Stc-1000 temp controller failure

I havent brewed in a while and just went out to kind of check on things in the brew shed in prep for upcoming brews.. Opened the ferment room and it was cold as heck. the temp controller was switched to HEAT but the heater was not on. I pulled the heater and plugged it into another outlet and it worked fine. pulled the temp controllr apart and some wires were all melted inside, and the controller itself was even disfigured from heat. the cool side works fine but the heat side is trashed so I have to get a new one. I THINK I used way too small gauged wire and melted it. So a little tip for future builders, use the heaviest wire you can fit in the controller. Now I gotta buy a new one.

 

What kind of heater are you using? The relays are only rated for 10 amps you may be overloading them.

 

just a small space heater.. never even thought to look at the amps...I used it all last winter and it just quit. I was out there a week ago and it was fine...

 

A lot of space heaters draw quite a bit.

 

And the gauge wire used is a big cause.

 

If your heater is over 1000W it's too much for an STC-1000.

 

If your heater draws to many amps it could be possible to get a contactor or ssr to turn the heater on and off and use the stc-1000 to control the contactor or ssr.

 

cooling side still works.. the heat side is FRIED.

 

Steve,

If it's only the relay and output circuit traces that are fried, you can unsolder the relay and run the two traces that supply the relay out to the input of an SSR. The relay is run from 12v DC, so there are a lot of SSR's that you can get to switch heavier loads.

 

way way over my head.. 21 bucks shipped for a new one sounds easier lol

 

Might be a little over your head but if your forcing to many amps through the relay it will happen again. Next time it might not just warp, and fail. Next time it might catch on fire. I don't want to seem like I am trying to scare you I just want you to know what is possible if you are overloading it.

 

Check the current draw of that heater.

 

I just use a DIY paint can fermenter heater on the heat side of my STC-1000. Not much draw and it works like a champ inside my upright freezer.

 

this is a small closet sized room....

 

You may be surprised at how much heat a 90W bulb inside a paint can will generate.

 

you could also use a reptile heater - uses a light-bulb standard socket (you want a ceramic one, but still. . . ) - can keep a decent sized space warm without drawing a lot of power. You'd be surprised, as Floyd said.

 

Especially if you only need to keep that closet just 5-10*F warmer than the house.

 

fwiw, my cold season fermentation cabinet is 32 cubic feet, kept warm with a 100w ceramic resistor array running on a Ranco controller. Given how little it runs, I'm sure that 100w element could handle at least twice the volume, which would get you into small closet territory...

Cheers!

 

it is not in the house..in an unheated shed outside.. only the closet is insulated and heated. it can be 60 degrees or more different between inside the closet and outside of it.

 

Wow.

How well is it insulated?

 

I mounted a STC-1000 inside an electrical box with little ventilation and used it to control the cooling side of a chest freezer (~36F-40F or so). After a few days of garage temps reaching 95F degrees, the unit was shot and would no longer display.

The ebay seller sent me a replacement, but I ended up buying a spare just in case it happens again.

I have since vented my electrical box and now keep the freezer in the cooler basement.

 

very...about to get better. Just scored some serious insulation I THINK.