Thermowell in a Fermenator

Hi All;

I just acquired a Blichmann 14.5 Fermenator.

Has anyone drilled this thing to insert a thermowell? Do people Mount it externally? I have heard of that, but seems like outside temperature may give erroneous readings. What are the thoughts on this?

Also, using a thermal wrap that is activated by a thermowell, it seems hard to fit the typical wraps to the fermentor based on the legs being in the way of the longer wraps. I can see putting this in a keezer for lagering, but am trying to figure out how to best use it with ale fermentation.  Any thoughts or pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!  markus.

Are you saying you'll need to heat the fermenter for ales?

In fermentation, a conical fermenter generates much more convection than a carboy. Add to that the fact that metal is a better conductor of heat than glass or plastic and the temperature difference between core and sidewall is <0.25o F. This also means that sidewall and cone temperature control is very effective. So, sidewall temperature measurement is equally accurate. With an RTD or thermometer, you can adjust for the variance, but the resolution of most RTDs is greater than the sidewall difference.