ebay aquarium temp controller build

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This way, using a thermowell, you actually get the temp of the wort. Now, that said, My poor fementation refrigerator is having a HECK of a time trying to drive the wort temp down to 55*F on my Altbier. I think the combination of the highly active fermentation and the location of the ferm chamber in my Texas-Summer-Garage is going to kill the poor thing. I will be switching to a chest freezer for ferm chamber soon. I am being given one!... a big one! It should be much more efficient at chilling.
 
Fortunately for me I mostly make american ales using chico, sometimes a Kolsch here and there...but my basement is always cool. Right now it's sub-75* even in the summer. I'll lager in winter when it's around 60*, that way the fridge doesn't have to work quite as hard.

I think I'll start taping to the side for now with insulating material.
 
This way, using a thermowell, you actually get the temp of the wort. Now, that said, My poor fementation refrigerator is having a HECK of a time trying to drive the wort temp down to 55*F on my Altbier. I think the combination of the highly active fermentation and the location of the ferm chamber in my Texas-Summer-Garage is going to kill the poor thing. I will be switching to a chest freezer for ferm chamber soon. I am being given one!... a big one! It should be much more efficient at chilling.
The thermowell is an excellent way to track the wort/beer temp, but as a sensor location for controlling the temp, there were some tests a few (hundred) pages back that showed it to be inferior to the wall|sensor|insulation|tape/bungy method. The hypothesis was that the wall/insulation approach provided some predictive early shutoff, due to the influence of the ambient air. This helped prevent overshoots (undershoots?) caused by the continued cooling from the refrigerant/air, as well as those caused by radial temp stratification at later ferm stages.

From memory, the temp overshoots were more significant during the later stages of fermentation, but if your new (to you) chest freezer is very large, the continued cooling could be enough to cause significant overshoot. During the later phases, they could be even more severe.

Using some conductant and some packing in the thermowell is a good idea, regardless how you use it. Also, adding some mass prechilled to ferm temps and a fan helps when using an oversized chest freezer (or any refrigerator/freezer) as a fermenter.
 
Wow! I can't believe I read the whole thing!! Even after taking lots of notes and saving lots of links I have a question.

I plan to use a single stage controller to control a hot plate that will heat my BIAB sparge water. I want this water to be 168F. Where do I put the sensor? I will be heating a simple 4 gallon pot. I just want to be able to set and forget so when sparge time comes I have the water at the correct temp.

I like the bling factor of the boxes many of you have built, and I will probably replace my digital Johnson controller with a dual stage STC-1000, and perhaps also my keezer analog Johnson controller with a single stage.

A couple of thoughts for those looking for ways to do stuff cheaply:

- You can buy solid wire of any gauge at any hardware, either romex style or single strands. Easy to work with and cheap.

- Almost anything can work as a heat source. I have used an old, cracked soldering iron which worked quite well. But a fan is a real helper with a heat source.

- If you want to use a 12V DC fan, it isn't that hard to build a power source that you could fit in one of the larger size project boxes. I am sure if you Google it, you can find dozens of schematics to do it. Of course, a good 12V wall wort works fine. I have a 12V, but the amperage is not high enough to run the fan.

- There is a product called Sugru which looks like it would have a lot of uses. It comes in small packs, and when first opened is pliable much like Play-Doh. When left overnight, it loses its pliability, but stays flexible. It is temperature "rated" well over 212F and well under 32F. It is said to be non-toxic. It sticks to most anything when pliable. It looks like it can hold barrier strips well, and can do a great job for cord strain relief. I have some on order (they had a 2 for 1 sale when I ordered) from the manufacturer at Sugru.com. I have no affiliation or first hand experience with it (yet).

Thanks to everyone who added to this humongous thread. The technical information and the pictures of builds have been a great help and inspiration.
 
I plan to use a single stage controller to control a hot plate that will heat my BIAB sparge water. I want this water to be 168F. Where do I put the sensor?

I guess put the sensor in the water...I wonder how high-temp-safe these are?
 
I plan to use a single stage controller to control a hot plate that will heat my BIAB sparge water.
If it were me, I would just spend the extra $5 and get the STC-1000, so you can use it for anything. Being able to turn any fridge/freezer into an extra fermenter comes in handy.

Also, if your kettle will hold a full volume mash, it makes BIAB even easier. A $1 or 2 worth of extra grain, and one less step.

I want this water to be 168F. Where do I put the sensor? I will be heating a simple 4 gallon pot. I just want to be able to set and forget so when sparge time comes I have the water at the correct temp.
There is a significant amount of stratification during heating. Putting it somewhere near the top of the liquid will get it to temp faster by preventing early shutoff, but it will probably overshoot at first. It should lose the heat and stabilize fairly quickly, but some agitation helps with evening the temps. Some use bubbler pumps to mix continuously.

As suggested previously, it is a good idea to use a thermowell of some sort to protect the sensor.

I like the bling factor of the boxes many of you have built, and I will probably replace my digital Johnson controller with a dual stage STC-1000, and perhaps also my keezer analog Johnson controller with a single stage.
Again, splurge and get the STC-1000 for $5 more. If your keezer is ever in, say, a garage where the temp gets below serving temps, it may need heat to prevent overcarbing. It also allows you to turn it into another fermenter if, gasp, your pipeline ever runs dry. You could buy two for what you can sell your digital Johnson for used, although I don't see any advantage of an STC-1000 over a digital Johnson, other than price. That analog Johnson, though, is a true POS- no ASD, fixed temp diff, bulb and tube sensor, antique stamped scale and pointer for setting temps, etc.
 
cwi said:
If it were me, I would just spend the extra $5 and get the STC-1000, so you can use it for anything. Being able to turn any fridge/freezer into an extra fermenter comes in handy.

True, but the single stage also has some advantages. I have a couple of each, and I much prefer the single stage for my HERMS control panel since they have more programming options and a nicer probe that's much better suited for use in a thermowell.
 
JuanMoore said:
True, but the single stage also has some advantages. I have a couple of each, and I much prefer the single stage for my HERMS control panel since they have more programming options and a nicer probe that's much better suited for use in a thermowell.

True, but a better (stainless) probe can be purchased very cheaply. I replaced all the ones that came with my STC-1000s.
 
True, but the single stage also has some advantages. I have a couple of each, and I much prefer the single stage for my HERMS control panel since they have more programming options and a nicer probe that's much better suited for use in a thermowell.
I have seen several references to the additional programming options of the single stage. What are they?

I have also seen the stainless probes that come with the single stage. I still wouldn't trust it to be waterproof. I also wonder if it is as fast responding as the small tic-tac probe that comes with the STC-1000. It is incredibly responsive. With some thermal paste inside a thermowell, it should be almost as responsive. I suspect they are all just ceramic bead thermistors, which are a good sensor choice for the limited temp range of these controllers.
 
emjay said:
True, but a better (stainless) probe can be purchased very cheaply. I replaced all the ones that came with my STC-1000s.

True. Haven't found the need to replace any of my probes, but I have looked at getting some additional ones.

cwi said:
I have seen several references to the additional programming options of the single stage. What are they?

I have also seen the stainless probes that come with the single stage. I still wouldn't trust it to be waterproof. I also wonder if it is as fast responding as the small tic-tac probe that comes with the STC-1000. It is incredibly responsive. With some thermal paste inside a thermowell, it should be almost as responsive. I suspect they are all just ceramic bead thermistors, which are a good sensor choice for the limited temp range of these controllers.

The main additional feature is the min/max settings. I have the ones in my HERMS set up so that an alarm goes off if the measured temp gets outside of a mash temp range that I set slightly larger than my mash hysteresis. Lets me know if the pilot went out, or if something is malfunctioning.

I don't trust any probe to be waterproof. The probe is just as fast and responsive as the STC-1000 probe. It's just under 1/8" diameter, so 1/8" ID tubing makes a cheap and easy thermowell. I have a lot of thermowells in various parts of my system, and change the probe locations during the brew day a couple times. Because of this I don't use any thermal paste, but I don't find I need it since they're so responsive and there's minimal gap between the probe and the thermowell walls. The main reason I looked at getting additional probes was so that each thermowell could have its own permanently mounted probe with thermal paste, but I've found that they work fine with my ghetto set-up, so I haven't bothered to change anything.

There's a huge benefit to having dual stage capability, and I don't mean to downplay it. I just wanted to point out that the choice isn't as cut and dry as simply single stage vs dual stage.
 
It's just under 1/8" diameter, so 1/8" ID tubing makes a cheap and easy thermowell.
They look much bigger in the photos. If they are that small, there is probably little difference in performance. They sound like a good choice for thermowells.

There's a huge benefit to having dual stage capability, and I don't mean to downplay it. I just wanted to point out that the choice isn't as cut and dry as simply single stage vs dual stage.
Having alarms would be nice, even for a keezer/fermenter. There is a Love controller with two stages, alarms, and even the ability to use each stage separately with 2 probes. I think they are only ~$50. I keep meaning to get one to play with.

For this application, a cheap PID with an on/off mode seems like a better controller choice. The dual temp displays are nice to have, as is being able to use an appropriately sized SSR. A hot plate is pushing the limits of the relay in these controllers.
 
Getting ready to build this today, and I've been reading through the whole thread. I'm only on page 98, but I do have a question, hopefully not stupid.

Also, I thought I saw this answered, but I can't find it again. When I strip back my extension cord, how do I determine which wires are hot, ground and neutral?

Other than those two things, I'm pretty much set to put this together.

Edit: One more! Are people just using wire from the extension cord to hook up the lights and such? Just any of those wires?

And if it matters, I'm following this post: http://www.mrbeerfans.com/ubbthread...ual_Stage_Temp_Controller_for.html#Post213369
 
DeadGuyNick said:
Getting ready to build this today, and I've been reading through the whole thread. I'm only on page 98, but I do have a question, hopefully not stupid.

Also, I thought I saw this answered, but I can't find it again. When I strip back my extension cord, how do I determine which wires are hot, ground and neutral?

Other than those two things, I'm pretty much set to put this together.

Edit: One more! Are people just using wire from the extension cord to hook up the lights and such? Just any of those wires?

And if it matters, I'm following this post: http://www.mrbeerfans.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/213369/Dual_Stage_Temp_Controller_for.html#Post213369

Green is ground and the other two don't matter which you pick...

Edit: sorry, I meant ground. I was thinking neutral, ground, sorry. I was :drunk:
 
Green is neutral and the other two don't matter which you pick...

I'm a little confused now. So if the green is neutral, I send it to the 'white' side of the receptacle. Then let's say I choose white to be ground, that'll go to the ground screw, then black is hot? I might just be confused because the instructions I'm following show the green wire as ground going to the ground screw, at least in the key it's green.
 
Yes. Green is definitely ground, black is hot, white is neutral.

If you question that, you can always test your cord for continuity. If one prong is wider than the other, that's your neutral.
 
Awesome, thanks guys. I'm about done, then I'll post a picture to show my frankenstein box and wiring!

Edit: Ok, so it's a bit messy and a picture wouldn't really show up well. Here's what I finally understood everything as...

1 - Hot - wired to a wire nut with black cable (hot) from extension cable, and wire from 5 and 7
2 - Neutral - wired to neutral side of electrical receptacle (along with white wire from extension cable)
3/4 - Sensor
5/7 - To wire nut
6/8 - To electrical receptacle

Lights - both have one wire to two, cooling light has one to 8, heat has one to 6.

And that's it. It was really simple once things clicked. Any mistakes here? I will get a nice photo of my box tomorrow.
 
Duh, man I know it's ground, I've wired hundreds of 120v. stuff and yet my :drunk: butt says "neutral"...

Blame it on the homebrew. Sorry for the slip-up there.
 
Here's a firesale http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/593843666-Free-shipping-110V-Digital-LCD-Thermostat-Temperature-Regulator-Controller-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-wholesalers.htmlprice. I've ordered through this site many times to verify fast shipping and cheap prices on hard to get items. It looks almost the same as the stc-1000 though a bit more generic.
That appears to be a single stage unit, so keep in mind that it's not quite the same as the dual-stage STC-1000.
 
It does appear to be after looking at the stc-1000 more carefully. The single stage has only has six usable slots. This one has eight but the 5/6 lock dealy has me stumped, maybe for some other external controller? I am currently trying to contact the seller to confirm whether it is dual stage or not.
 
If it actually is single stage no harm or foul for me since I already have the vissani 52 bottle wine cooler for my ferm chamber that is calibrated and holding 60 degrees ambient for my current bsda. This single stage digi unit (if it be) is still 1/3 the cost of a Johnson Controls A19AAT-2C freezer controller. I need one for just my freezer anyways. Can't beat 14 bucks plus what electrical supplies I already have on hand.
 
So I started reading this forum a few days ago and decided to purchase one of the STC-1000's via Ebay. I have gotten about halfway through all of the posts, so please don't berate me if this has already been posted, but I was looking on Amazon.com and found this controller for about the same price including shipping as you can find it on ebay. Has anyone had any experiences with purchasing form either of the sellers on amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=stc-1000
 
Finally finished! Just tested and it appears to be working. Extending my mini fridge tomorrow, then I'll put it through a final test! It's really rough around the edges, the lights are uneven, and the controller is most definitely not straight. Maybe I'll get another box at some point and try again, but for now, function over fashion!

image-1988988625.jpg


image-1867686816.jpg
 
Duh, man I know it's ground, I've wired hundreds of 120v. stuff and yet my :drunk: butt says "neutral"...

Blame it on the homebrew. Sorry for the slip-up there.

No worries! Got it all figured out and now it's up and running! A day late, now I'll have to wait until next Sunday to brew, but at least I'll have a nice new chamber to ferment in!
 
djbradle said:
It does appear to be after looking at the stc-1000 more carefully. The single stage has only has six usable slots. This one has eight but the 5/6 lock dealy has me stumped, maybe for some other external controller? I am currently trying to contact the seller to confirm whether it is dual stage or not.

It is single stage. If you run a jumper between 5&6, it "locks" the settings so that they can't be changed in the programming menus.
 
So I started reading this forum a few days ago and decided to purchase one of the STC-1000's via Ebay. I have gotten about halfway through all of the posts, so please don't berate me if this has already been posted, but I was looking on Amazon.com and found this controller for about the same price including shipping as you can find it on ebay. Has anyone had any experiences with purchasing form either of the sellers on amazon?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=stc-1000

Nope but Amazon is really good about customer service, so if you have issues they usually go over and above to make it right.
 
Here's a link If anyone wants it already done http://us.aliexpress.com/snapshot/200487090.html?isRedirect=false.

I believe both plugs cannot be used at the same time or one relay closes while another one opens so a fermenting chamber for heating and freezer/fridge for lagering would run in this format.

Does the STC-1000 run both heating/cooling at the same time? I tried to read the whole thread but it's veeeery time consuming.
 
This appears to be a single stage that will do either heat or cool but you would have to tell it to switch to either mode you need. The STC-1000 automatically switches whatever it needs--heat or cold, but does not have them both run at the same time.
 
Correct. I already have a single stage for one freezer coming. This one would help to heat and cool my wine cooler fermenter so I would need two stc-1000's anyways. In this case it's less work for a little more money. Got many projects to do anyways this late summer and early fall . . . . building a walk in closet for my wife soon.
 
Does anybody else have one of these where the relay won't switch unless you physically tap the unit? It's working except for the fact that a have to knock it/tap it to get the relay to switch. If I don't, it will only turn off, but not on again.

Unfortunately I bought mine over 90 days ago so I can't return it. What a pain...
 
No fret. You can always make the set screw adjustment on the old thermostat if the controller isn't so faithful.
 
Does anybody else have one of these where the relay won't switch unless you physically tap the unit? It's working except for the fact that a have to knock it/tap it to get the relay to switch. If I don't, it will only turn off, but not on again.

Unfortunately I bought mine over 90 days ago so I can't return it. What a pain...
If you are at all handy with a soldering iron you can replace the relay yourself.
 
Was wondering about that... Any idea which one i would need? My electrical knowledge could be better...

Funny thing is that both relays have the problem. Almost wonder if they're some how not getting enough electricity from th circuit board.

Thanks.
 
I'm with you davidgsmit, the relays on my stc-1000 never turn off. I'll try smacking them and see if that helps. It appears to turn them on correctly, but when it switches cold/hot both the old side stays on. Pretty annoying, and I hope I just got one of the bad ones. So now I'm just manually unplugging this stupid thing on/off.
 
Was wondering about that... Any idea which one i would need? My electrical knowledge could be better...

Funny thing is that both relays have the problem. Almost wonder if they're some how not getting enough electricity from th circuit board.

Thanks.

I'm with you davidgsmit, the relays on my stc-1000 never turn off. I'll try smacking them and see if that helps. It appears to turn them on correctly, but when it switches cold/hot both the old side stays on. Pretty annoying, and I hope I just got one of the bad ones. So now I'm just manually unplugging this stupid thing on/off.
So far, there hasn't been a single confirmed malfunctioning STC-1000 reported in this thread, that I know of. Yours would be the first. Although, one place I ordered from, NovaPCS I think, canceled shipment of a batch of these citing unspecified quality control issues. Maybe yours are part of this batch. Opening up the case and checking that the transformer is the correct voltage, and the relays are the same as most might narrow down the issue.

Also, checking basic functionality by rewiring the controller on the benchtop in a very minimalist fashion, i.e. without neon/LED lights, extra switches, fan relays, disco balls, fog machines, lava lamps, etc.; might be worth it to double check that it is truly malfunctioning. Sometimes a single strand of stray wire in the wrong place can result in some very bizarre behavior. The terminal mechanism is a bit counter-intuitive, so make sure the wires are inserted and clamped correctly.
 
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