Stc-1000+

I'm designing this right now; taking STC-1000 hacking above German engineering standards.

 

You don't have to use profiles to use the stc-1000 + software, there is a thermostat mode which is what most use a lot of the time including myself.

Greg

 

DITTO here. I loves me my STC1000+, and while I will sometimes try the English-Weird-Bouncing-Temperature fermentation profile, I generally stick to "Set at 63, hy=0.5, GO" mode=th

 

@wbarber69: it is just a proof of concept so far... It most certainly is possible to do, but in is not really there yet. And yes, you will definately need to flash the stc as well...

 

Just got my esp8266 in today. It has a different pin configuration than yours. But I must admit it's super tiny. I can't wait to start messing with it.

 

You could do something like this, like the others recommended. Note how I used short brown wires to connect the terminals.

 

Thanks for the pics - exactly what I was hoping someone would have! I was able to get a wire from the sensor switches (hot/cold) easily on the inside of the box by navigating the wire in between the plastic switch housings. However, connecting the STC-1000 power is more difficult because there isn't the same gap between the switches of the power and sensor. Going around the side isn't possible in the stock case and going around the front blocks the wire openings. I ended up going through the top of the case.

Lots of options if I do a different case or smaller wire, etc. Something I'll maybe explore later.

 

I love this project! So much so that it finally pushed me over the edge on replacing the mechanical thermostats in my ferm chambers with STC1000+'s. Check out the build here. Special thanks to poster disney7 both for his help in testing the STC1000+ firmware and in helping me cut, solder, and wire wrap my fridge's back to life.

Write up with lots of pics can be found here.

 

What's the log in?

 

Kampenken, no login needed, just scroll down and the pics are there

 

@alphaomega how's the esp8266 stuff comin'? I just got my kegerator running raspberrypints over bluetooth and registering pours. Now I need to get it running its own webserver!

 

I haven't had a chance to work on it. I just don't have any spare time at the moment.
If you want to mess around yourself, I can put what I have in github, but it is nowhere near where it needs to be.

 

I want to build a 1000+. I bought a couple of STC-1000 units but they aren't built on the A400-P boards. Does anyone know of a way to reliably source the correct version of the controller, or if they are no longer readily available has anyone looked at how other versions could be programmed? Looking for some guidance here... Thanks!

Edit: Working on the theory that the manufacturer has to program the microcontroller somehow, and that the connection points for programming must still exist on the board. I have on my board five points, labeled NTC1, NTC2, VCC, RST and GND. This looks analogous to the programming pins in the STC1000+ guides.



I'm willing to give it a try, but there's one thing I want to verify first: that the processor on mine is the same as what is on the A400 board. Here's an image of the chip. It has the markings:

HOLTEK
HT66F40
B433K066763



Can someone who has the correct board post the markings so I can check compatibility?

 

On a Norwegian brewers forum, they've found that ebay seller "gadgetinfinite" sells the correct version, time and again. I've recently bought from that seller. Got the correct version.

http://stores.ebay.com/gadgetinfinite?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

 

Or here http://www.boostbysmith.com/stc1000.html

 

I know this isn't a reliable way to the good boards but I just ordered two from Amazon and they were both A400_P boards v1.1. I went into it needing one that was flashable for a fermentation fridge and one that could just hold low temps for a keezer build. I figured I would hopefully get one that was flashable but somehow got lucky I guess. These were ordered last Thursday (June 4th) in the DC/Balt area and delivered from the Sterling, VA warehouse if that makes any difference. I ordered one from each of the following listings:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KVCPH2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KA4Y2P0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01

 

Hi guys!
I'm gonna tell it like it is right now.
I know the manufacturer of the correct stc's, in fact I've ordered modified units (with dual probes) directly from them. You could also have them preflashed with stc-1000+ firmware. They also have a webstore where you can order single units (standard stc, but at least the correct hw version).
Now, I'm dying to tell you the manufacturer. I feel like this is the 'missing piece' to the stc-1000+ project.
But the thing is the only reason I know who the manufacturer is, is because Will Conrad tracked them down. How he did it I don't know, but most of us know it involved ordering a lot of 'wrong' units.
Will is a great guy and due to him not having the time to put into this anymore, he agreed to reveal the source, he just wanted to unload the remaining stock first. Around 60 units he told me. Now this was a few months ago, and I have tried asking him for progress, but it seems he just can't run the store at the moment.
It is frustrating, but I really don't want say anything until Will is ready.

 

I met Will once, great guy. That's good of you not to release the info just yet. Either way, wouldn't someone have to order large quantities from the manufacturer? I have gotten units from various sources, got some from amazon and ebay (along with several incompatible ones), Will, and Brewsbysmith. Personally I didn't mind paying the extra $10 to get a for sure unit. I've spent way more on other brew stuff to experiment with that didn't pan out. Even at $25-$30 these units are a real steal for what they can accomplish. I'm not sure if it is too late to do this, but is there any way the first post can be edited to include some of the sources for people selling the correct ones? It may cut down the number of people asking where to get one without reading the 1,900 posts in this thread.

 

At least for my situation, I'm getting them through Will, but have to order 100 at a time through his supplier. Again I'm happy to pay more through wills known good connection. I have them in stock for anyone needing them. I am out of town until next week though.

 

@Spellman: As I said, they do have a webstore (through one of the major players) where you can order single units. You'd probably need to buy in bulk if ordering directly from them, but while you do get a discount, shipping, customs and taxes made the units (at least for me in Sweden) slightly *more* expensive in the end when buying in bulk.
I have lost the possibility to edit the first post a long time ago.. Maybe admins could do it for me, but I don't feel like that is a good solution in thw long run anyway. I'd rather have ppl checking in on the github space.

 

My theory is that they gotta program the chips somehow, and they do it on the board. So there have to be programming points on the other board versions. The question is whether the microprocessor is the same. If someone could take a look at their A400P board and read the text on the processor chip, I can see if it matches mine. If it does, I'm going to try to program it using the contact points that I've identified as being likely to be the correct ones. If the processor is different then attempting to program it will probably brick it. I'd like to get a verification before I go for it.

Could someone take a look at their board and give me the numbers off the processor chip? We might be able to make this process work on other versions of the device.

In the mean time I went ahead and ordered one from GadgetInfinite, hopefully it will be the right one. Thanks for all your responses!

 

If I had one that was easily accessible I would do this for you. Unfortunately, both of mine are installed in controller boxes with wires going everywhere and it would not be an easy feat to get a picture of what you're after. I hope that someone else can get you the information you need because if you're willing to be the guinea pig then it's win-win .

 

If im not mistaken the whole reason the other versions are not programmable at this time is the fact that they DO USE OTHER microprocessors but thats already been covered in this thread if you want to go back and read it. a couple people did try to load the program on others but it failed.

 

I have a post up there a ways that has pictures of thw boards and revisions. I will find it for you once i am at a real computer as my phone is a real sonofabitch and hates to work with this app.

 

Yeah it's a pretty big thread, and the search function isn't great on these forums. I was hoping someone would come along and tell me whether it's been done or not. Thanks for doing that, Augiedoggy. You saved me hours of poking around.

 

[/IMG]

 

A question for those that are flashing units...

I tried to demo this process to some club members, and things don't seem to work as I would expect IF you don't do things in the exactly correct sequence, or repeatably.

I demoed the STC not present result, then applied power, but nothing happens when you send the 'd'. It's silently ignored. You can send a 'd' as many times as you want before connecting it and it responds every time, but once I apply power, nothing till I start over. I normally connect all wires except 5v first, but my personal units have a 5 pin connector (and a custom arduino shield board) so all get connected at once. Neither connection method made a difference.

I can upload from a clean start so long as I don't send the 'd' before the stc is powered up, so I know it's all good. Has anyone else seen this? I even tried an arduino reset to restart the code, but I believe that set the com port offline and I had to start over anyway.

Is there a way to do multiple units in succession without starting over every time? I'm not doing but a few, but it's frustrating that I can't seem to find the right process.

On a related note, is the profile page that alphaomega set up supposed to save the profiles you enter to the code that is downloaded from the button at the bottom? I keyed in 4 profiles, then clicked the button, but the profiles uploaded from that were still the default values. (another club member demo I did) Am I missing something here? I've got 5 chambers of which 2 are for lagers, and plan to have the programming wires permanently attached with connectors on the back panel of my cabinet for ease of updates, be it new profiles or new code.

Hope this all makes sense. Thanks, John

 

Sounds like my love life.

Awww...

 

You're not alone.....

 

@jleiii: In the sketch, you can change AUTOMATIC_UPLOAD_FAHRENHEIT to 1. Then you don't need to send the command at all. Just reset / power cycle the arduino to start a new upload. That makes it a lot easier to do multiple uploads.

And yes, the profiles should be included in the sketch as defined in the editor. That is the whole point. Though you need of course to send the correct command to also upload the eeprom data. Also make sure you really upload the generated file to the arduino before flashing the stc.
That being said, there could of course be an issue with the editor. I don't test that much, because it is boring and I'd rather have you guys do it Also I'm not that great at javascript... But, I find it strange that the default values should be what shows up, as I recall they are not included. It should either work ok or not at all...

Cheers!

 

Thanks. The profile thing really through me off. It only made sense that it would load into the hex data of the sketch. I just tried the download of the defaults, then changed values and downloaded again and I do see a difference in the eeprom hex data. I guess I did some thing wrong last time. Sorry for thinking anything was wrong!

 

I found the error of my ways. Apparently you have to power off the Arduino before you connect the STC. I mis-read that at some point. 10 consecutive fails applying power to the STC when the arduino is already on, then out of frustration powered both off and back on and then it works every time. But, the arduino code loses contact with the com port frequently, and have to power off/on again. Same with the reset button. The status bar turns orange, and reports no device on com2, even after it's back on. Maybe a timing thing?

 

Hey guys, sorry for the months of silence on my end, been a crazy year! New job, new city, and a baby on the way, so there hasn't been time for me to keep up with this project. I'm finally getting back into it, but don't want to keep you guys from "the source" of flashable STCs any longer, so here it is:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/temperature-controller-STC-1000/1305777_2004466302.html

Happy Brewing and thanks again to Mats and the HBT "team" on this thread for pulling together this awesome project!

 

That's awesome wilconrad! Are those for either 220v or 110v? It looks like they are 220.

Thanks again!

 

They have both (110 & 220), you might have to specify at checkout? I'm not sure as I have only dealt with them directly.

 

Overheard in the aliexpress data center.... 'did everything just slow down?'

 

Well, on behalf of everyone. Thank you Will! For this and everything else!

 

Alright folks, I've sat and thought about it for a while and just can't seem to wrap my head around what I need to change to accomplish what I want so it is time to crowd source an answer from folks that are much smarter than I when it comes to the STC1000+ (or just in general!)

Normally I run a profile where I sit at 64 for a day then ramp over 4 days to 72 where I hold it for 2 day before I start a slow cold crash. The ramping etc all works fine, but what bothers me is the amount of fluctuations in temperature and the fact that the heater is kicking in. I watched several cycles and even put in a temp logger to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Here's what happens:

Temp exceeds SetPoint+Hysteresis, cooling kicks on, temp comes back down to SetPoint, cooling kicks off, but temperature keeps dropping to about 3° lower than SetPoint, so after 12 minute wait (heating delay) heater kicks in and drives temp to set point, where heater kicks off and temp swings up to a few degrees above SetPoint when the fridge kicks on again and we start the wild ride all over again.

I submerged the logger and found that the temperature of the beer stays steady and very close to where I want it (yay thermal mass) but the fridge and the heater are constantly fighting each other! Normally I have the probe taped to the outside of the better bottle with a large wad of old t-shirt over that. I've also tried this by just submerging the probe in a large bucket of water and got the same effects. There's a fan in the mini fridge to move air around and the heater is a old heating pad set at it's lowest setting or a 50 watt reptile bulb in a can (I have two fermenters that do the same thing).

What settings can I change so that the cooling kicks off with SetPoint + 2° so that the downward coast of the temperature will not trip the heater?

Current Settings:
SetPoint : 64
Hy : 1.0
Hy2: 1.0
tc -0.1
tc2 0.0
SA 0.0
cd 6
hd 12
rp 1
Pb2 0

 

That actually sounds a little normal. If you were using brewpi with a probe in the wort and one in the fridge air space, you'd see similar rise and fall. As for the heating and cooling kicking on and off. You may want to look at overshoot temps. I know in my brewpi setup the script will wait to see if the temperature "peaks" before deciding whether or not to turn on the necessary heating or cooling cycle.

 

@stoneBriar: This is what I suggest. Try to use a heater with the minimal required wattage to do the job. Try to insulate the probe better. Bump up the hysteresis. Increase heating and cooling delay.