ebay aquarium temp controller build

[thekingofspain]

Group buy?

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/products/6281404/temperature_controllers_STC-1000.html

$13 each (200 minimum) plus shipping.

 

[user 40839]

Nice work! Any chance we can get a completed wiring diagram and photo of the guts now that you have the fan wiring all figured out. Very nice indeed!

Yup.

 

[sharpstick]

Group buy?

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/products/6281404/temperature_controllers_STC-1000.html

$13 each (200 minimum) plus shipping.

200 minimum buy is a bit much for this group. more importantly though, that model is 220v only. to use it in the USA, you'll need a 220v circuit available.
i doubt you could get more than 20 people in on a group buy like that. they might have the 110v version and sell fewer units. more likely, you can talk the guy on ebay into a volume discount. personally, i've found that trying to get a group of distant people to cooperate on something like this is not worth the hassle.

 

[chrispykid]

Hey guys, I just received shipment on the 110V version and I'm planning on incorporating it into a build like this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/water-fermentation-chiller-81501/

I already have the two coolers ready to go so I think it'll be a pretty cheap build. Since this plan requires that I take the temperature of the water around the carboy I wanted to see if there was a consensus about how to deal with that. Can I just drop the existing (rubbery looking) probe right in the water? Or do I need to put it in a thermowell of some sort?

 

[chrispykid]

Oh, another question: Is there a specific wire gauge I should be looking for when I wire this up?

 

[Walker]

14 gauge would me more than sufficient. That can handle 15A.

 

[AlchemyBrewing]

Super nice work. I love it. Mine will be ordered shortly!

 

[chrispykid]

14 gauge would me more than sufficient. That can handle 15A.

Thanks! I haven't really done much (any) work wiring electronics since a 7th or 8th grade shop class about 20 years ago - hopefully I'll be able to do this without electrocuting myself.

Can anyone else chime in about my first question?

Since this plan requires that I take the temperature of the water around the carboy I wanted to see if there was a consensus about how to deal with that. Can I just drop the existing (rubbery looking) probe right in the water? Or do I need to put it in a thermowell of some sort?

 

[Walker]

Can anyone else chime in about my first question?

Since this plan requires that I take the temperature of the water around the carboy I wanted to see if there was a consensus about how to deal with that. Can I just drop the existing (rubbery looking) probe right in the water? Or do I need to put it in a thermowell of some sort?

The thing is sold as an aquarium temp controller, so one would think.....

But, then again, as folks in this thread have noted, the seller is going to put terms in the title that draw the attention of people likely to buy a temp controller, so it's hard to say of it's waterproof for sure or not.

If you are concerned, you could always insert it into a long skinny balloon (like the ones clowns twist and tie into shapes) and keep the mouth of the balloon above the surface.

 

[StrmStlkr]

Yup.

I just orderd this temperature controller and am waiting for it to come in. In the meantime I plan on buying everything else that I needed and was having a few problems finding a few items.

1.) I can't for the life of me find any terminal blocks to jumper the 120v over to the three sources needed for this build. Do I have to use a terminal block or would a wire nut work to jumper the 120v to three sources?
2.) Where did you purchase those lamps and do they have to be soldered in?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Walker]

1.) I can't for the life of me find any terminal blocks to jumper the 120v over to the three sources needed for this build. Do I have to use a terminal block or would a wire nut work to jumper the 120v to three sources?

Where do you live? Lowe's, Home Depot, and Radio Shack all carry those items. You can also get them on e-bay.

Wire nuts would also work, but if you find a place that sells wire-nuts, the terminal strips are probably only a few feet away in the aisle.

 

[StrmStlkr]

I live by all of those places but the lowes sales associate looked at me like I was crazy and I didn't really see any by the wire nuts but didn't look really close. Radio shack had some but he told me that he wouldn't use it for 120v application as it was meant for low voltage use. As you can tell, this is my first attempt at anything like this. I will have to look closer or just use wire nuts since I already have them. I was just trying to make it look cleaner.

 

[Walker]

At lowe's they are in the same aisle where all of the wire nuts and electrical tools are. In the two Lowe's and one Home Depot that I frequent, they were hanging high on the wall and look like this:

 

[sharpstick]

Yup.

I got my two controllers this week, very quick shipment!
I don't understand how this relay is working. I think it is activated by power to either of the two relay connections #1 or #3. This energizes the relay and powers the fan. I take it that this relay will be energized by either input without back feeding to the other, right? What is the part number or radio shack number of this relay so I can find a pinout and specs? Is it SS or mechanical? I can't find one 10 amp mechanical relay there. Nothing bigger, SS or mechanical.
BTW, plain old wirenuts should work fine.
If you want to be extra safe, I would also suggest putting a 15 amp inline fuse if you use #14 gauge wire. You could theoretically overheat the wire if supply is from a 20 amp breaker.

 

[chrispykid]

I finally got around to building this controller out using the plans Android provided and the help of an electrician friend. It's all wired up and working great as I tested it out with some lamps. Big thanks out to Android for starting the thread and puttting together the wiring diagram and to Walker for stepping up and answering my questions.

Next step is to install the pump/plumbing and an aquarium heater to complete my liquid fermentation bath. With ambient temperatures regularly up in the 80s this will be key in turning out consistent beers.

 

[sharpstick]

is it just me, or are the instructions that come with these controllers vague and incorrect? i tried following the instructions to set the temp and it didn't seem to respond as it was supposed to. only when i started randomly punching the buttons did i finally get it set. i hope i can remember what i did next time!
has anyone written a better set of instructions?

 

[wyzazz]

is it just me, or are the instructions that come with these controllers vague and incorrect? i tried following the instructions to set the temp and it didn't seem to respond as it was supposed to. only when i started randomly punching the buttons did i finally get it set. i hope i can remember what i did next time!
has anyone written a better set of instructions?

Seemed to work OK for me.

 

[android]

yeah, they worked fine for me too... is there one setpoint you're having difficulties with?

 

[chrispykid]

Sharpstick, If you haven't used or built one of these things before the instructions suck - mostly because they never define terms. For others who have used similar devices it probably seems very familiar, but as someone who has never used one before I also found it confusing. They're weirdly written, but they're not incorrect.

Once you figure it out it's exceedingly simple to use.

Here's how I make sense of it:

There are four things you can change:

F1 Temperature Set Value - This is your target, the temperature you'd like the controller to retain, it can range from -50C to 99C, it defaults at 10C
F2 Difference set value - This is how much wiggle room you'll allow before you want the controller to start heating or cooling your environment, it can range from .3C to 10C, it defaults at .5C
F3 Compressor delay - This is how much time you'll force the controller to delay in between cooling cycles to protect against it wearing out your refrigerator or freezer's compressor. If you turn a refrigerator off and on every 15 seconds you run the risk of killing it. This setting protects against that. The setting can range from 1-10 minutes, it defaults at 3 minutes
F4 Temperature Calibration Value - If you think the controller is wrong about the current temperature (presumably because you have another thermometer that you trust that's giving you a different reading) you can make corrections to the controller's measurements to calibrate it. Corrections can range from -10C to plus 10C, defaults at 0C

The default display is the current temperature that the probe is reading.
If the heat light is on it's heating the environment
If the cooling light is on it's cooling the environment
If the cooling light is blinking it's waiting out the compressor delay before cooling

You can press the "S" button to cycle through and select the setting you want to change. When you get to the setting you'd like to manipulate you can hold down the "S" button and the up or down key simultaneously to change that setting. When you reach your desired number release the two buttons and press the power button to save your change. If you don't press the power button within ten seconds your change will be lost and you'll have to start over. So make sure you save each setting after you set it, you can't set all four and save once.

Capice?

 

[user 40839]

The details of the relay, as well as all the parts I used (and where I got 'em) are in my build thread here.

I got my two controllers this week, very quick shipment!
I don't understand how this relay is working. I think it is activated by power to either of the two relay connections #1 or #3. This energizes the relay and powers the fan. I take it that this relay will be energized by either input without back feeding to the other, right? What is the part number or radio shack number of this relay so I can find a pinout and specs?

This is the relay in question from Radioshack.

Basically, it's a DPDT switch that's activated by a current instead of a toggle.

Pins 7 and 8 are a magnetic coil. When power's supplied to the coil, it flips the switch. It's normally on position is pin 1. So power comes in from either heating or cooling, and flows to pin 2, which is the switched output - the fan. Which means (in my diagram) whenever power is flowing to the cooling side, it's also flowing to the fan. When the control box switches to heating mode, it provides power to the coil and also pin 3. The coil will cause the internal switch to flip from pin 1 to pin 3, thereby still providing power to the fan.

 

[TRainH2o]

Well I finally got around to building my temp controller last night. I brewed an IPA and was eager to put it into use.

I checked my temp this morning and it had reverted back to 10˚C. I missed the part where you had to push the power button to save changes. The directions that came with mine didn't say that you had to.

Oh well, my temp is now coming back up......SLOWLY. I'll give the carboy a good swirl to wake my yeast up when I hit 20˚C.

 

[StrmStlkr]

I got mine up and running and it worked like a charm. Until the day I actually needed it. I brewed yesterday and but the carboy in it and when I got home from work the controller was off. I reset the GFCI plug and it came up but as soon as the fridge tried to turn on it would fault out again. Needless to say my fridge is shot.

I wonder if this has to do with it cycling on and off? I set the compressor delay to 10 minutes and taped the sensor to the outside of the carboy with bubble wrap on the outside. Was there something wrong with that method?

 

[Walker]

I got mine up and running and it worked like a charm. Until the day I actually needed it. I brewed yesterday and but the carboy in it and when I got home from work the controller was off. I reset the GFCI plug and it came up but as soon as the fridge tried to turn on it would fault out again. Needless to say my fridge is shot.

Have you tried plugging the fridge directly into the wall to verify if it's the fridge or your controller that is causing the problem?

 

[StrmStlkr]

Have you tried plugging the fridge directly into the wall to verify if it's the fridge or your controller that is causing the problem?

Yes, I plugged it into a outlet without a GFCI and the compressor never turned on but the light would work on the inside. When I plugged the fridge directly into the GFCI outlet it tripped instantly again.

 

[TRainH2o]

How are you guys removing the tab to separate the two outlets? I keep breaking the outlet itself. I bought the cheapest ones that I saw, which may be the problem.

At least I have the cooling side setup. That's all I need for now as my basement stays at 70˚F this time of year.

 

[camiller]

How are you guys removing the tab to separate the two outlets? I keep breaking the outlet itself. I bought the cheapest ones that I saw, which may be the problem.

At least I have the cooling side setup. That's all I need for now as my basement stays at 70˚F this time of year.

The best way is to bend the tab up with a screwdriver then repeatedly bend down/up with needle nose pliers until metal fatigue makes it break off. You should not have to apply much force. My dad is a retired electrician, as a kid I watched him do this countless times when wireing a living room where you wanted the bottom socket to be switched (for lamps) and the top to be constantly on for other stuff.

 

[wyzazz]

You can use a pair of needle nose pliers, I did this for one of mine the other I used two small extension cord ends for.

 

[StrmStlkr]

Agreed. Just bend it back and forth until it breaks. Took me like 30 something times or something. Good news on my situation though. I started troubleshooting my broken fridge and found that the compressor and start relay are both fine. Pluged it in and checked voltage at the relay, no voltage so I started working my way upstream and after messing with the fan and thermostat switch it started working.

It must be a loose connection at the fan or thermostat switch (fridge). If it goes down again I will check these places first and if I determine it is a problem with the fridge thermostat, I will just jumper the hot line.

 

[ScubaSteve]

If ya had to replace the probe, does anyone have an idea of what kind of thermocouple it uses? I'm considering using it for BBQ as well...would like to replace with a high temp style probe.

 

[thekingofspain]

Anyone mount this to their keezer with the display exposed in the collar?

If you put in the back corner one side of the 90 could be the display and the other side could be the outlets.

For the display in the front of the keezer, you could do the same as above and just run a long extension to the back out the keezer and into the wall.

Can the project box be made out of wood?