ebay aquarium temp controller build

I would advise it, best to be on the safe side.

Yretsof said:

Most refrigerators only have one compressor. Top/ bottom fridges use the "excess" cold air from the freezer to cool the fridge. If your compressor keeps turning on, I would check the temperature settings first, then the other parameters in the controller. Then the wiring. If it is hooked up like mine is, the fridge doesnt even get electricity untill it is above the set temperature+variance. You may have some wires crossed, somewhere.

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The problem ended up being simple. I was trying to get my already cool fridge (45 degrees) to match the temp control which was throwing it off.

I turned off the fridge/temp controller and let it warm up to garage temp. I kicked it on to 25 Celsius and am right on the money inside. I'm so stoked to brew this weekend!

You may want to tape the sensor directly to your carboy. I did this after it was cooled down, and with the georgia humdity outside, it quickly began to sweat, which made it impossibable for the tape to stick to it. I found I had to wrap duct tapetl l the way around the carboy. And stick it to its srlfx mk

Yretsof, I am concerned. It appears you were strangled before you finished your post. I thought about calling the police, but I fear I am too late...

Lol, thanks for your concern. Long days at work, beginning at 5 am. And a couple of beers makes for a drowsy boy. I was apparently dozing off while posting that. So I will clarify, I tried to tape the sensor to the glass carboy, after it had been in the fermenter for about 3 days but the humidity was causing profuse sweating, therefore even the almighty duct tape wouldnt stick. So I ended up having to wrap the duct tape all the way around the carboy so that it would stick to its self. I am going to brew an irish red this weekend and will probably fashion an elastic belt to hold the sensor in place.

just wired one up for my keezer to be! laser cut some abs plastic to make a project box and am going to hook it up tomorrow night! too tired from working on my keggle to deal with it tonight! thanks for the pics - reallly helped me, as i had never wired anything up before! the one thing i had trouble with was the jumper between the cold and the hot - i had no idea what it was!! some knowledgeable friends pointed it out and all was well! thanksa gain!

Yretsof said:

Lol, thanks for your concern. Long days at work, beginning at 5 am. And a couple of beers makes for a drowsy boy. I was apparently dozing off while posting that. So I will clarify, I tried to tape the sensor to the glass carboy, after it had been in the fermenter for about 3 days but the humidity was causing profuse sweating, therefore even the almighty duct tape wouldnt stick. So I ended up having to wrap the duct tape all the way around the carboy so that it would stick to its self. I am going to brew an irish red this weekend and will probably fashion an elastic belt to hold the sensor in place.

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I put the probe against the carboy/keg, put about 5 layers of bubble wrap over it, then use a bungee cord around the entire carboy/keg. No sticky residue from tape that way and it holds no matter what temp/moisture is inside the keezer. Works well for me!

MetallHed said:

I put the probe against the carboy/keg, put about 5 layers of bubble wrap over it, then use a bungee cord around the entire carboy/keg. No sticky residue from tape that way and it holds no matter what temp/moisture is inside the keezer. Works well for me!

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I use wide, blue painters tape. If the fermenter is reasonably dry, it works perfectly, with no residue. About a 10 inch piece does the trick. I have done this for about a year with never a problem.

I use a sponge over the probe, and a velcro strap around the carboy to hold it all in place.

Question: why does it need to both heat and cool simultaneously (and how can it) when there is only one temperature control? Am I misreading? Or is it merely so that you don't have to rewire everything when switching from the need for cold to the need for heat? You just move the temperature probe to the carboy needing regulated, and if you need heat, you plug in your space heater to the warm plug, whereas if you need cold, you put it in the freezer and plug it in to the cold plug? And what is the deal with airplane food?

I'm about to start lagering and was eyeballing the Johnson digital, but I really like this look and feel and think it may very well last longer based on some of the Johnson reviews I've read.

Sorry for the potentially dumb questions. I like to keep things simple (not necessarily easy, but not overdone for what we are trying to accomplish as home brewers), so you'll never see me with a cold-fusion atomic accelerating perpetual motion automated brewery...but I do want to be able to control temperature effectively.

It needs to do both so when it's too cold it heats and when it's too hot it cools. Temperatures fluctuate in most environments, so regulation is key. When it's too cold the temp controller will kick on the heater plug, when its too hot it will kick on the cooler plug.

But heat really wouldn't be necessary for use within a freezer for the purposes balancing the temperature (given enough of a margin for temperature swing, say 2* F), would it?

You would want both when the summers are hot and the winters are cold. Like in my case my fermenter a fridge on my back porch in GA. Where the temps range from the teens to the hundreds. I have the fridge hooked to the cold side and a ceramic heater mounted inside and hooked to the heat side. So theres no messing after its installed. I can tell my controller to stay at a certain temp and it does it through the entire year. It just makes things easier than moving everything around.

So you put an aquarium heater or something similar in the refrigerator as well? Do you seal it in a container of water to help cut down on the water evaporating and condensing inside the refrigerator?

Last question...I promise...I didn't see if the swing in temperature could be programmed (but I may have missed it). I would prefer to be ale to control that so that I could avoid a constant fridge/heater/fridge/heater/fridge/heater cycle. Is that possible?

Yes it is possible set number2 i think im not at home to chech

uatuba said:

So you put an aquarium heater or something similar in the refrigerator as well? Do you seal it in a container of water to help cut down on the water evaporating and condensing inside the refrigerator?

Last question...I promise...I didn't see if the swing in temperature could be programmed (but I may have missed it). I would prefer to be ale to control that so that I could avoid a constant fridge/heater/fridge/heater/fridge/heater cycle. Is that possible?

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No the temperature stays at 65 so theres no evaporating or condensing. If the temperature goes above the set tolerance range the fridge kicks on, if the temp gets below the heater is turned on. Your only talking about a few degrees of temp change. Putting the heater in an unsealed container of water will create condensation. The large quantities of liquid help to maintain a more constant temp. I havent ran mine for a full year yet, and right now since its July in Georgia, I dont have the heater plugged in, but When it gets into the colder months I will unplug the fridge, and plug in the heater.

Yes, there is a setting for temp variances, and theres a delay that can be set too. So you can tell it X is the desired temp Y is the +/- variance if the temp goes outside that variance wait Z minutes to turn on the compressor. Unless I am mistaken on how it works. The instructions are in very broken english.

You are correct. On the STC 1000 the second setting (F2) is the differential in degrees Celscius. Pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. BTW third and fourth settings are for compressor delay and calibration respectively.

I ordered mine tonight!! Can't wait I just picked up a chest freezer off of Craig's list for 50 bucks! , ill have to add a collar so I can set a 2nd carboy on the ledge over the compressor. Hopefully having controlled fermentation will help make my brews better! I love this hobby! I built my kegerator 1st for commercial kegs, then I picked up a home brew kit off of CL and have been upgrading everything for the last month . I built my stir plate the other day. I love tinkering on stuff, this is defiantly my favorite pastime ever!
Thank you all for sharing your knowledge

Yup this stuff is like crack. You get hooked on a 25 dollar kit and 1000 bucks later your deciding what the next upgrade is gonna be. Mine is a walk in ferm chamber I can lager in during the hot part of the Florida summer. Wish me luck getting that past the SWMBO minister of finances....

Wheelchair Bob

Good luck lol. What part of Florida are you in? I'm jar south of Tampa in riverview / sun city center

Rbeckett said:

Yup this stuff is like crack. You get hooked on a 25 dollar kit and 1000 bucks later your deciding what the next upgrade is gonna be. Mine is a walk in ferm chamber I can lager in during the hot part of the Florida summer. Wish me luck getting that past the SWMBO minister of finances....

Wheelchair Bob

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I had the same dream and settled on a cabinet fermentation chamber with a lagering chamber. If I ever finish it I'll be able to ferment both of my conicals at ale temps, plus lager/cold crash, etc 8 buckets, with a little storage area for aging bottles.
SWMBO was not having the thought of the space a walk in would take.

I am picking up a commercial freezer at the end of the month... It is addicting.

Just waiting on the control module and my fern chamber will be up and running!
Also you can see my side by side kegerator on the left specifically the perlick tap with flow control (best tap ever IMO)

What is everyone using as the line in power? Just an old power plug that you strip one end off? Or are you running it off of an existing outlet?

cincybrewer said:

What is everyone using as the line in power? Just an old power plug that you strip one end off? Or are you running it off of an existing outlet?

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I'm using an old extension cord.

I had an extra replacement cord for a saw laying around. You can use anything just make sure it has a ground plug

Cool thanks. I have lots of old grounded plugs laying around.

Got mine last week - Amazon had the deal for the box (same as the OP) and controller for $25 shipped. Made it to my doorstep in 4 days even with econo shipping. Put it together this past weekend, and it is working great. I am using it in an old, non-working kegerator as an insulated box with a fan on the cool side, and a brew belt on the heat side. Ran the wires down thru where the tower was then stuffed it with a hunk of foam. 2 2-liter bottles later, I am keeping a fermenter bucket full of water at at 16C (no heater installed) out in my rather hot garage. Bottles appear to last about 24 hrs, so looks like I'll finally be brewing again this weekend!

I ordered mine last Saturday night and it was @ my door this afternoon! Extremely fast! Already up and running! Works great

HopinJim said:

Got mine last week - Amazon had the deal for the box (same as the OP) and controller for $25 shipped. Made it to my doorstep in 4 days even with econo shipping. Put it together this past weekend, and it is working great. I am using it in an old, non-working kegerator as an insulated box with a fan on the cool side, and a brew belt on the heat side. Ran the wires down thru where the tower was then stuffed it with a hunk of foam. 2 2-liter bottles later, I am keeping a fermenter bucket full of water at at 16C (no heater installed) out in my rather hot garage. Bottles appear to last about 24 hrs, so looks like I'll finally be brewing again this weekend!

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I've used ice bottles to supplement my cooling system as well. Keep in mind that fermenting beer creates heat, so you may need to cycle your ice bottles sooner than anticipated. Have a great brew day this weekend!

pabloj13 said:

I used a 6x4x2 for mine.

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How did you cram the controller in that? I just bought a 7x5x3 and the box doesn't seem deep enough for the controller. Is everyone just cutting holes in the back of the box to allow the controller to stick out the back?

cincybrewer said:

How did you cram the controller in that? I just bought a 7x5x3 and the box doesn't seem deep enough for the controller. Is everyone just cutting holes in the back of the box to allow the controller to stick out the back?

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I used a 6x6x2 for mine, and it's pretty tight, but there's a fair amount of room to spare behind the controller. *shrug*

Well I just decided to change the layout to provide some additional room. Now just to figure out how to cut the box to pop the outlet in. Utility knife not working so great right now.

Keep at it I used a dremel

The box I used was 8X6X3. I (and the OP did as well) removed that little plate on the back that "guards" the terminal area. Had enough depth without it to mount it in the cover.

I am going to build two controllers for a fermentation chamber build I am about to undertake. Has anyone wired in computer fans to the controller such that the fan will turn on when either the cool or heat receptacle is powered on. Essentially I want the fan to run while temp controls are engaged and to be off when temps are steady. Any thoughts?

That is covered somewhere in the thread. I remember reading about it. You have to wire a relay or something. I thought about doing it myself, but decided to go with the fan always on to start with. Now I don't see a real benefit to have it stop when heat/cool stops.

I tend to agree, I think leaving it on all the time makes sense, especially if you use dehumidification.

I just ordered 2 STC-1000s off Amazon (@ $18.00). Decided to build 2 H/C controllers for the price of one Auber TD100A I had set my mind on last week.

But we should not really compare apples with oranges here. The Auber has a much better sensor encapsulated in silicone, The STC has a cheap NTC in a PVC sleeve.

Does any of you have a link to those black project boxes? 8x6x3" seems to be the norm to house 2 AC wall sockets?

Radio shack carries them

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062285