Ranco 2Stage Temp Controller HELP!?!

I was wondering if anyone out there can simplify how to use the Ranco 2 Stage Digital Temperature Controller?

I read the instructions but I am still having a hard time figuring out how to set the temperatures and I am confused by how the different settings function. It would be amazing if someone with some experience with one of these things could dumb down the directions for me.

Here it is:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/16664//Ranco_Digital_Two-Stage_Temperature_Controller_-_Wired

There are 2 setpoints you will need to enter. The first setpoint is for cooling. I think it is called S1 or C1. A setpoint of 65 means that at any temperature over 65 the refrigerator will turn on. Now you need to set the differential (Diff 1). If you enter 1 as the differential it means that your controller will turn the fridge off when the temp drops 1 degree below the setpoint, or 64 degrees. So, if you set S1 to 65 and Diff 1 to 1 that means the temp would cycle between 64 and 65.

The second setpoint (I think it is either S2 or H2) is to let the controller know when to turn on your heating element. If you set that to 63 degrees your heater will kick on if the temp ever gets below 63. Then select the differential (Diff 2) for the heating. If your heater kicks on at 63 deg and you set your diff to 1 then the heater will turn off when you reach 64 degrees.

Ok, I'm going to assume you want to use this 2-stage controller to simultaneously manage a chiller and a heater.

Refer to Figure 3. This is the mode you're going to set up. You should draw up a similar figure and annotate it with your target chamber temperature, the differentials for both Cooling (Stage 1) and Heating (Stage 2) modes, and some small range for the Deadband (between the two stages).

For this exercise, we'll aim for 38°F, with 2 degrees of differential for both stages, and 2 degrees of Deadband. The chiller will turn on at 40°F and cool back down to 38°F where it will turn off. If the chamber goes below 34°F, the heater will warm it back up to 36°F. That leaves the 2° of deadband between the two modes.


So, plug the controller in, and follow the 7 steps shown on page 3. Note that Steps 2-4 set up Stage 1 and Steps 5-7 set up Stage 2.

1. Press the SET key to choose between F and C. Press the up or down arrow key to select the Fahrenheit scale.


2. Press the SET key. The LCD will show the current Stage 1 setpoint. Use the up and down arrows to select 38°F.

3. Press the SET key. The LCD will show the current Stage 1 differential. Use the up and down arrows to select 2°.

4. Press the SET key. The LCD will show the current Stage 1 mode. C1 is cooling, H1 is heating. You want C1, so use the up and down arrows to get that to appear.


5. Press the SET key. The LCD will show the current Stage 2 setpoint. Use the up and down arrows to select 34°F.

6. Press the SET key. The LCD will show the current Stage 2 differential. Use the up and down arrows to select 2°.

7. Press the SET key. The LCD will show the current Stage 2 mode. You want H2, so use the up and down arrows to get that to appear.

8. Press the SET key to activate the program. (<= the instructions have you do this at the end of Step 7. I put it here instead for clarity).



Cheers!

Thanks guys! Very helpful!