IvanTheTerribrew
Well-Known Member
I've been a homebrewer for just about 9 months now and have built some interesting things. I finally feel I'm at the point to start commenting on forums and post some things as well. While they will be out of order i will post about some of the DIY projects I've made. My most recent ones have been to build a kegerator, a kegerator top/tower and fashioning my own tap handle. Then i realized that the onboard temp controlled in the fridge was not accurate at all so i couldn't control the temp. So i decided to see some ideas on the web and built a temp controller mounted in a cigar box.
Things youll need:
1 cigar box (most local shops give them away)
1 STC - 1000 Microcomputer Temp Controller with sensor
1 regular wall outlet and cover
Roughly 2 feet of solid copper insulated electrical wire
2 or 3 electrical wire nuts for the size wire you have
1 power supply cable to hook it up
At first i took a measuring tape and sketched out on the box where the controller and outlet would be. Then i drilled holes in the corners with a drill bit and was able to fit my leatherman multi tool in the cuts to saw out the boxes.
So once i sanded all the edges to make a snug fit i started wiring. Here starts my first mistake: i did not look up wiring schematics and thought i had a good idea of how it needed to be done. I got it to power up and figured out the correct wiring of the sensor. The instructions tell you to be sure to wire it correctly, but unless I'm mistake both wires look exactly the same and there's no distinction. But it was as simple as connecting them and if the controller displayed an error message and beeped wildly, it's wrong. Flip them, and all good.
Note: you'll need a pretty small flathead screwdriver to tighten your wires to the controlled.
Once i wired it, i tried it out and it was not outputting power to the "heat" or "cool" outlets which is labeled individually. Wasnt sure why.
So then SWMBO looked up a diagram for me and sent it to me and this is it.
I then wired it as so, and it worked flawlessly. I will add some pictures of the finished job soon. It now controls my kegerator temp perfectly.
Hope you guys like my first post!
Things youll need:
1 cigar box (most local shops give them away)
1 STC - 1000 Microcomputer Temp Controller with sensor
1 regular wall outlet and cover
Roughly 2 feet of solid copper insulated electrical wire
2 or 3 electrical wire nuts for the size wire you have
1 power supply cable to hook it up
At first i took a measuring tape and sketched out on the box where the controller and outlet would be. Then i drilled holes in the corners with a drill bit and was able to fit my leatherman multi tool in the cuts to saw out the boxes.
So once i sanded all the edges to make a snug fit i started wiring. Here starts my first mistake: i did not look up wiring schematics and thought i had a good idea of how it needed to be done. I got it to power up and figured out the correct wiring of the sensor. The instructions tell you to be sure to wire it correctly, but unless I'm mistake both wires look exactly the same and there's no distinction. But it was as simple as connecting them and if the controller displayed an error message and beeped wildly, it's wrong. Flip them, and all good.
Note: you'll need a pretty small flathead screwdriver to tighten your wires to the controlled.
Once i wired it, i tried it out and it was not outputting power to the "heat" or "cool" outlets which is labeled individually. Wasnt sure why.
So then SWMBO looked up a diagram for me and sent it to me and this is it.
I then wired it as so, and it worked flawlessly. I will add some pictures of the finished job soon. It now controls my kegerator temp perfectly.
Hope you guys like my first post!
