Caramel Ox and @Buffers brewery - I got the one without a thermostat but it will cut out at 90.

It did eventually reach 19. I left it running for a bit and then set the controller to 21 which it got to in just over half an hour which is OK.

I've now given it the challenge of 24.

I think the 90c cutout is a clue. Obviously a light bulb gets hot, too hot to touch, and hot enough to melt the inside of the fridge wall (it fell over once ashock1

). So the tube is not reaching the same temp so it will be less aggressive.

Twostage · Oct 27, 2024

MashBag said:
Stop being so splashy

I'm not that bad :laugh8:

, the main problem is when I've been using it to cold crash and a lot of ice builds up in the icebox at the top of the fridge. When I defrost it, despite putting a towel in icebox to soak it up as it melts there is always a lot of dripping and water collecting at the bottom where the bulb is.

One thing I like about it is that because it is bulky it stores enough heat to hold the air temp at the target temp for a lot longer than the bulb did. Down side is that it takes longer to get to target.

Going to keep testing it for a bit and then either go for a hybrid solution or live with it.

Buffers brewery · Oct 27, 2024

Twostage said:
I got the one without a thermostat but it will cut out at 90.

Care to share the details? I've not seen one without it's own stat :?:

MashBag · Oct 27, 2024

Get a fridge without an icebox?

Seriously if you get a plug in energy meter you can see what is going on. They are handy for diagnosis and setting power controllers.

allotment_fox · Oct 27, 2024

I would think once you start brewing with it, there will be less space to warm up if the fermenter is at say 20c going into the fridge & once it gets fermenting it should give it a bit of a boost.
Loads of people use 1ft tube heaters for fermenting so can't see you running into any big problems good luck with it

Twostage · Oct 28, 2024

Well it took 8 hours to get from 21 to 24

. I checked on it when I went to get some beer last night and the tube was cool enough to be able to touch, somewhere between warm and hot so I assume it had cut out.

Back to plan A I think.

Unfortunately I cut the plug off to get the cable through the drain hole so I'm stuck with it. I'm sure I'll find a use for it one day :confused.:

.

MashBag · Oct 28, 2024

Have you considered ceramic lamps?

Hang on I will get a link..

MashBag · Oct 28, 2024

Get a low power one.
Something like this https://amzn.eu/d/feVdX2i

Can I ask what the issue with the splashing bulbs is for you... I wondered what you are trying to solve?

Twostage · Oct 28, 2024

MashBag said:
Get a low power one.
Something like this https://amzn.eu/d/feVdX2i

Can I ask what the issue with the splashing bulbs is for you... I wondered what you are trying to solve?

Interesting. My setup was an incandescent bulb in a batten with a computer fan blowing on it to circulate the heat. There's another fan in the icebox (which doesn't have a door) to circulate the cold. If I swapped to the infrared it would have to shine on something so the heat could be distributed?

The problem I'm trying to solve is I want to make sure liquid doesn't get into the battens and shorts it. I admit it's probably an imaginary/unlikely problem.

TBH I'm happy sticking the bulb back in. Two minute job.

MashBag · Oct 28, 2024

Absolutely

user 50261 · Oct 29, 2024

Where are you taken the temperature from? If it’s the brew itself, it will take a long time for it to absorb the heat, especially if the brew is cold to start with. The tube heater will only warm the air inside the fridge to the max temp of the tube heater and the heat then has to be absorbed by the brew. With a bulb, the air in the fridge will just get hotter and hotter all the time the bulb is on.

peterpiper · Oct 30, 2024

Twostage said:
After years of using 40 watt light bulbs as the heat source for my brew fridge I decided to 'upgrade' to a 60 watt heat tube, primarily because they are splash proof. Did the install this morning, set my controller for 19c and set it away as a test. Over two hours later it has crawled up to 18c having started at 10c. Looking at the graph of the temperature rise it looks like 19c is a stretch for it so doing a Kviek at 30 odd is not going to be possible.

Is this in line with other people's experience with them ? My light bulbs would have got there in a few minutes. I'm thinking I might have to change tack and construct splash proof housings for the bulbs.

A Watts a Watt, wherever it comes from. Though if the tube overheat cut-out trips, then it's not supplying Watts all the time.

You don't say how many 40W bulbs you'd been using. Even if it was just two, so 80W. Thats more heat than from one 60W tube.
With the weather turning colder now, things could take longer to heat up. Either, if your fridge is in a shed/garage, or if the water used is colder.
My water supply's not down to 10°C yet, and I'm in the Scottich highlands.

If your batch was 23l, to heat it from 10°C to 18°C would need about 214 Watt-hours of energy. Thats 60W for 3.6hrs, so if you managed it in two hours, that seems a miracle.
https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/water-heating

You might be better getting the initial mix temperature higher, by mixing with some boiling water.
eg:

	For mix temperature =	23 °C
	with Temp HW =	99 °C

Temp CW	% HW
23 °C	0
22 °C	1
21 °C	3
20 °C	4
19 °C	5
18 °C	6
17 °C	7
16 °C	8
15 °C	10
14 °C	11
13 °C	12
12 °C	13
11 °C	14
10 °C	15
9 °C	16
8 °C	16
7 °C	17
6 °C	18
5 °C	19
4 °C	20

Twostage · Oct 30, 2024

@Dave.A and @peterpiper the test was an empty ferm fridge so I was just measuring air temp.

I use two bulbs 30w and 40w so 10w more than the tube heater.

Put the bulbs back in and ran another test :-

12c to 19c in 19 minutes and held it there by being on for 30 seconds every 10 minutes.
19c to 21c in 8 minutes, again keeping it there by being on for 30 seconds every 10 minutes.

I've put a junction box around the cable join and made sure the battens are elevated as precautions against splashing/leakage. So some positive has come out of this :laugh8:

.

Kentish Mike · Oct 30, 2024

I've done the same as you, and got a 60W 1ft tube heater in my fermentation fridge. First brew with it has been successful - a best bitter fermenting at a steady 18 C. I was also hoping to get it up into the 30s to do kveik. I wonder if there is any way to override the cut-out... (or is this just asking to burn down the garage...?)

MashBag · Oct 31, 2024

Bet you can.
No you won't.
Some pics of each end will provide the answer.

Personally I like the stick on heaters.

Tube heater

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