Aquarium RIMS Controller? Am I On Crack?

OK, so, we've all seen the Aquarium Temp Controller thread.

Now, I poked around the specs for the STC-100 temp controller. It claims 10A max @ 220v. This is 2200 watts. Lets say this thing is capable of handling an 80% constant load. That would be 1760 watts. Am I on crack to think that this would be 16 amps @ 110v? The same as a Love controller? Can this be possible, a replacement for a Love controller at 1/2 the price? If so, I would love to try this on my upcoming RIMS build with a 1500 watt heating element.

I would like to hear some feedback from others that have used this controller and gather other opinions before I purchase this thing and turn it into molten plastic. I'm hoping my Sunday night math is correct. There are also controllers that claim 20A max on the cooling side. I wonder about those?

You generally don't want to try and read between the lines on the specs for electrical components.

If the thing says it can handle 10A and 250V, then it probably means exactly that.

It can handle up to 10A. Period.

It can handle up to 250V. Period.

Using a voltage lower than 250V does not necessarily mean that it can handle more than 10A. Likewise, running less than 10A through it does not mean that it can handle more than 250V.

Like Walker said, 10 amps max is 10 amps max no matter what the voltage.

DOH! Too good to be true.

Thanks

...10 amps max is 10 amps max no matter what the voltage

Click to expand...

Saaay what?
Wattage / Voltage = Amperage

10 Amps @ 250v = 2500 watts
20 Amps @ 120v = 2500 watts
...Same load, different voltages.


Maybe the correct question would be: "what is the actual rating for the 110v model?" - that I don't know! [I think you're talking about the STC-1000 by the way, STC-100 is 12v DC model]

(If you house burns down don't blame me...I'm not a certified electrical engineer)

- M

One other thing to consider is that it's not really designed for cycling an element on and off as fast as a PID does. A PID with an SSR has the ability to "throttle" a heating element down by using a cycle time of 1 second or so. I highly doubt the aquarium controller could do that.

No one seems to have addresses the OPs second question?

It is a replacement for a Love controller at an incredibly cheap price... but even a Love controller is not suitable for a RIMS. You just can't cycle the element on and off fast enough with a mechanical relay.