ebay aquarium temp controller build

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Jhenjum said:
Getting back to the single stage controller with 7 inputs. Does the hot from the pigtail go into 6 or 7?
Click to expand...

It's just a switch, so either one. Then the outgoing hot to your outlet/device would connect to the other one.
 
I have the dual stage controller, but only want to use it for cooling. Are there any diagrams in this forever long thread that show the wiring for this. And before someone tells me to search, I have done that, and there are still too many posts to search through.

As a suggestion, maybe a side post or a sticky with diagrams only, for two stage, with a fan, single stage, etc.
 
Sounding pretty stupid here, but do you have to wire up all the ports for cooling only? I have the power line and neutral in 1 and 2, the probe in 3 and 4, nothing in 5 and 6, a jumper from the power (1) in 7, and a line back to the plug in 8. I can hear the controller click on at the set temp, but the freezer does not kick in. Yes the freezer works plugged straight into power plug, but not through the controller.
 
lurker18 said:
Sounding pretty stupid here, but do you have to wire up all the ports for cooling only? I have the power line and neutral in 1 and 2, the probe in 3 and 4, nothing in 5 and 6, a jumper from the power (1) in 7, and a line back to the plug in 8. I can hear the controller click on at the set temp, but the freezer does not kick in. Yes the freezer works plugged straight into power plug, but not through the controller.
Click to expand...

That sounds right. Potentially dumb question: Do have a neutral wire going to the plug too?
 
After rewriting several times, I have just come to discover that terminal 8 is not getting power. Hope I can find another controller soon, my hair pulling is getting the better of me right now.
 
lurker18 said:
After rewriting several times, I have just come to discover that terminal 8 is not getting power. Hope I can find another controller soon, my hair pulling is getting the better of me right now.
Click to expand...

Have you confirmed that you are feeding live power to terminal 7? If so, then I'd tend to agree with you that the controller is not functioning properly as the terminal 8 should be hot if the cool light is lit.
 
Well, I've been obsessed with these forums since I was deployed, and now I am home I can finally say I did something I saw here. I just finished my controller box, and it looks almost identical to the OP's (I used a black receptacle and faceplate). It works great, too! Thanks so much to everyone here for the comments and help.

The only thing that kind of caught me up was that I wasn't sure if I was supposed to break off the tabs from both sides or just the hot side. I only broke off the hot side, and after studying the wiring diagram, I understand why.

I also just picked up a great 15 cu ft upright freezer from CL for $25! The old lady said it worked fine, but I haven't plugged it in yet (we laid it down to transport it yesterday). I think I'm all set for steady ferm temps! :mug:
 
barryfine said:
Have you confirmed that you are feeding live power to terminal 7? If so, then I'd tend to agree with you that the controller is not functioning properly as the terminal 8 should be hot if the cool light is lit.
Click to expand...

Yes, tested it with a volt meter. Power going into 7, nothing coming back out. To be sure, I wired up 5 and 6, and the heating cycle works fine, so I am sure it is a dead post 8.
 
lurker18 said:
Yes, tested it with a volt meter. Power going into 7, nothing coming back out. To be sure, I wired up 5 and 6, and the heating cycle works fine, so I am sure it is a dead post 8.
Click to expand...

Damn, that sucks that you got a defective unit, but at least now you know it wasn't anything you were doing wrong.
 
lurker18 said:
Yes, tested it with a volt meter. Power going into 7, nothing coming back out. To be sure, I wired up 5 and 6, and the heating cycle works fine, so I am sure it is a dead post 8.
Click to expand...
Is the "cool" light lit? There is a built in delay (that is adjustable) on the cool side. I believe the delay defaults to 10 minutes.

I believe the "cool" light will be flashing while it waits for the delay and solid when the relay trips.
 
I want to tie mine into the factory wiring harness . I am going to disconnect defrost element , and timer & existing thermostat. ... this is how I think I should do it .. tie the bk & or together at timer then connect the or @ thermostat to cool input on new cotroller and the rd to output . Looks simple but maybe confusing . I am asking opinions

wirediagram 006.jpg
 
basically I am bypassing defrost timer ,making it inoperable and removing existing stat and replacing it with the st 1000
 
Arduino is a micro controller that basically can be used for just about any kind of project you can think of. It's programmable and has a lot of documentation. They are very popular now.
 
So here is a question about the OP's schematic. I wish to include a fan into the build and am wondering if there would be any issues with wiring it to the hot side of the cold power outlet. I would prefer to just have 1 fan and am unsure as of now if I even need a source of heat (at least for the summer I definitely don't).

I just got a chest freezer and am a DIY noob, but learning. Until I can save up some extra dough for kegs and taps I'm going to use it as a fermentation chamber. Later on it will be a coffin keezer and I figured why not include the fan now so it will be there and ready for when I install the coffin.

In short, what would be the best way of including a fan that powers on when the cooling is triggered? Sorry if this has been answered already, I skimmed the thread but didn't see anything exactly like what I wanted (its a big thread) Ubermick's was pretty close though but some aspects of it confuse me.
 
gmcapone said:
So here is a question about the OP's schematic. I wish to include a fan into the build and am wondering if there would be any issues with wiring it to the hot side of the cold power outlet. I would prefer to just have 1 fan and am unsure as of now if I even need a source of heat (at least for the summer I definitely don't).

I just got a chest freezer and am a DIY noob, but learning. Until I can save up some extra dough for kegs and taps I'm going to use it as a fermentation chamber. Later on it will be a coffin keezer and I figured why not include the fan now so it will be there and ready for when I install the coffin.

In short, what would be the best way of including a fan that powers on when the cooling is triggered? Sorry if this has been answered already, I skimmed the thread but didn't see anything exactly like what I wanted (its a big thread) Ubermick's was pretty close though but some aspects of it confuse me.
Click to expand...

U could just not break the tab on your plug, and only hookup the cool side... That way when cooling both plugs turn on. No heating plug. If that's what youwere looking for.
 
gmcapone said:
So here is a question about the OP's schematic. I wish to include a fan into the build and am wondering if there would be any issues with wiring it to the hot side of the cold power outlet. I would prefer to just have 1 fan and am unsure as of now if I even need a source of heat (at least for the summer I definitely don't).

I just got a chest freezer and am a DIY noob, but learning. Until I can save up some extra dough for kegs and taps I'm going to use it as a fermentation chamber. Later on it will be a coffin keezer and I figured why not include the fan now so it will be there and ready for when I install the coffin.

In short, what would be the best way of including a fan that powers on when the cooling is triggered? Sorry if this has been answered already, I skimmed the thread but didn't see anything exactly like what I wanted (its a big thread) Ubermick's was pretty close though but some aspects of it confuse me.
Click to expand...

You need to power an outlet as the poster above me noted. Then you need to find a 12V "wall wart" AC adapter, cut the tip off to expose the bare wires, splice them into the computer fan wires, and then plug the AC adapter into the outlet. Attempting to wire a 12VDC computer fan directly into the 120VAC circuit will destroy the fan and *possibly* cause a fire.
 
emjay said:
You need to power an outlet as the poster above me noted. Then you need to find a 12V "wall wart" AC adapter, cut the tip off to expose the bare wires, splice them into the computer fan wires, and then plug the AC adapter into the outlet. Attempting to wire a 12VDC computer fan directly into the 120VAC circuit will destroy the fan and *possibly* cause a fire.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan. Thank you both! :mug::mug:
 
Buy 2 wall sockets. Wire them up so 2 plugs are set for cool and 2 are for hot. I wish I had done this originally. Or just get a power splitter.
 
I joined the club!! Not very hard at all with all the cool diagrams and pictures from previous builds. I did butcher the box a bit but it all works!! Can't wait to try it out on my heated/cooled swamp cooler!
 
I'm no electrician, so would anyone mind giving me some input on this? Right now I'm not going to be using the heating unit but I'd like two sockets in case I need to run another fan.

Circuit.jpg
 
gmcapone said:
I'm no electrician, so would anyone mind giving me some input on this? Right now I'm not going to be using the heating unit but I'd like two sockets in case I need to run another fan.

Circuit.jpg
Click to expand...
You can wire two outlets just like using one. Just connect the output to one of the posts on the receptacle and don't break the tab. Are you going to use the duel stage or single stage?
 
Kingfish said:
You can wire two outlets just like using one. Just connect the output to one of the posts on the receptacle and don't break the tab. Are you going to use the duel stage or single stage?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I meant that I wanted two outlets, not sockets. I figure its better to have the extra sockets in case I need to add another fan. As of now I don't think I will be needing the heat, but I guess I wont know till I hook it up. I live in New Orleans and at least during the summer here I know i wont need the heat.
 
gmcapone said:
I'm sorry I meant that I wanted two outlets, not sockets. I figure its better to have the extra sockets in case I need to add another fan. As of now I don't think I will be needing the heat, but I guess I wont know till I hook it up. I live in New Orleans and at least during the summer here I know i wont need the heat.
Click to expand...

If your intention is to only have the fan come on when the cooling is activated, then your diagram looks good to me.
 
JuanMoore said:
If your intention is to only have the fan come on when the cooling is activated, then your diagram looks good to me.
Click to expand...

Yay, that was my intention. I'm going to be making a coffin keezer eventually, for now this is just giong to be used a fermentation chamber. You think I should have the fan on at all times to circulate air to the coffin or just needed when the cooler comes on?
 
gmcapone said:
Yay, that was my intention. I'm going to be making a coffin keezer eventually, for now this is just giong to be used a fermentation chamber. You think I should have the fan on at all times to circulate air to the coffin or just needed when the cooler comes on?
Click to expand...

This is JMO so take it for what it's worth, but I don't think a fan is needed for a ferm chamber. For cooling a coffin you'll probably want the fan running all the time. My keezer only turns on once every hour or so for a few minutes. I seriously doubt that would be enough to keep the lines and shanks in a coffin cold.
 
JuanMoore said:
This is JMO so take it for what it's worth, but I don't think a fan is needed for a ferm chamber. For cooling a coffin you'll probably want the fan running all the time. My keezer only turns on once every hour or so for a few minutes. I seriously doubt that would be enough to keep the lines and shanks in a coffin cold.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that makes sense. I'll just keep it on. Thank you for the help.
 

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