Don't be too stingy with home brew equipment, cheaper isn't always better.

I remember how excited I was when I first brought my 40 litre urn to use as my new brew kettle. Previously I had been using an 18 litre urn given to me by my father in law as my BIAB rig. It did the job but I was limited to around 14 litres per batch, which was fine at the time as I only bottled. 

But once I had decided to move to kegging I needed to brew batch sizes of at least 19 litres.

I used a measuring jug to mark out 2 litre increments on the side of my kettle and stuck labels onto the side so I could see at a glance what my volumes were.  However I always seemed to be out on my volumes and would blame it on miscalculations when transferring from my HLT, grain absorption rate higher than expected etc etc. But when things still didn't seem quite right I decided to double check my measurements using a different "more expensive" jug.

My measurements were out by nearly 2 litres because I had used a cheap measuring jug brought from a $2 shop. 

Green labels= cheap $2 jug. Black texta = expensive $20 jug.

The costs in this hobby can start to add up. As your quest for better beer continues you upgrade your system and add more equipment and brewery bling. So we are always after a bargain or a way to save money when we can but sometimes cheaper isn't always better.

I've brought cheap gas quick disconnects only to lose a full bottle of gas because they leaked. I've also brought cheap Chinese probes on ebay that turned out to be faulty.

So make sure you do your homework first. Ask on the forums or search for comments from others about a cheap product before buying it. 

Of course not everything cheap is dodgy. The STC1000 temp controller that you can buy on ebay is a fraction of the cost you pay for a complete unit from a home brew store. Providing you are handy with electrical wiring or know someone who is you can build a cheap temperature controller for under $30.00

My STC1000 temp controller mounted in a jiffy box. This model has both heating and cooling outputs so is good for
brewing all year round. I can plug my heat belt in during winter or my fermentation fridge in summer.