ChucknBeer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2015
- Messages
- 79
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It doesn't look too fancy and the picture is meh, but I'm very proud of it.
It is a glass window fridge with a reinforced wood stand for the second bucket. Each bucket has a SS thermowell. The heat-cooling cycle is controlled by an STC-1000 encased in the white box with the power inlet, including a 25A SSR in the cooling cycle for added security; the STC probe goes to the lower bucket. The second thermostat unit is a Wilhi controller (heating OR cooling) which is only used to check the temp of the upper bucket.
The heating element is a 75w incandescent bulb inside a small coffee can, hanging from the metal tray. I will replace it with a ceramic 50w heater bulb today, to avoid any problems with the light. I made some research and the light from the bulb should not affect the beer, it looks like a lot in the picture, but it is an effect of the low environment light.
I finished this setup yesterday, the system works awesomely. You can see that the temp difference between the two buckets is only .1°C (room temp was 8°C (46.4°F).
The STC was set at 18°C (64.4°F) with a 0.5°C delay. Why 0.5°? the instructions from the manual were not clear and I though that the delay only affected the cooling cycle and not the heating: it affects both.
I will use a higher delay only during the day, maybe 0.3°C. In the night I will allow maybe a 0.1°C delay.
Cheers!
It is a glass window fridge with a reinforced wood stand for the second bucket. Each bucket has a SS thermowell. The heat-cooling cycle is controlled by an STC-1000 encased in the white box with the power inlet, including a 25A SSR in the cooling cycle for added security; the STC probe goes to the lower bucket. The second thermostat unit is a Wilhi controller (heating OR cooling) which is only used to check the temp of the upper bucket.
The heating element is a 75w incandescent bulb inside a small coffee can, hanging from the metal tray. I will replace it with a ceramic 50w heater bulb today, to avoid any problems with the light. I made some research and the light from the bulb should not affect the beer, it looks like a lot in the picture, but it is an effect of the low environment light.
I finished this setup yesterday, the system works awesomely. You can see that the temp difference between the two buckets is only .1°C (room temp was 8°C (46.4°F).
The STC was set at 18°C (64.4°F) with a 0.5°C delay. Why 0.5°? the instructions from the manual were not clear and I though that the delay only affected the cooling cycle and not the heating: it affects both.
I will use a higher delay only during the day, maybe 0.3°C. In the night I will allow maybe a 0.1°C delay.
Cheers!
