Glass
12th August 2014, 10:14 PM
I was always dubious about the heat belt I had picked up 2nd hand when I scored the extra fermenters, bottle capper and some bottles. It went in the bin this morning. No hesitation.
The belt had obviously done some work. Basically it is a 2 ply/strand electrical cable. It then connects to something along it's length which is a flexible heating element. It could be wire at each end for the mains socket and then some kind of element inside this thick rubber sheath.
Anyway I was amazed at how hot this thing gets when turned on. It is too hot to touch meaning it's probably pushing out some too high heat. I was using this in a small cupboard. I laid it out as straight as I could without cutting pieces of the rubber sheath. It is basically a loop of wire and one end feeds through a slit in the rubber shield, a bit like a slip knot arrangement. It goes over a fermenter barrel and is slid tight around the vessel. I can't seem to get it to stay anywhere up the side of the fermenter. It always slides down.
I had this laying on a shelf hooked up to a timer and I've been checking on it multiple times a day. The main reason is because of the very hot spots that occur along it's length. I did not want to melt anything like the shelf coating.
And to top it off, I originally laid some newspaper on the cupboard shelf to soak up the water left over from when I dip rinsed the bottles after bottling. So I figured I was lining myself up for a fire or something by putting this heat belt with super hot spots on it, on newspaper.
The other thing I was not sure about was repeatedly turning it off and on. I had it running either 30 mins then off for 30 or on for 45 and off for 30. That kind of thing. Maybe it is supposed to be turned on and left on.
I checked the belt this morning and it was showing signs of heat damage on the belt. It had a few black marks where it had been used before and rubbed on something black and then there were some whitish spots where it was going brittle. Anyway I sort of squeezed a section where it was looking charred and I heard and felt some distinct cracking. Game over. Didn't trust it before. Don't need the hassle.
At $40 I'm not sure I want to fork out for another one at this stage. I am storing half of what I am brewing at my work place for conditioning but that is not practical if I want some beers at home for drinking. Overall the weather has warmed up. I think it is about 2 months early to call winter over. If it stays like this then I won't need another one.
The belt had obviously done some work. Basically it is a 2 ply/strand electrical cable. It then connects to something along it's length which is a flexible heating element. It could be wire at each end for the mains socket and then some kind of element inside this thick rubber sheath.
Anyway I was amazed at how hot this thing gets when turned on. It is too hot to touch meaning it's probably pushing out some too high heat. I was using this in a small cupboard. I laid it out as straight as I could without cutting pieces of the rubber sheath. It is basically a loop of wire and one end feeds through a slit in the rubber shield, a bit like a slip knot arrangement. It goes over a fermenter barrel and is slid tight around the vessel. I can't seem to get it to stay anywhere up the side of the fermenter. It always slides down.
I had this laying on a shelf hooked up to a timer and I've been checking on it multiple times a day. The main reason is because of the very hot spots that occur along it's length. I did not want to melt anything like the shelf coating.
And to top it off, I originally laid some newspaper on the cupboard shelf to soak up the water left over from when I dip rinsed the bottles after bottling. So I figured I was lining myself up for a fire or something by putting this heat belt with super hot spots on it, on newspaper.
The other thing I was not sure about was repeatedly turning it off and on. I had it running either 30 mins then off for 30 or on for 45 and off for 30. That kind of thing. Maybe it is supposed to be turned on and left on.
I checked the belt this morning and it was showing signs of heat damage on the belt. It had a few black marks where it had been used before and rubbed on something black and then there were some whitish spots where it was going brittle. Anyway I sort of squeezed a section where it was looking charred and I heard and felt some distinct cracking. Game over. Didn't trust it before. Don't need the hassle.
At $40 I'm not sure I want to fork out for another one at this stage. I am storing half of what I am brewing at my work place for conditioning but that is not practical if I want some beers at home for drinking. Overall the weather has warmed up. I think it is about 2 months early to call winter over. If it stays like this then I won't need another one.