Tank heater (Was Re: [compost_tea] Re: what favors what)

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 20:55:12 -0800

----- Original Message -----
From: dkemnitz2000
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 8:14 PM
Subject: [compost_tea] Re: what favors what


Still have to get a tank heater to keep the water to
50F minimum I think. I hope to apply during a warm spell or before
significant snowfall or rainfall. Dennis

Dennis:

Go to a fish store and get a 24" aquarium heater. They cost about $35 - $4=
0. They are basically long tubes with heating elements inside. Make a hol=
der out of plastic and make it so you can position the heater in the liquid=
 while keeping the electronics above the water. I made a plastic container=
 that covers the controls out of 4" pvc caps and a short piece of pipe tha=
t acts like a nipple between the two caps. You need protection from the fo=
aming. Foam totally shorts one of these babies out. Besides they are hard=
 to clean. Cleaning foam off of pvc is a lot easier than cleaning it out o=
f a heater mechnaism.

Drill a hole in one cap off center so you can insert the heating tube and s=
till have room for the little control housing in your PVC housing. (Thy ha=
ve housings but they don't work at keeping out water of foam.) Caulk the h=
ole with silicon. Find a way to secure the heater (now inside the housing)=
 in your tank so you can adjust it up and down without the heating tube res=
ting against anything in your tank. I used a piece of pvc. and attached t=
he heater housing (remember the pvc?) with tie wraps. Depending on how you =
attach the pvc, you may need a counter weight on the bottom. If you use a =
brick or something porous, cover it in plastic and try to seal it in some w=
ay. A better deal is to get a weight from one of those barbell sets that h=
ave plastic weights filled with sand. Caulk the place where you fill it (a=
fter you fill it of course) with the silicone. If you use pvc, you can get=
 pvc and the heater and the counterweight for way under $70. Not too bad.=
 

Now, when you use it, you will have to experiment to keep the liquid at the=
 temp you want. (You should already have a long 36" tube-like thermometer =
for your compost. Use the same one in your tea.) Be careful when you take=
 it out because those heater glass tubes are not Pyrex. Too great a temp c=
hange and the tube breaks. So don't clean it until it cools down.

A note on temperature. Your ground temp is the important thing here. The =
bilogy in your soil works in the temperatures you have in your soil. I wil=
l do little good to brew a bunch of tea at 70 deg. F. and dump it in ground=
 that's 45 deg. F. Your compost should be slightly warmer than the ground =
temp if it is mature. Fresh may be too hot to be useful. So I would be re=
ally careful about raising the temperature of my tea. You may want to run =
a test batch and check your DO. Cold water holds more O2 than warm but you=
 should be able to chart a trend. While you are brewing, shut off your air=
 and see how fast the O2 drops. If it drops quickly, you know that somethi=
ng in your tea is using up the air. It's a safe assumption that it is aero=
bic bacteria and fungi from your compost.

Ted Peterson
Earth-Wise/Spirit of the Earth



Received on Thu Jan 15 2004 - 00:21:45 EST

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