nymtber

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Mine came in today, Ordered on 7/20/11, recieved 7/27/11. China to NY state. That is pretty darn quick, if you ask me

One thing I am surprised by: how darn SMALL the thing is! I bought a 7x5x3 project box from Radio Shack, and I will mount this in one of the ends that is 5" wide so that I have room for wires. I also picked up a stereo surface mount connector as I had a stereo plug laying around, and will wire in the sensor with that, so that I can disconnect it if needed.

Now I gotta put this and my fermentation chamber together, then get to brewing again!

For what its worth, I got mine from Ebay Member: mixtea who specifically sells 110v controllers. When I get into kegging, I will be purchasing another from said seller

Irishwrench

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Grrrrrrrrr. Ordered the 220V model. Just re-ordered the 110V. Well at least I have a model to use to fab into the hobby box. and I have a spare temp sensor!

infection

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I have one replacement transformer left if you need it

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marshman122

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I also purchased the 220V model. I sent you a pm about the replacement transformer.

infection

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your inbox is full

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Stevo2569

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In case anyone is having trouble wiring the Johnson control A419. Here is the link. I bought one today from a local Johnson distributer and the paperwork was missing from the box, so I wired it like a regular switch to begin with. Needless to say it didn't work, but now my ferm temps are under control. :rockin
http://www.beveragefactory.com/images/guides/A419ABG-3C.pdf

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physast

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I just purchased the ebay temp controller. I want to hard wire this unit to my fridge (nucool 2.8). I have read over the posts here but I can't find a clear solution for this. I don't want to create an external box that the fridge plugs into. The nucool 2.8 does not have a compressor, it is thermoelectric.

The picture below is of the electronics on the back of the unit. Anyone know how I could do this? I want the fridge to turn on and off to keep the correct temperature. Forgive me if my ignorance with electronics and wiring has caused me to overlook how to do this.

Thank you for your help!

asthepenguinflies

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Since I've seen a bunch of people asking, I did a little bit of research into how big the hole for the temp controller ought to be cut. Since it was near impossible to search this thread to find the answer, please excuse my bit of SEO at the bottom.

According to this page, the controller's faceplate is 75mm(wide) x 34.5mm(tall), and the body of the temperature controller is 71mm(wide) x 29mm(tall) x 85mm(deep).

My best conversion of those measurements into inches is somewhat imprecise. The faceplate is just a bit bigger than 2 15/16"(wide) by 1 5/16"(tall). The body of the temperature controller is just a bit smaller than 2 13/16"(wide) by 1 3/16"(tall). Going between these numbers give us an optimal "blind" cut of 2 7/8"(wide) by 1 1/4"(tall). Ideally you'd trace the box, but in terms of making a cut that's safe and pretty much guaranteed to work (assuming the measurements on the site are correct) this size hole should work. So long as you're using the boxes discussed in this thread, the depth shouldn't be much of an issue, but it's roughly 3 3/8".

So ya, assuming the website is correct, that's the best bet you have to cut the hole before you have the temperature controller in hand.

As far as cutting the hole, my plan is to use my dremel along with this attachment and an impromptu wood jig to cut the hole. I'll report back to let you all know how it goes.

SEO: The size of the temperature controller, the dimensions of the temperature controller, the hole for the temperature controller should be, cut the hole, the size of the hole... Anyone have other ideas?

physast

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I can't seem to upload my diagram file, but this is what I was thinking.

From chrod connected to the wall socket:

- Hot goes to pins 1, and 7 (cooling only)
- neutural goes to pin 2 and is tied to ground to the original ground of the fridge (basically nothing changed except now linked to pin 2)
- pin 8 out to the fridge + terminal (power to fridge)

Does this sound right? Assuming that the fridge will stay on all the time. Looking at the picture I could tie a resistor to the NTC of the fridge to trick it to stay on. What ohm resistor should be used?

Thank you for your help.

cwi

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My recommendation is to wire up the standard box, especially if you do not already have the knowledge to perform a retrofit. It is much more reusable and flexible that way. There seems to be a trend that the only people wanting to perform a retrofit are those that don't know how. Those that do know how do not see any benefit, and build the standard box.

Things to consider-
Virtually all peltier based (thermoelectric) coolers ultimately operate on DC power. You will need to check the operating voltage at the point you are attempting to tie into, as it may be DC. You will need a multi-meter for this, as well as for checking what value of resistor will force the unit to be "always on". One can be had for less than $10.

Peltier devices (single stage ones at least) are limited to ~40F below ambient. Using this controller to set a lower temperature will not overcome that limit.

Peltier devices have very low efficiency. I would guess about 1/4 (or less) of the input power. This could be an issue for keeping up with the heat output of the beer/wort if used as a fermentation chiller. It depends highly on ambient temps.

You previously mentioned connecting the "neutral" wire to the "ground" wire of the cooler. Unless you meant the neutral of the fridge as well, this is not correct, and is potentially dangerous. It may work, but not on a GFCI portected outlet.