ebay aquarium temp controller build

Phunhog said:

who did you order yours from? I got mine in about 8 days and I am just up the 101 from you in Ventura.

Click to expand...

Some place on eBay. I don't remember the name of the seller.

Placed my ebay order yesterday... Thinking about running with two receptacles... I want to run a small fan to keep stratification at bay...

Mine came in the mail yesterday (USPS), ordered May 2nd. Less than 2 weeks.

Hey Guys!
I believe that I might a need a little help with mine. I built one of these about 3 or 4 weeks ago. A few days ago I put a half cup of water in my little beer fridge (wife doesn't like me keeping all my beer in our kitchen fridge). Anyway, I let it sit there so that there would be a steady temperature and wanted to test how accurate this thing is before i buy my chest freezer for fermenting this weekend. This morning, i put the sensor wire in the water, then put a digital thermometer i brew with in the water. Left for work! Got home and decided it was time to check it and i was shocked to see that the two were about 25 degrees different from each other. I figured that this couldn't be right, so i filled the cup up full, and let it sit for about an hour. (cooking thermometer sensor is a little longer)

First picture shows the difference in the temps. (yes my fridge is a little cooler that this, but this is after i filled the cup all the way)

The second picture is the back of my temp controller. I followed android's wiring that can be found on the first page. The only thing i can think of is the 3 / 4 slots on the controller which is my question. What does it actually mean on the 4th one with the special symbol? If i look at the sensor wire, there is one with writing and there is one without writing. The one with writing is going to the 3 slot. Is this correct?

If it is, this worries me because that means it is very possible my cooking thermometer is off and that sucks because i just used it to brew a few weeks ago

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Actually the STC-1000 displays temperature in celcius so 7.2 Celsius is actually 45 degrees Fahrenheit, so your difference is about 12 degrees. I would recommend doing this test in a glass of ice water to verify which is actually closer, and if you find the STC-1000 is in fact off by 12 degrees you can set that in the variance (I think it's the F3 function when you're in the settings menu...hold down the 'S' button for 3 seconds to bring that up).

cranium213 said:

Actually the STC-1000 displays temperature in celcius so 7.2 Celsius is actually 45 degrees Fahrenheit, so your difference is about 12 degrees. I would recommend doing this test in a glass of ice water to verify which is actually closer, and if you find the STC-1000 is in fact off by 12 degrees you can set that in the variance (I think it's the F3 function when you're in the settings menu...hold down the 'S' button for 3 seconds to bring that up).

Click to expand...

Thanks Cranium and i will try the ice water. Yes i know that now it is 12 degrees off, but i didnt let them sit there as long as i did today when i took the picture. Right now its showing about a 14 degree difference. Seems like the longer it sits, the more difference I see. I'll try the ice water method soon! Thanks again.

P.S. I knew that one read in C and the other in F, but I made the assumption that you guys would know that lol

I would get an old school analog thermometer to check the temp of the water. I have had very bad errors from those cooking thermometers, especially under 150 degrees F.

Other things to think about for the future:
1) Your photo appears to show the fridge not plugged into the controller.
2) Is the controller showing the temp or the target?
3) Is your fridge able to get the temp down to your desired temp. You may need to disable the internal thermostat to get it down to tems lower than 45deg.

-Sean

seanoj said:

I would get an old school analog thermometer to check the temp of the water. I have had very bad errors from those cooking thermometers, especially under 150 degrees F.

Other things to think about for the future:
1) Your photo appears to show the fridge not plugged into the controller.
2) Is the controller showing the temp or the target?
3) Is your fridge able to get the temp down to your desired temp. You may need to disable the internal thermostat to get it down to tems lower than 45deg.

-Sean

Click to expand...

Hey Sean,

This is just a fridge i keep in the guest bedroom and stock with beer. I won't be using this particular one for fermenting. I just want to test out how accurate the temp sensor is. The temp on the controller in the picture is the temp of the cup of water that is inside the fridge.

On the sensor does it matter what lead goes into the controller? I haven't powered on yet but was wondering on pin 3 and 4. Currently the side that has lettering on the shielding is on 4...

.

I don't think it matters.

Czm said:

On the sensor does it matter what lead goes into the controller? I haven't powered on yet but was wondering on pin 3 and 4. Currently the side that has lettering on the shielding is on 4...

Click to expand...

Nope

DrewBrew08 said:

If it is, this worries me because that means it is very possible my cooking thermometer is off and that sucks because i just used it to brew a few weeks ago

Click to expand...

Put both of them in a cup of crushed ice water with a little salt. Should read 0c-1c and 32f-33f. I would put real money on your cooking thermo being the one that is off.

DrewBrew08 said:

(cooking thermometer sensor is a little longer)

Click to expand...

The sensor on these most of the time is not waterproof. When liquid gets between the cable and the metal of the sensor it will cause it to start reading wrong.

Kingfish said:

Put both of them in a cup of crushed ice water with a little salt. Should read 0c-1c and 32f-33f. I would put real money on your cooking thermo being the one that is off.

Click to expand...

Havent had a chance to come back and look at the responses. Yes I did do this and the controller was dead on. Cooking thermometer hitting 50 degrees. Looks like it is just my cooking thermometer. Thanks all for the help! I really do appreicate it!

Front view



Back view

Thanks guys

Kingfish said:

Put both of them in a cup of crushed ice water with a little salt. Should read 0c-1c and 32f-33f. I would put real money on your cooking thermo being the one that is off.

Click to expand...

Why would you add salt? That could bring the temp down below freezing.

zachattack said:

Why would you add salt? That could bring the temp down below freezing.

Click to expand...

Yup... Never mind on the salt. Good for getting beer colder faster though.

OK, so I've decided I am going to do this but just had a (probably dumb) question. My electrical experience thus far is limited to replacing a couple ceiling fans and some bathroom lighting. So I understand how wires are connected to each other and have a good set of wire cutters, wire nuts and electrical tape. But my question is how do you connect the wires to the back of the STC1000? Is this a pretty simple step?

Strip the end of the wire, stick it in the specified hole, and tighten the screw.

That simple

Thank you for the help! Another quick question. I have several extra outdoor extension cords (13A 125V). Would one of these be fine to use with my chest freezer (sticker says 3A 115V)? I also have a reel of 14 gauge wire. Would that also be fine to use?
Sorry for all the questions. Just a little nervous since I've never done a project like this and don't want to burn the house down or anything...

I would say you could use the extension cord (but pick the shortest one that will fit). Especially if the freezer is in good shape. If your not in the mojave desert, the freezer will only run for a minute or two when it does kick on. If it is for a fermentation chamber, the freezer will kick on for an even shorter amount of time.

The best way to find out, plug it in and give it a shot. during the freezer's "on" cycle - grab the extension cord with your hand and feel it. If it is very warm or hot, then the extension cord is too small and needs to be made of fatter wire. If the cord feels fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

If it's rated for 13 amps and the fridge is rated for 3 you'll be fine. 14 gauge wire would also be fine:

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

First off... THANK YOU for all the great info on this thread. I pretty much nailed down my "wants" on this box before my controller flew across the pacific in "air-mail"

I have a fermentation controller now... It took a few evenings to build it, but built it is!
I used a project box from Radio Shack and ordered a temperature controller from ebay.
I have 2 separate receptacles that are mounted in an "old construction" 2-gang box. One of which is always hot (Right side). I will use this to power a small desk fan to keep stratification at bay. The other receptacle, (Left side) has the tab broken that connected the two hot sides of the outlets. Each outlet is controlled by the two stage controller. I am building a heating element out of an aluminum gallon paint can and a ceramic bulb base.

Now all I need is a chest freezer or old fridge to control with this box...

android said:

this controller will just cut off power to the fridge/compressor when the set temp is reached. once the probe determines the temp has gone above the set point, it will switch power back on to the fridge/compressor to get it back to the set point.

Click to expand...

first things first, i am building my first fermentation chamber and may have some stupid questions. None of which are intended to be "fresh" or "rude". that said, dont fridge's already temp regulate on their own? if i can find the magic spot of 68 deg can i just leave my fridge alone without using a temp controller? or does the problem lye in the fact that maybe the fridge's temp swings too much to regulate (say 5 deg instead of 1 deg)? please send a message to me if you ever get this. thanks for all your help!

basilchef said:

first things first, i am building my first fermentation chamber and may have some stupid questions. None of which are intended to be "fresh" or "rude". that said, dont fridge's already temp regulate on their own? if i can find the magic spot of 68 deg can i just leave my fridge alone without using a temp controller? or does the problem lye in the fact that maybe the fridge's temp swings too much to regulate (say 5 deg instead of 1 deg)? please send a message to me if you ever get this. thanks for all your help!

Click to expand...

The thermostats on a fridge don't usually have as tight of control, so like you said you're likely to get bigger swings. Also, they're usually calibrated to work at a lower temp range than you'd typically use for fermenting (e.g. 32F-45F). Sometimes you can tweak them by using the coarse adjustment screw on the thermostat, but it can involve a lot of trial and error and you still don't get as tight of control as you do with one of these temp controllers.

Got mine done. Ordered the controller last Thursday it arrived on Mon. 2 business days shipping. A 110V from USA. NY, i think. $23.99 shipped

I am going to use a connector to get the sensor wire through the enclosure but have not decided on which one.

Should be fermenting this weekend.

I have a couple questions about the OPs wiring, and since I've never done any wiring before they may be dumb questions! The photo looks a little different from the schematic so I just want to clarify.

Here's what looks straightforward: Hot goes in at channels 1, 5, and 7, hot goes out from channels 6 and 8 to the hot side of the receptacle, where the jumper thingy is broken off to separate the two.

I'm a little confused on the neutral, but as I type I think it's making more sense. One of the neutrals on the receptacle goes back to channel 2, the other goes back to the extension cord, and since the jumper thingy is not broken on this side, it doesn't matter which one is which. Is this right?

Also, the OPs photo of his wiring shows a white wire going into channel 1, and it's nutted in with all the other hot wires. That is just for a lack of black wire, right, and it's really a hot wire?

Me again. I was hoping I'd hear back from someone before I plugged in and exploded my garage, but I plugged in anyway and garage is still standing. My controller is up and running well, and seems easy enough to program.

The only difference between my controller and the OPs is that mine came with a diagram that indicated that hot should be fed into channels 6 and 8, not 5 and 7 like the OP did. When the hot/cold change didn't work as I expected, that was the first thing I rewired, and when I did, it worked as I expected.

Thanks to all of you who post such useful stuff here! I think it's pretty cool that the first electrical wiring of my life was because of beer. Now I'll have a better understanding if I have to fix something in my house.

Hi

There is nothing but a switch between 5 and 6 and between 7 and 8. It's dealers choice in terms of which one (5 or 6) or (7 or 8) gets the hot lead. The combinations (hot to 5 and 6) or (hot to 7 and 8) do nothing useful. They also do not burn down the garage.

Bob

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

They also do not burn down the garage.

Bob

Click to expand...

They sure don't. Pardon the hyperbole.

supermoth said:

They sure don't. Pardon the hyperbole.

Click to expand...

Hi

Put another way, if you get it messed up on the load switches, most of the combinations simply do nothing at all. The only one to avoid is black and white from the cord going to 5,6 or to 7,8. That one is pretty dramatic since it trips the breaker and you have to find the box to reset it and get the lights back on ....

Bob

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

Put another way, if you get it messed up on the load switches, most of the combinations simply do nothing at all. The only one to avoid is black and white from the cord going to 5,6 or to 7,8. That one is pretty dramatic since it trips the breaker and you have to find the box to reset it and get the lights back on ....

Bob

Click to expand...

It wasn't so much the load switches that made me nervous. Once I had it wired up and plugged in, it made more sense. The whole thing was just confusing at first for a wiring noob because there are several "correct" versions of this project posted online.

Here's my 'ghetto' build ,):

mirogster said:

Here's my 'ghetto' build ,):

Click to expand...

Building brit-spec stuff in NY?

MC

Misplaced_Canuck said:

Building brit-spec stuff in NY?

MC

Click to expand...

I had the same question. :fro:

Whoaaa hawkeyes No and yes, guys I'm from Europe. NY because it's not possible to register here with location other than US ;( And ya'know, there're myriads of homebrewers outside US too :rockin:
Except voltage & socket - all is the same. STC-1000 + ikea box :cross:

Sorry to stretch this...i bought single stage controllers, but there are no instructions with it to set it and get it start the power to the outlet...

i can set a temp but can't seem to get it to fire up.

thanks
john

lonepalm said:

Sorry to stretch this...i bought single stage controllers, but there are no instructions with it to set it and get it start the power to the outlet...

i can set a temp but can't seem to get it to fire up.

thanks
john

Click to expand...

Added pic

1. It may be only settings issue (looong delay time for saving fridge compressor).
2. Proper wiring issue (diy?)

Could you tell us what are you settings? (press and hold Set button)
PS. Is it scaled in F (not C) ???