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Lunarpancake · 12-07-2009, 03:05 PM

I have recently finished my Mother of Fermentation Chamber project and successfully modded thermostat on my first try. I bought two thermostats from ebay just incase I "bricked" my first thermostat.

My question is would anyone be interested in purchasing my second thermostat? I will mod the thermostat so that it will be ready to "drop in" into a Fermentation chamber. This means that the thermistor (temperature reading part of the thermostat) will be elongated so that it can be wired into the chamber.

Just figured I could make my money back and maybe a few bucks, and help a fellow home-brewer along the way.

Ritetemp digital thermostat 8029b

**Walker** · 12-08-2009, 10:20 PM

Is this a thermostat that will turn on a heating element or will it turn on a cooling element?

Lunarpancake · 12-09-2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walker

Is this a thermostat that will turn on a heating element or will it turn on a cooling element?

It's a household thermostat modded with an external temperature sensor so you can use to kick on or off fans or whatever you want in DIY projects.

Hope that helps.

**Walker** · 12-09-2009, 07:18 PM

Well, what I meant was does the thermostat trigger when the temp gets too low or when the temp gets too high?

I heater thermostat will turn on when the temp is too low.
An AC thermostat will turn on when the temp is too high.

In my house, I have thermostats that function to turn on the heater or the AC, but I have to flip a switch to put them into "heater mode" or "AC mode"... they won't kick on separate devices based on just the temp.. they need to know which device is currently OK to turn on (meaning, they will never turn on the heater if in cooling mode, even if the temp drops to 50*F).

I am just trying to understand what kind of thermostat this is.

Lunarpancake · 12-09-2009, 07:32 PM

This has both options aswell. You can choose what to do, cool or heat.

I really know very minimal information about these things, but I am decent with a soldering gun and electronics, so I can mod them so the thermister (temperature reading diode) is external.

**IrregularPulse** · 12-09-2009, 07:34 PM

How about a model number of the actual thermostat you're talking about and some pics. This might help sell. There are several common controllers we use around here and some not so common that still work just fine.

**Walker** · 12-09-2009, 07:41 PM

A few comments:

I also have taken a cheap line-level base-board heater thermostat and made a small light-bulb heater for inside my fermentation chamber to make sure things didn't get too cold in the winter time (chamber is a fridge in the garage). But, that thing had a limitation on how many amps it could handle.

I would be sure to check the amp load limitation on your thermostat and the amps your fridge wants to draw before using it as a thermostat to kick on your fridge's compressor. You could fry something (probably just the thermostat, but...). I was not worried about kicking on a light-bulb for heat with mine, because that's small potatoes.

As for extending the wire on the thermistor (which is actually a temp-sensitive resistor and not a diode)... do you find that it is still pretty accurate? I had considering doing something like this on my Heat-A-Ma-Bob(TM), but started to wonder how much the extra resistance of the long wires would skew the temp reading. Probably not a big deal... you would just have to compensate for that and set the thermostat a little higher or lower than what you really wanted.

-Walker

Lunarpancake · 12-09-2009, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walker

A few comments:

I also have taken a cheap line-level base-board heater thermostat and made a small light-bulb heater for inside my fermentation chamber to make sure things didn't get too cold in the winter time (chamber is a fridge in the garage). But, that thing had a limitation on how many amps it could handle.

I would be sure to check the amp load limitation on your thermostat and the amps your fridge wants to draw before using it as a thermostat to kick on your fridge's compressor. You could fry something (probably just the thermostat, but...). I was not worried about kicking on a light-bulb for heat with mine, because that's small potatoes.

As for extending the wire on the thermistor (which is actually a temp-sensitive resistor and not a diode)... do you find that it is still pretty accurate? I had considering doing something like this on my Heat-A-Ma-Bob(TM), but started to wonder how much the extra resistance of the long wires would skew the temp reading. Probably not a big deal... you would just have to compensate for that and set the thermostat a little higher or lower than what you really wanted.

-Walker

Yes its a resistor ...brain fart.... anyways it seems just as accurate as it was before I modded it. And as i said earlier I use it in my fermentation chamber that is basically just a foam insulation box with an ice-pack and a computer case-fan in it for air circulation.

The thermister gets taped to the carboy, and kicks the fan on/off depending on its temp.

Keep it Simple

It sounds like you are looking to control a fridge with this, and it may not be your best bet. I would look for something more suited to your needs, unless you were going to make a fermentation chamber.

**Walker** · 12-09-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lunarpancake

It sounds like you are looking to control a fridge with this

No, I'm not. I was making sure YOU weren't trying to control a fridge with this.

I have a trusty Jonshon Controls thermostat to kick on my fridge. I just built my own little heater for when the temp gets too low.

If you are just turning on or off a small fan, then things are cool.

Lunarpancake · 12-09-2009, 07:49 PM

Here are some diagrams from another website on how to use this thermostat to control DC pumps, or 120v AC Devices:
120V AC DEVICES:

DC FAN AND PUMP FOR A GLYCOL SYSTEM: