ebay aquarium temp controller build

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The photo I posted above is a rubbermaid box with hinged lid. It might be had at walmart or the likes of. For cheaper than the radio shack project box.

-= jason =-
 
Ummm. Look at the pictures. Carry the controller with you and know that you need an outlet and stuff. Plastic. Not a big deal. Maybe a cheap plastic toolbox with a handle? Wife's tupperware? (just kidding. Baaaad idea). I want to put the shiny lights on it too so that when ON I know it. Just because I can!

I haven't decided. I would love to mod something cool into a temperature controller though. Ah. I have a Mr. Beer type keg I don't want... Maybe that. Too bulky, though. Maybe a Simpson's "Beer, Ummm" lunchbox?

Any ideas? What says "Beer", is plastic, and would be a cool housing for temp controller and outlet?

Raymond
 
Mad_Milo said:
Are people putting the extra status lights on simply for the bling factor and because they can? The controller itself does have heat and cool status LEDs that light when the circuit is activated.

Just curious, that's all.
Click to expand...

A big red or blue light is easier to read than the teeny tiny red dot on the controller. Plus you can tell from across the room what it's doing

-= Jason =-
 
Mad_Milo said:
Are people putting the extra status lights on simply for the bling factor and because they can? The controller itself does have heat and cool status LEDs that light when the circuit is activated.

Just curious, that's all.
Click to expand...

absolutely. i'm getting ready to build a second one and am blinging it out simply because i can. and i figure it's a way for me to learn a little more about electronics/wiring. i'm installing a rocker switch for main power and some lamps for heating and cooling as others have done.
 
So I got to ask. Do u wire the fan straight in or do u still need a ac adapter hooked to the fan and then plugged into the relay? As in wire a plug to the relay and then plug the adapter into the plug. Any help would b great
 
agezzi said:
So I got to ask. Do u wire the fan straight in or do u still need a ac adapter hooked to the fan and then plugged into the relay? As in wire a plug to the relay and then plug the adapter into the plug. Any help would b great
Click to expand...

Depends on the fan. :eek: Most fans scavenged from computers are 12VDC and need an adapter. There are 120VAC fans out there, but not very common in the small scale.

I have mine wired to a DC adapter, and it runs continuously to keep the temps as even as possible.
 
Mad_Milo said:
Depends on the fan. :eek: Most fans scavenged from computers are 12VDC and need an adapter. There are 120VAC fans out there, but not very common in the small scale.

I have mine wired to a DC adapter, and it runs continuously to keep the temps as even as possible.
Click to expand...

Ok I wrote that wrong. So I need to hard wire on a female plug from the relay then plug my 12v adapter hooked up to the fan to that. Hope that's correct, I get the rest of the diagram it's just the part were the fan hooks up. Sry I'm having a brain fart
 
Thanks, for this great build post. I only have a very rudimentary knowledge of electricity and have run into a problem. All my connections are as shown in the original diagram, but as the freezers approaches the target temp it continues to run. the heat side turns on, but the freezer continues to chill well past the target temp. any ideas as to why this might be happening?

thanks,
tim
 
If you're positive that it's all wired correctly and it's behaving that way, then the relay that controls cooling is busted and stuck in the closed position.

It would be time to contact your seller for a refund or exchange.

Do you have a multimeter to do any testing with?

Does the fridge run even if the controller is turned off?
 
Its been about a year since this thread was started, can anyone provide feedback on how well the STC-1000 stacks up? Its priced about half that of a Love Controller and I am in the process of building a keezer out of a 14.8 cuft. freezer I just picked up so I'd be interested in knowing if this controller would work for my needs.

Thanks,
David
 
the freezer runs no matter what on the cold side. the heat side flips on a light when it hits the set temp. I figured it was something similar to what you said, thanks for confirming my suspicions.
 
adurotec said:
Its been about a year since this thread was started, can anyone provide feedback on how well the STC-1000 stacks up? Its priced about half that of a Love Controller and I am in the process of building a keezer out of a 14.8 cuft. freezer I just picked up so I'd be interested in knowing if this controller would work for my needs.

Thanks,
David
Click to expand...

still chugging along like a champ. no problems at all so far with mine. i use it to control my keezer, so it's had power supplied to it damn near this whole time.
 
TDailey said:
the freezer runs no matter what on the cold side. the heat side flips on a light when it hits the set temp. I figured it was something similar to what you said, thanks for confirming my suspicions.
Click to expand...

Which suspicion? I think most replies, I did mine in a pm, were asking you to double check your wiring. If you have a multi-meter, there is a simple check you can do by removing a few wires from the controller. Without one, it requires wiring a test circuit almost as complex as the circuit you want to test. It would be very rare, but possible, to have a bad relay. The simplest answer does not point to the relay.
 
tempcontrollerdiagram.jpg


hey if someone would take a look at this and let me know if this will do it for me. all of it will be inside a project box....thanks for the help

edit: the black circles are all wire nuts
 
I just got all my parts for this, what did you guys use to cut the plastic? I'm not sure if i want to spring for a Dremel tool just yet.
 
Salmonhouse said:
I just got all my parts for this, what did you guys use to cut the plastic? I'm not sure if i want to spring for a Dremel tool just yet.
Click to expand...

Dremel is the way to go. I also used a step bit to make the other holes.
 
F* using a dremel, it doesn't CUT the plastic it melts it thus causing you to spend more time cleaning up the edges.

I used a razor knife / box cuter / razor blade

what ever you want to call it. score you line several times, then you can puncture the plastic and cut your straight line.

done this on two boxes so. the dremel method I tried on my first box pissed me off. the razorblade just plain works.

-=jason=-
 
For anyone who has mounted into a project enclosure, any special considerations that need to be taken in mounting the outlets in regards to making sure that they are sturdily mounted?

I am concerned that the first time I go to plug something in, that I will snap of the enclosure at the screw holes that I plan to mount through. Thought about a bead of epoxy to hold tight, but was curious to how others might have addressed this.
 
jmferris said:
For anyone who has mounted into a project enclosure, any special considerations that need to be taken in mounting the outlets in regards to making sure that they are sturdily mounted?

I am concerned that the first time I go to plug something in, that I will snap of the enclosure at the screw holes that I plan to mount through. Thought about a bead of epoxy to hold tight, but was curious to how others might have addressed this.
Click to expand...

You could mount a thin piece of steel or maybe even buy box extender from HD or Lowes to mount behind it so the mounting screws have something to go into.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
 
agezzi said:
hey if someone would take a look at this and let me know if this will do it for me. all of it will be inside a project box....thanks for the help

edit: the black circles are all wire nuts
Click to expand...

Sorry to ask again but I'm eager to finish wiring this up and plugging her in. Can someone please look at the diagram and let me know if I'm good to go, or getting ready for a light show.
(it's like being a little kid at Christmas and mom forgot the batteries)

Edit: the pic didn't show up, its a few posts up from this one. Thanks again
 
agezzi said:
tempcontrollerdiagram.jpg


hey if someone would take a look at this and let me know if this will do it for me. all of it will be inside a project box....thanks for the help

edit: the black circles are all wire nuts
Click to expand...

The diagram is very confusing. It looks like you have neutrals attached at the relay points? Those should be black(hot) only.
 
Mad_Milo said:
The diagram is very confusing. It looks like you have neutrals attached at the relay points? Those should be black(hot) only.
Click to expand...
sry for the mess. the only neutral is attached to #7 on the relay.blue and red are hot. brown is the hot that goes to the fan outlet. grey is neutral. please comment
 
My mistake. I read the blue and red circles as wire nuts, not lights. I'm not familiar with the wiring block, but if the fan gets activated by the cool circuit will the power go to the heating circuit and turn that on?

I'm not an electrician by any means. Just another set of eyes.
 
agezzi said:
sry for the mess. the only neutral is attached to #7 on the relay.blue and red are hot. brown is the hot that goes to the fan outlet. grey is neutral. please comment
Click to expand...

This looks like a copy of a previous schematic for a controller with a relay for the fan output. If it is the same one, that one was vetted. If you based yours off of that, but changed something, it would be best to state what you changed. It seems correct, but is VERY dependent on the schematic/pin-out of the fan relay you choose to use, which is not stated.
 
cwi said:
This looks like a copy of a previous schematic for a controller with a relay for the fan output. If it is the same one, that one was vetted. If you based yours off of that, but changed something, it would be best to state what you changed. It seems correct, but is VERY dependent on the schematic/pin-out of the fan relay you choose to use, which is not stated.
Click to expand...
the grey block with 8 pins is the relay from radioshack(125v), and yes it is based off a prior schematic. i only added a extra hot for a aux outlet and a switch to turn off aux if needed. there r 2 outlets but both r split to make 4 outlets. heat/cold/fan/aux. im no electrician either i just want to make sure im not going to catch fire. as well this is going into one project box,unlike the other that was split into two diffrent boxes. Anything helps. if you see anything that would make an improvement dont hessitate to comment
 
OK, my build is done, i had to melt through the plastic by heating a razor with a propane torch, held it with some vice grips. I originally Tried to score it but after like 50 scores i realized it wasn't going to happen that way. Perhaps my project box was thicker than usual, i dunno.
 
A little late to the party, but did some test cuts in my enclosure to figure out what the best way is to cut square holes. What worked best for me was drilling out the corners and taking the coping saw to it. Also, an Xacto knife with one of the serrated blades works, as well - just much slower than the coping saw. Felt like I had more fine control with the Xacto knife, but not the patience to keep on using it, as it was much slower.

Both methods left clean cuts that only needed a light sanding.
 
This temp controller is way cool! Got it hooked up temporarily, still need to build a 'chamber' out of my closet. But even in my bedroom it's Holding steady at 22-23C! ;) I have the probe against one of the carboys:

S3010166.JPG
 
I thought you guys would like the brown paper bags. Watch now, it'll be a HBT trend!

Rememeber, REUSE is one of the 3 R's.
 
android said:
where did you find the 110v lamps? i could only find red and blue ones in 12v at radio shack.
Click to expand...

That's because Radio Shack sucks. I don't have lamps on my fridge controller, but I used 120V lamps on my HERMS control panel. They were like $1 each from mouser.com.

Shipping might get you on such a small order, though. I bought mine at the same time as I bought a ton of things for the system build.
 

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