Freezer Thaw Alarm

[wdrumheller]

Hello everyone,

I have just gotten our shipment of beef for the year and put it in the deep freezer in the barn. I also have two other freezers.

I have this power outage alarm for a failed circuit, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016P7ERK/?tag=atomicindus08-20 and it lets me know when I have a failed circuit. It is VERY helpful because I have one outdoor outlet that sometimes gets a GFIC issue if we get heavy rain, and it is on the same circuit as the freezer.

This tells me if the power has failed on that plug / freezer.

HOWEVER, what I really want instead, is a temperature alarm, that I can put a probe into the freezer, and the system is run by 110v, and it sets off an alarm if the temperature at the probe gets above 32F.

I know that I have the alarm for power, but what if the compressor fails?

That's why I want an alarm, powered by 110v, that is an alarm that sounds if the temperature at the probe goes above freezing.

What I do NOT WANT is tiny battery powered wireless sensor wifi powered Chinese plastic alarms that fail every 8 months that emails me and texts me.

I just want the following:

• Temperature probe, wired, or little copper tube, either way works.
• 110v powered.
• Alarm sounds when probe goes above 32F, and continues until the temp gets below freezing again.

I don't want to put a cup of water in the freezer with a coin to let me know that a thaw has happened, I don't want anything other than an alarm that goes BEEP when the temperature in the freezer gets above 32F.

Any ideas?

 

[garrett1812]

I have been looking for similar, but all I can share so far is to avoid the Honeywell security system temperature sensor 5821. I have a Honeywell security system already, so I could simply get a local alarm and a phone call if the temp were to rise. This doesn’t monitor the exact temp, but alerts you to certain conditions (in my case I think I had it set to rise above 10F for 30 mins). Tons of false alarms.

 

[klassenl]

How much do you want to spend? Here is a starting point.

https://www.amazon.com/RANCO-ETC-111000-Digital-Temperature-Control/dp/B0015NV5BE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543111568&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ranco&dpPl=1&dpID=418QihIUEAL&ref=plSrch

Then find some kind of horn you can mount and you're done.

 

[wdrumheller]

How much do you want to spend? Here is a starting point.

https://www.amazon.com/RANCO-ETC-111000-Digital-Temperature-Control/dp/B0015NV5BE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543111568&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ranco&dpPl=1&dpID=418QihIUEAL&ref=plSrch

Then find some kind of horn you can mount and you're done.

So, with some wiring and effort, this takes over the existing thermostat control on the freezers and controls their temperatures, one per freezer. Then, there is an alarm output that I can hook a buzzer to, that will buzz or beep if things are out of the set range?

 

[Captain Spaulding]

32 is way too warm. You want to be down at 0.

 

[Stuart in MN]

A little $20 adjustable low temperature switch like this, hooked to a horn and plugged into the wall. https://www.omega.com/pptst/KT011_Series.html

 

[garrett1812]

This looks like it would do what you want

bayite AC 110V Fahrenheit Digital Temperature Controller 10A 1 Relay with Sensor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011VGASLW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rkevins]

RANCO-ETC-111000-Digital-Temperature-Control
I use these controls they are very reliable if I were building one this is the way I would go, you don't have to let it control the freezer just use the output to control a buzzer to come on at say 20 deg with a 1 deg of differential

 

[Kaizen]

Curious how much a year of beef costs now? Was it a whole cow?


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[dfiler2]

These work really well for lots of things, including temperature.

www.wirelesstag.net

 

[LS6 Tommy]

wdrumheller Doesn't need a controller, he needs an alarm.


I've used these from Supco:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XS2D1Y/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Cheaper analog version:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OY3BC4/?tag=atomicindus08-20
1&keywords=supco+ta2

They can be hooked to an autodialer if you have an alarm system or use the dry contacts and a relay if you have smart home stuff.


Tommy

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

Look up ThermoWorks ( Salt Lake City, Utah ) and see if their refrigerator/freezer alarm will work for you.

I have several, and am very happy. They have 2 sensors and readouts, so you can see the temperatures in both the refrigerator and the freezer at the same time, and each has an alarm which you can set for whatever "trip" temperature that you wish.

I've never used this function, but "as I recall" they will display either the time that the temperature exceeded the limit, or the length of time that it was above the set limit.

As far as battery life, I don't recall how often I have changed the batteries in any of them, I would guess that they easily exceed a one year life in the unit.

I am not sure where they are made, but ThermoWorks also has a wide range of cooking and BBQing thermometers, several of which I own and use weekly, I've yet to have a single one fail.

If you are into BBQing, sign up for their email list, they send you recipies every couple of weeks, or so. Some are for pretty "high-end" dishes, but I have used many of them and had great results.



.

 

[gte718p]

I always default to do it yourself. Super easy project with an Arduino or Raspberry. Probably $40 in materials and you can customize it for what you want. Alarm easy. Text message, easy. Remote monitoring, easy.

 

[zak77]

I'm also a fan of Thermoworks and their products. I have their freezer alarm, which runs on batteries, after one of my freezers temp control went out. Thankfully i caught it just in time not to lose any meat. So far i've had it for about 2 years, same batteries, and never a problem with it. The main issue i see with your requirement of 110v is that what if the power goes out and your not home, or the gfci trips. The freezer and alarm are both dead.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Freezer alarms are not a new idea. My parents had a Philco freezer with a 6 volt lantern battery powered alarm. It was bought in the early 50's and lasted nearly 50 years before it finally quit. I remember changing the battery about every 5 years or so and remember it only went off once when the fuse was blown by something else on the circuit. I agree it is something that should be on every freezer and not require 120 to work.

 

[k-os]

Something like this Inkbird Temperature Controller should work. Find some kind of alarm/horn that sounds when it is plugged in. Plug the alarm/horn into the "cooling" plug and set your threshold temperature to 0F (or whatever you want the maximum temperature to be before alarm. If it goes above this value it will supply power to your alarm to let you know.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011296704/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[rlitman]

32 is way too warm. You want to be down at 0.

Ideally, you want the freezer to be below 0F for long term retention of freshness. 32F is just the freezing point for pure water, but meat can start to thaw as low as 28F.

I'd want the alarm to go off somewhere between 5 and 15F (choose the upper half of this to avoid false positives during the defrost cycle).

 

[nes999]

A little $20 adjustable low temperature switch like this, hooked to a horn and plugged into the wall. https://www.omega.com/pptst/KT011_Series.html

I love omega. Their customer service is what most company's should strive to be.

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