STC-1000 Low wattage element control?

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Zibe

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I know the STC 1000 cannot control most water heater elements BUT could it control a 240v 3500W element running on 120v? From the little electrical knowledge I have a 240v element running on 120v will divide the wattage by 4 so 3500w/4 = 875W. And then divide that by 120 to get the amps so 875W/120v = 7.29A. The STC says this:

Relay contact capacity (Heating): 10A (max) 250 V

Relay contact capacity (Cooling): 10 A (max) 250 V

The reason I ask is I have to build a temp controller for a fermentation chamber and if it can do double duty on that element to simply maintain mash temp in a recirc BIAB system that saves me time and money. If I'm way off just let me know I'm an idiot and I need to go with the PID/SSR combo. There will be another element in the pot for the boil.

Thank you in advance
 
Also if this has been covered somewhere else I apologize I couldn't find it.
 
You're correct on the 7.29 amps at 120v for that element and you're not way off on the idea. IMHO, you will likely end up having issues with the STC1000. It may work for a while or even a long time, but that relay, although rated for 10 amps, is tiny, which means the contacts are tiny. Eventually, the contacts will fail due to arcing over and over again at 7amps. Just, MHO. An SSR will last a lot longer. You could control an SSR with the STC1000.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like we're on to something I have to admit I don't really understand ssr's but they aren't expensive so if I can hook one up to an STC that's awesome. Next question would be since I live in Texas I have no need to warm my fermentation...ever. Sooo would it be possible to isolate regular 15a outlets so that say the heating side ran through the SSR and the cooling side just went direct just like a normal controller? If that makes sense? Housed in a ammo can or some such portable enclosure so I can just plug and play dual functions?
 
I just read that and confused myself. I meant could it be wired so that it went Heating---STC>SSR>top outlet and then Cooling---STC>bottom outlet (as normal) then plug and play top outlet for brewing and bottom outlet for fermenting.
 
The issue is the mechinal relay inside the stc will still have to turn on and off many times very quickly to maintain a specific temp and this results in the relays often failing early... Ideally you would be better off with a pid even the super cheap. Rex c100 model
 
Yeah I guess regardless of the SSR it would still likely wear out the mechanical relay. As far as the Rex PIDs are they reliable I saw a prior thread saying some aren't SSR capable even if they say they are. I saw this on eBay which includes the probe and SSR could I be confident that if its packaged together they would be compatible?

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1455323086.872486.jpg
 
Yes if they are sold together they should work.. I bought a combo like that that worked but I replaced it later with the much better mypin pids.
 

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