Temperature Controller Wiring

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reider

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Hi everyone, I'm wondering if someone can help me with a wiring question.

I have a beverage cooler that I've been using for fermentation, and it's been fine. I installed an ITC-1000F, however the built in temperature controller for the fridge doesn't go as low as I need for lagering/good cold crashing. I'd like to rewire it to bypass the original temp controller. Based on these schematics, can anyone recommend the right way to wire it up?

[I should note that I don't care about the lamp or the defrost sensor working. I also have a separate temp sensor to attach to my carboy. I also won't need to heat the fridge.]

Thanks for your help!

magic-chef-beverage-cooler.jpg


itc-1000f.jpg
 
I would wire the ITC's cooling-circuit relay into the "Temperature Sensor" circuit, severing the lead to the original sensor in the fridge. Your ITC will now take over the temperature monitoring and when it closes the circuit, the fridge's cooling cycle will be activated by its "Micro Computer Controller" operating it as a "normal" fridge. It won't know you have your own sensor injected into its circuitry.

Forgot to say:
When wired as I outlined here, obviously don't use the wiring schematic printed on the ITC for the cooling circuit!
 
When you say you "installed an ITC-1000F", how did you connect it?

Personally, I would wire the ITC cooling relay between the black wire on the incoming power cord and the red wire going to the compressor if you want the ITC integrated into the fridge. If the ITC is a separate box into which the fridge plugs, then connect the black wire on the incoming power cord to the red wire going to the compressor (thus bypassing the relay in the fridge's microcontroller.) The just plug the fridge into the cooling output on the ITC.

Note that if you wire according to the diagram on the ITC case, the hot wire needs to go to terminals 2, 5 & 7, and the neutral wire needs to go to terminal 1 in order to comply with the NEC. The NEC requires hot wire switching rather than neutral switching.

Brew on :mug:
 
Thanks for the reply. In a perfect world, I'd love to replace the entire unit with the ITC. It's cleaner looking and less cumbersome. Is it possible?

My gut tells me to wire Power Black into 1, link Power White and Fridge Blue into 2 and then put Fridge Brown into 7 and Fridge Red into 8. But, I'm not an expert, and don't trust myself.
 
Thanks for the reply. In a perfect world, I'd love to replace the entire unit with the ITC. It's cleaner looking and less cumbersome. Is it possible?

My gut tells me to wire Power Black into 1, link Power White and Fridge Blue into 2 and then put Fridge Brown into 7 and Fridge Red into 8. But, I'm not an expert, and don't trust myself.

NO!

On your ITC:
Forget the wiring as laid out.
1 and 2 should carry regular 110V, to power your ITC.
7 and 8 are a simple switch: Normally Open, but Closed when cooling is requested by the ITC.

In the Fridge circuitry:
Find the 2 wires that go to the "Temperature Sensor"
Cut the connection to that sensor
Wire 7 and 8 from your ITC to those 2 wires respectively.

That should work.
 
When you say you "installed an ITC-1000F", how did you connect it?

Personally, I would wire the ITC cooling relay between the black wire on the incoming power cord and the red wire going to the compressor if you want the ITC integrated into the fridge. If the ITC is a separate box into which the fridge plugs, then connect the black wire on the incoming power cord to the red wire going to the compressor (thus bypassing the relay in the fridge's microcontroller.) The just plug the fridge into the cooling output on the ITC.

Note that if you wire according to the diagram on the ITC case, the hot wire needs to go to terminals 2, 5 & 7, and the neutral wire needs to go to terminal 1 in order to comply with the NEC. The NEC requires hot wire switching rather than neutral switching.

Brew on :mug:

I don't think that's going to work as those fridges are electronically controlled by the motherboard (controller) They reset each time the power is cut/re-connected. I think wiring the ITC into the thermistor circuitry, bypassing the thermistor is the best option.

I only wonder if a series resistor is needed to mimic the thermistor to some degree, not to burn out a gate somewhere.
 
I don't think that's going to work as those fridges are electronically controlled by the motherboard (controller) They reset each time the power is cut/re-connected. I think wiring the ITC into the thermistor circuitry, bypassing the thermistor is the best option.

I only wonder if a series resistor is needed to mimic the thermistor to some degree, not to burn out a gate somewhere.

According to the wiring diagram the microcontroller just opens and closes a relay to control power to the compressor and fan, so you can just cut that relay out of the circuit and replace it with the ITC cooling relay. All the logic in the microcontroller does is implement a forced compressor off time before restarting (which the ITC also does), decide when to run a defrost cycle, and control the light.

Brew on :mug:
 
Thanks for the reply. In a perfect world, I'd love to replace the entire unit with the ITC. It's cleaner looking and less cumbersome. Is it possible?

My gut tells me to wire Power Black into 1, link Power White and Fridge Blue into 2 and then put Fridge Brown into 7 and Fridge Red into 8. But, I'm not an expert, and don't trust myself.

This should work as long as you don't disconnect the Power Black and Fridge Brown. I would disconnect/cut Fridge Red so that the internal compressor relay is out of the circuit. It would work with the fridge relay still in the circuit, but then you have the possibility of either the fridge controller or the ITC trying to turn the compressor on after too short a rest time.

Obviously @IslandLizard and I disagree on how to best integrate the ITC into the fridge.

Brew on :mug:
 
This should work as long as you don't disconnect the Power Black and Fridge Brown. I would disconnect/cut Fridge Red so that the internal compressor relay is out of the circuit. It would work with the fridge relay still in the circuit, but then you have the possibility of either the fridge controller or the ITC trying to turn the compressor on after too short a rest time.

That should work just fine. Fridge stays on doing it's thing, read outs and all. The only thing I can see happening that's wonky is that a defrost cycle can coincide with a cooling cycle. Oh well.

Obviously @IslandLizard and I disagree on how to best integrate the ITC into the fridge.

Brew on :mug:

2 different approaches. Yours is the easiest, most direct, control the power to the compressor. Fridge does its own thing, not being aware of the hack.
 
You could take the microcontroller bits completely out. Disconnect that junction it shows between the black coming from the power and the brown going to the existing controller.

Connect that to one terminal on your cooling relay.

Now disconnect the red comming out of that controller and connect it to the other side of your cooling relay.

Alternatively you could just pull the fridges own temperature sensor out of the damn fridge so it thinks it's never cold enough...
 
That should work just fine. Fridge stays on doing it's thing, read outs and all. The only thing I can see happening that's wonky is that a defrost cycle can coincide with a cooling cycle. Oh well.

The defrost cycle logic and the normal temperature control logic of the fridge microcontroller both control the compressor thru the same relay. Thus bypassing that relay will avert any wonkyness. The controller will be trying to do its thing, completely unaware that its relay is not actually turning anything on and off.

Brew on :mug:
 
Thanks for your help everyone. I was able to install it this afternoon.

Fridge Brown to ITC 1 and 8
Fridge Red to ITC 7
Fridge Blue to ITC 2.

It's now mounted inside the fridge and uses the built in power cable.

finished-product.jpg
 
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