How to wire Johnson Controls A419?

I bought the J.C. A419 at a cheap price, and when it came in the mail I figured out why...its not wired! I looked around on the internet and people kept refering to the zymico.com website, well that website is no longer up.

I know an extension cord can be used by cutting it in half but where do I go from there?? I do have a wiring diagram but I have no idea how to read it correctly.

So can anyone help me out? Pictures would help out a bunch...I'm one of those "learns better from pictures than words" kinda guy.

amcwi69 said:

I bought the J.C. A419 at a cheap price, and when it came in the mail I figured out why...its not wired! I looked around on the internet and people kept refering to the zymico.com website, well that website is no longer up.

I know an extension cord can be used by cutting it in half but where do I go from there?? I do have a wiring diagram but I have no idea how to read it correctly.

So can anyone help me out? Pictures would help out a bunch...I'm one of those "learns better from pictures than words" kinda guy.

Click to expand...

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21395&start=0


Worked for me

amcwi69 said:

I bought the J.C. A419 at a cheap price, and when it came in the mail I figured out why...its not wired! I looked around on the internet and people kept refering to the zymico.com website, well that website is no longer up.

I know an extension cord can be used by cutting it in half but where do I go from there?? I do have a wiring diagram but I have no idea how to read it correctly.

So can anyone help me out? Pictures would help out a bunch...I'm one of those "learns better from pictures than words" kinda guy.

Click to expand...

don't feel ripped off, none of them come wired.

Thanks redbenn that helped extremely!!

Ok now I have more reason to love northern brewer. I went to the store in milwaukee (I think they just recently opened that location) and fell in love with it. The guys there are extremely helpful. I told the wife she could go home without me, she then proceeded to give me the evil eye...

Well... that didnt go so well for me..

Bought a 14ga Extension cord and wired according to diagram.

I checked it, and double checked it, plugged it in and now all I can smell is ozone.

@#$#$@#%

Are you running on 120V AC?

Did you buy an A419ABC-1C?


There are other versions of that controller that *look* the same in terms of wiring and externally, but are actually rated 24VDC (see for example this one). You will fry those in a few seconds if you hook it up to an outlet. There is a little card inside the compartment where you wire the connections that should tell you whether it's 24VDC, 120VAC, etc.

The part number from my order is A419GBF-1C, which I believe is the 24v model. WHich is the correct part number for the 120v model?
I dont see any specification of voltage in the product descriptions..

FML.

The part number for the 120/240 vac version is A419ABC-1C or A419AEC-1C. I think the difference is in the length of the probe.

Your A419GBF-1C is the 24 volt version which I think is now DOA.

You can go to the Johnson Controls website and find this along with additional information on the controllers:

http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/publ.../temperature/electronic2/a419singlestage.html

motobrewer said:

don't feel ripped off, none of them come wired.

Click to expand...

huh? I bought a completely factory wired unit from Northern Brewer a few years ago. The are available both wired and unwired, but every one I've seen listed by the home brewing suppliers has been a fully wired plug and play unit.

Catt22 said:

huh? I bought a completely factory wired unit from Northern Brewer a few years ago. The are available both wired and unwired, but every one I've seen listed by the home brewing suppliers has been a fully wired plug and play unit.

Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge, they don't come that way from the factory. Someone is adding the wiring after it leaves JC.

Scimmia said:

To the best of my knowledge, they don't come that way from the factory. Someone is adding the wiring after it leaves JC.

Click to expand...

I think you are correct. I took a look on the Johnson site and none are shown wired with the pigtails. That explains the somewhat higher cost for the wired ones that I've noticed.

Got mine ordered just now and I am going out to clean out the free fridge I acquired yesterday so I thought I would sign up for the sweet diagram! Thanks redbenn

Lagers here I come

With the awesome diagram from redbenn I was still missing a little. I looked around and found the attached photo courtesy of the following site-http://www.johnsubasavage.com/Brewing/RIMS/

I also found another site that mentioned this part so the wires are connected firmly to the controller. Clamp connector (Halex #20511 3/8")

I need to make a run to home depot for the connector then I will be ready.

I may not be the brightest guy but I can sure copy other peoples work real good:cross:

Finally got it all together and it is working like a champ!

I'm excited I just ordered a johnson A419abc-1c, and now I just need to find a fridge.
Or being in the great white north I just need to build a cheap box and put a heater in it and ferment in my below zero garage.

Cheers,
Matthew

Anyone know what type of extension cord is the best to use to wire the A419? I've heard it just has to be a 3 prong cord but I see ones that say 16/2 or 14/3 for instance. Not being an electrical guy, I'm confused. What's the difference and which one should I use? Thanks!

Lurch69 said:

Anyone know what type of extension cord is the best to use to wire the A419? I've heard it just has to be a 3 prong cord but I see ones that say 16/2 or 14/3 for instance. Not being an electrical guy, I'm confused. What's the difference and which one should I use? Thanks!

Click to expand...

The first number is the wire guage and the second the number of conductors. So, 16/2 would be 16 gauge wire with two wires. The common heavier appliance cords are usually 16/2 w/ground and the ground is the third wire, but not considered a conductor. The higher the gauge number, the smaller the wire diameter, so 14 is heavy and 16 is somewhat lighter. You want the wire to be big enough to handle the amperage demand of the appliance you are powering. I would use 16/2 w/ground appliance cord. It's usually black and you can buy it by the foot at Home Depot etc. That should handle most any fridge or freezer with no problem at all. I think the 16 ga copper is rated at about 13 amps max which is a lot.

Wiring diagram worked like a charm! I'm watching the temp drop as I type. Thanks for all the tips!

motobrewer said:

don't feel ripped off, none of them come wired.

Click to expand...

Depends where you order it from.

What is the recommended extension cord gauge to use for wiring the A419ABC-1C? I have my chest freezer running off of a standard 8-10' orange extension cable that I believe is just 16ga wire. Not sure if I should go Medium Duty Extension Cord (14ga) or Heavy Duty Cord (12ga). Any suggestions?

bigirishape said:

What is the recommended extension cord gauge to use for wiring the A419ABC-1C? I have my chest freezer running off of a standard 8-10' orange extension cable that I believe is just 16ga wire. Not sure if I should go Medium Duty Extension Cord (14ga) or Heavy Duty Cord (12ga). Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

The chest freezer doesn't draw much amperage and your run is apparently fairly short at 10 ft or less, so any of those will work OK. FWIW, I've worked at companies where their safety plan banned extension cords smaller than 14 ga. The risk is the extension cord heating up at higher amperage draws and possibly causing a fire. That won't happen if you are only running the freezer as it probably only draws about 2 amps or so IIRC, maybe a little more momentarily on initial start up.

Thanks for the diagram. I now use this to regulate heat in 8 Reptile enclosures and 2 keg-o-rators. Johnsons Controls thermostats are the most versital and reliable thermosts I have come across to date.

I just bought this one. It says it is wired already and it was $68. Cheapest I could find pre wired.

http://www.learntobrew.com/store/it...hermostat_Digital_Temperature_Controller.html

OK, so I bought one on ebay, and didn't realize there was a 24v model and a 120 model.

I got the 24v (of course). Can I do anything with it, or should I relist it on ebay?

I do have the 24v one - so I need to re-sell that on ebay and get the 120 rated controller - right?

I don't see anywhere that this is pre-wired, Learn To Brew: Refrigerator or Freezer Thermostat (Digital Temperature Controller)

Can anyone confirm if it is indeed prewired? If so I may have to cancel my order from a different website and order this one instead to save me some time.

Hey guys so I just got my Johnson A419 ABC in the mail the other day, came unwired. So do I just need to buy a 16/2 wire? Is that it?

LarsonLE said:

I don't see anywhere that this is pre-wired, Learn To Brew: Refrigerator or Freezer Thermostat (Digital Temperature Controller)

Can anyone confirm if it is indeed prewired? If so I may have to cancel my order from a different website and order this one instead to save me some time.

Click to expand...

I own it. It came pre wired.

I'm electrically inept. I understand the direct connections Can someone please explain a couple of other things about the diagram?

1. It looks like I need to connect the white neutral wire coming from both the plug and receptacle ends, then connect to the TB1 side. How is this done? I see something that looks like it represents a connection of some sort, but I don't know how this is specifically executed.

2. The black wire coming from the plug end looks like it piggy backs from the TB1 side to the TB2 side. Is this correct or should there be a separate wire connecting the TB1 and TB2 sides.

From what I can tell in the diagram, it looks like I may be able to strip part of the wire cover off in the middle of both the black and white wires to accomplish the above. However I'm not completely sure and don't want to proceed with the rest of the wiring until I know for sure.

Thanks in advance!

You will want to use wire nuts to connect your wires. Be sure to size them for the wire you're using.

On the white wire, I would recommend using a pig tail. Screw the wire nut over the three wires, then connect the pig tail to TB1.

For the connection between TB1 to TB2, I used a separate piece of wire.

dutchoven said:

You will want to use wire nuts to connect your wires. Be sure to size them for the wire you're using.

On the white wire, I would recommend using a pig tail. Screw the wire nut over the three wires, then connect the pig tail to TB1.

For the connection between TB1 to TB2, I used a separate piece of wire.

Click to expand...

Wire nuts. Of course! Duh! Thank you very much. This is exactly what I needed!

This was extremely helpful - thank you for posting!!

This was SO helpful!!! Between this and the instructions that came with the unit, I knew exactly what to do. It took no time at all to wire it, after I got the extension cord that I needed and then I made sure it was vertical on a temp set up until I mount it more permanently.
Cheers!