Temp controller help

I know about the ranco's but I am looking for a temp controller that I can "plug" the appliance into and then into the wall. This way I can bypass doing any wiring myself and get it going instantly. One problem as outside of the ranco I wasn't sure if anyone could reccomend a no-wire model? I need to pick one up this week and would love some suggestions!

Thanks a bunch!

-Mark

Johnson Controls... they have them at morebeer, northern brewer, etc

Taipans said:

I know about the ranco's but I am looking for a temp controller that I can "plug" the appliance into and then into the wall. This way I can bypass doing any wiring myself and get it going instantly. One problem as outside of the ranco I wasn't sure if anyone could reccomend a no-wire model? I need to pick one up this week and would love some suggestions!

Thanks a bunch!

-Mark

Click to expand...

It really isn't too much work to wire up the Johnson Controls temp controllers, and if you do it yourself, you can save a ton of money (without even having to switch your car insurance). I got my Johnson A-19 controller from ebay for $16 shipped.

Here are easy instructions on how to wire it:

http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/johnsoncontroller.html

I agree. It's easy. In fact, if you're reluctant to wire this thing, I recommend not buying a house or you'll be a$$ raped anytime you want to change a light switch out.

I can't find one on ebay but thanks for the guide link. For some reason I thought you had to hard wire the controller into the deep freezer itself!

-Mark

Oh btw, where does the freezer plug into that controller? The extension cord mod? and if so how does outside power come in I dont see a second plug.

lustreking said:

It really isn't too much work to wire up the Johnson Controls temp controllers, and if you do it yourself, you can save a ton of money (without even having to switch your car insurance). I got my Johnson A-19 controller from ebay for $16 shipped.

Here are easy instructions on how to wire it:

http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/johnsoncontroller.html

Click to expand...

I don't know much about electrical stuff and i wired up a Johnson a19 as well following your instructions. I have yet to actually get a chance to use it as my keezer is waiting for someone with a truck to move it to my apartment...

But i had a question about the wiring. Does it matter which end you wire to which screw? i.e. does the pronged end of the extension cord need to be wired to the top screw or bottom screw? or does it not matter?

Thanks

It doesn't matter. The controller just connects or disconnect the two terminals depending on the temp. Think of it as holding both wires in your hands and touching the bare ends together when you want the fridge to come on.

Chello said:

I don't know much about electrical stuff and i wired up a Johnson a19 as well following your instructions. I have yet to actually get a chance to use it as my keezer is waiting for someone with a truck to move it to my apartment...

But i had a question about the wiring. Does it matter which end you wire to which screw? i.e. does the pronged end of the extension cord need to be wired to the top screw or bottom screw? or does it not matter?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Glad I could help!

I doesn't matter how you wire an SPST switch, which the A19ABA-40C has, so you should be good to go when your freezer arrives.

If you want to play with it before then, plug a lamp into it and see how it turns on and off when you adjust the temperature setting.

Nice! i just did play with it on a lamp but i think i may have gotten one that wont work for a freezer...

I got the a19-AAA which according to the post on here somewhere the AAA seemed like it should work.

So when i just had it in the lamp, the lap would turn ON when i adjusted the temp lower than 70 degrees and OFF when higher. Does that mean that my freezer will stay on when the temperature is colder and off when its hotter, which is opposite of what i want?

Or does a freezer work differently than the lamp did?

If you ambient temp is 70 degrees, it should be operating correctly. If the sensor is measuring 70 degrees and it is set to 40 degrees the lamp (freezer) should turn on to cool it off. If you set it for 80 degrees, the lamp (freezer) should turn off, because the sensor is alread below 80 degrees.

I think you should be good to go when you get your freezer!

Nice! Thanks a ton.

Also the temp bulb on mine is different than any i'v seen. It looks sorta like the one in your tutorial. It has a big stiff coil of copper but it doesn't have that straight fatter section on the end? It seems to work fine i just put some heat on the bulb and the lamp turned off when it got back to the normal temp. I just don't' know if there is any risk in putting it in a glass of water or something in the freezer or if i should just base it on the air temp inside the freezer.