The $6 vending machine bottle thermometer

[jaco]

I'm sure someone's done this.  I didn't bother to look before posting.  So if you beat me to it, i commend you.

I was trying to calibrate the temperature inside the machine.  At first i had a few magnetic thermometers inside, which i'd open and look at.  Or one inside the bottle door.  These were helpful, but they didnt tell me what i really needed to know.  What temperature the beverages were on each of the shelves.

I decided to make a bottle with a built in instant-read thermometer.

It's pretty simple. 

1 6 dollar harbor freight thermometer.  (if you're thrifty you'll use the 20% of coupon that is everywhere)
13 ounces of 40% isopropyl alcohol
1 empty beer bottle
1 bottle cap
1 bottle capper
1 drill (or drill press)
1 drill bit
1 tube of seal-all fuel resistant adhesive (this is the only thing i could find that alcohol does't dissolve)

smack it all together and you have yourself a thermometer you can read directly from the bottle window.  One that won't freeze until 0 degrees fahrenheit.

in my case the bottle shelves range from 33.8 on the bottle to 34 on the top.  So I'd say it's pretty dialed in

[MoonDawg]

        Thanks for posting those results, that's interesting!

         Glad to see you are having so much fun with your first machine, we guarantee it won't be your last 

[ajf5577]

Ingenious.
Thanks for the idea.

[SIGNGUY]

Great Idea for sure,, I've done that in sliders with the bottle upright , but never thought of sealing it .. I'll have to make one.

[cohammer]

That’s a good idea , wish I had done that at Thanksgiving before I froze everything in my antique refrigerator. Replaced the thermostat with a coke machine thermostat and just set it on 4 and walked away.