ebay aquarium temp controller build

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raouliii: Yes, there is a jumper in there that is as low profile as I could get. Nice catch!! The link you have is the exact one that I have.
 
raouliii: Yes, there is a jumper in there that is as low profile as I could get. Nice catch!! The link you have is the exact one that I have.
Looks like you're using two wire lamp cord. I'd recommend using a cord with a ground, attached to the receptacle. The fridge/freezer should then get a good ground from the house wiring.
 
Looks like you're using two wire lamp cord. I'd recommend using a cord with a ground, attached to the receptacle. The fridge/freezer should then get a good ground from the house wiring.

I actually just used that wiring to test the configuration. I now have it hooked directly up to the wiring on my wine fridge bypassing the stock relay and temperature control circuit. The outlet is for future heating needs and not grounded. I'll wait and see if any heating pads need a grounding wire or not.
 
Just thought I would add my temp controller build to the list. I was looking for something as small as possible yet still allow for an outlet. Digging around the local big orange home supply center, I found a plastic box that measures 4x4x2. So of to work I went cramming everything inside and here are my results.

TempControllerApart.JPG


And all closed up ready to be put to use:
TempControllerTogether.JPG


I think the only change I would make is to place the controller about 1/8-3/16th of an inch lower in the box. As it is right now, the outlet pushes on the controller a bit, but too much. Ready to control the heating and cooling for my fermentation chamber year round! Time to brew up some Lager!

I used the same size box, and put the outlet in the back. Plenty of room that way.
 
I used the same size box, and put the outlet in the back. Plenty of room that way.

I was thinking about doing that as well, but wanted to have the power cord going out the back for placement in my fridge. Good to know that you can place the outlet in the back as well.
 
Hey I am trying to convert my wine fridge into a fermentation chamber.

The problem I am having is the fridge defaults to its factory settings every time the power is turned off. I would like to bypass this feature if I could.

I have looked all through the 4000+ posts for this issue but could not find any info on this. I am presently building the dual controller with the STC-1000 to use in this project.
I will be plugging the fridge and a small heater in to the dual controller.

I have included a couple pics of the wiring diagram, circuit board and the temp probe.
I have tried just unplugging the temp probe but the alarm sounds and the fridge doesn't work. Also tried unplugging the connectors from the circuit board.

I can wire and build projects but my electrical knowledge is very weak. I would appreciate any help or direction to another thread.

IMG_1460.jpg


IMG_1461.jpg


IMG_1464.jpg
 
Hey I am trying to convert my wine fridge into a fermentation chamber.

The problem I am having is the fridge defaults to its factory settings every time the power is turned off. I would like to bypass this feature if I could.

I have looked all through the 4000+ posts for this issue but could not find any info on this. I am presently building the dual controller with the STC-1000 to use in this project.
I will be plugging the fridge and a small heater in to the dual controller.

I have included a couple pics of the wiring diagram, circuit board and the temp probe.
I have tried just unplugging the temp probe but the alarm sounds and the fridge doesn't work. Also tried unplugging the connectors from the circuit board.

I can wire and build projects but my electrical knowledge is very weak. I would appreciate any help or direction to another thread.

Just a guess here by looking at the provided schematic, try jumping the red and white wires in the lower left of your circuit board and see if the compressor kicks on. Trace those two wires back to the compressor to be sure they connect to it. If so, then those are the two wires that would connect to your temp controller.
 
Since the unit resets itself when it is unplugged, is it your intention to plug the fridge into an external STC1000 controller and bypass the internal controller?

If so, it should be the black and red wires on the lower left of the circuit board that need to be jumped together. The Black is HOT and the Red is the HOT to the compressor. The red wire should be disconnected from the original board and jumped to the black wire with a good solid electrical connection. It may be best to strip a couple inches of the black jacket from the black/red/white bundle to do a good job. Cut the black wire and the red wire. Strip the insulation and wire nut the two black wires with the red wire that goes to the compressor, together. Cap off the red wire that goes to the control board. All the other existing wires can be left intact to keep the existing control board happy, it just will no longer have control of the compressor. In this configuration, the fridge compressor will always run when it is plugged in, so be sure to use that external controller.

The internal controller will power up and down with the STC1000 controlled power. If you want the internal controller to not even power up then don't include the black wire to the controller in the wire nut. Of course, the internal light would no longer function at that point.
 
raouliii is correct. You want to connect the black and red wires to run the compress all the time or use those two wires across your controller relay. I didn't look at the schematic thoroughly before.
 
Couldn't you simply open the inside thermostat (behind the Min-Max temp dial) and jumper the two wires together? This would cause the compressor to always run, then just plug in the fridge power thru your STC-1000 to control the temp? This way no permanent modification is done to your fridge.

Robert
 
Couldn't you simply open the inside thermostat (behind the Min-Max temp dial) and jumper the two wires together? This would cause the compressor to always run, then just plug in the fridge power thru your STC-1000 to control the temp? This way no permanent modification is done to your fridge.

Robert
I'm sure there are other ways to skin this cat.

There were no photos of any min/max dial or thermostat therefore I offered no options that were associated with them.

The wiring diagram indicates the existence of a display board with the probe connected. The display board is connected to the control board with a four conductor plug. Given a clearer pic of this plug's labeling and luck that the labeling is meaningful, I would think a jumper could be placed there to force the control board to always have its relay closed. This would allow for complete control with an external controller. One advantage of doing it this way would be that only low voltage is being modified/jumpered.

If other pics are provided of the display board, even more options may arise.
 
It also depends on his controller as to whether or not he can plug it into a controlled outlet. What if he wants to heat using a 120v element and the fridge control circuit is only 12v? There's also the possibility that the temp range on his fridge doesn't get cold enough as was the case with my converted wine fridge. There is always the option to just unplug the circuit board and use a spade connector to wire in the new temp controller.
 
i was excited about the prospect of this temp controller, so i got one from ebay and put the whole thing in a project box from radio shack. one plug is switched for heating and the other for cooling. i have yet to build up my fermentation chamber that i'll use this on, but preliminary tests confirmed that the unit worked great. there is a 0.3 deg C differential on this thing, so it is pretty accurate and easy to set. i used a 14 gauge extension cord for all the wires. it does read in celcius, but that's OK by me.

all of the parts:
DSC00889.jpg


did some sloppy cut outs and wired it up:
DSC00899.jpg


power cord and sensor gives plenty of slack:
DSC00892.jpg


close up of the temp controller:
DSC00896.jpg


powered up:
DSC00890.jpg


my wiring diagram (sloppy also). i only used one wire nut to join the hot wires as you can see in one of the pics above. also, very important to break off the jumper tab on the hot side so you can control each outlet independently.
possibleschematic.jpg
I followed your diagram/photographs and it works like a champ. Though I did make one error in that I cut both connections between the outlet sockets and had to make a jumper........
Thanks a lot....I now have a keezer with a secondary temp controller for fermentation!!!
 
This is my 1st posting so I'm not sure I will be successful??
I followed your diagram/photographs and the unit works like a champ!!!
Had one small initial problem in that I cut both connections between the plug in receptacle so I had to make a jumper on one side.
I now have a keezer with its own controller and with this I can by-pass it when fermenting brew!!!
Thanks a lot
oldgringo
 
Hey thanks for the feedback. I did what Rauoliii had said to do.

I cut the red and attached to the black and then capped the red to the board.

The fridge runs. But if I unplug the fridge and plug back in the default setting returns to the digital panel.

So if this is correct, even though the digital default resets back to 11C, the fridge will continue to run on forever?

I included a couple pics as asked for. It shows the wires unconnected but I have connected those up.

I have it running now to see what happens. Thanks for helping guys...

IMG_1466.jpg


IMG_1467.jpg
 
Hey thanks for the feedback. I did what Rauoliii had said to do.

I cut the red and attached to the black and then capped the red to the board.

The fridge runs. But if I unplug the fridge and plug back in the default setting returns to the digital panel.

So if this is correct, even though the digital default resets back to 11C, the fridge will continue to run on forever?

I included a couple pics as asked for. It shows the wires unconnected but I have connected those up.

I have it running now to see what happens. Thanks for helping guys...
It will only run when the external controller provides power to it. Without the red wire from the control board connected, the control board no longer has any control over the compressor operation.

Please keep in mind. You must use an external controller in this configuration. Do not plug it into a regular receptacle for an extended length of time.
 
OK ya I plugged it in and monitored it. It went on and below its regular set point. Which is excellent!

Then I unplugged and then plugged back in. The digital preset to its factory reset of 10C and the compressor did not resume running…

This should not have happened right? Not sure now if it will be of any use if every time the dual controller stops and starts the fridge will reset to 10C…

What do you think?
 
OK ya I plugged it in and monitored it. It went on and below its regular set point. Which is excellent!....
Plugged it into what? An STC1000 controller/receptacle build? A wall receptacle?

...Then I unplugged and then plugged back in. The digital preset to its factory reset of 10C and the compressor did not resume running….
The only thing the wiring modification has done to the fridge is disconnected the HOT wire from the compressor. All other functionality will remain the same, but the internal control board will not control operation of the compressor.

....This should not have happened right? Not sure now if it will be of any use if every time the dual controller stops and starts the fridge will reset to 10C…

What do you think?
It won't matter what the fridge thermostat is set to since it doesn't control anything. The external STC1000 controller has all of the control. Is there some other residual use of the thermostat that you were expecting? Would you rather the internal control board not even power up?

BTW, the internal light will only function when the external STC1000 controller has applied power to the fridge.
 
Hey I got the fermentation chamber finally built. Thanks for the all the electrical knowledge Raouliii. The fridge functions as you said it would.

I mounted the plug-in in the back so its out of the way and the STC-1000 on the side so it is easily viewed while leaning over from the the front.

Vienna Lager next...

IMG_1468.jpg


IMG_1469.jpg
 
So... looks like I might have bought the wrong controller? Anyone recognize this unit? It appears to be missing some connection ports. What should I do?

photo 1.jpg


photo 2.jpg
 
So... looks like I might have bought the wrong controller? Anyone recognize this unit? It appears to be missing some connection ports. What should I do?


You got a single stage. It can only run heating or cooling, not both.


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Send it back or hire a electrician, look for the plug in type with no harness from beverage factory $79 ImageUploadedByHome Brew1400205866.512008.jpg simply drill hole for temp sensor and plug it in :)


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Send it back or hire a electrician, look for the plug in type with no harness from beverage factory $79 simply drill hole for temp sensor and plug it in :)

From the looks of it, paulquinn want's to control heating as well. So that doesn't work for his needs. Besides, he already spent the time, money and cut a hole in his fridge for a replacement controller, an additional $20 is easier to stomach than replacing everything he's already purchased for an additional $80 that won't even control a heating element.

There are those who would prefer an easy to install Johnson controller and those who would prefer something a little more custom and DIY. I thing paulquinn falls into the latter.
 
I'm installing an STC-1000 in a full-sized fridge, that I intend to use for conditioning my beers. I brew in the town where I work and keep a motor home, and room temp in a motor home in the middle of summer isn't tolerable for man or beast, much less beer, unless I want to run an AC 24/7. And I don't....

I don't have a schematic for the fridge, but I accessed the thermostat and it looks like I can do this very simply:

1. Pull the hot wire to the thermostat, split it, hook one tail to the STC power connection and the other one to the cooling relay.

2. Run a neutral from the other side of the STC power connection, and tie into any handy neutral wire near the thermostat.

3. Run a wire from the other side of the cooling relay to the thermostat, in place of the hot wire I pulled.

Does anyone see a problem with that? If I'm correct, everything in the fridge will run like it always did - but only when the STC-1000 closes the cooling relay and lets the thermostat do its thing. And I won't need any heavy duty wiring, because the STC will only be powering the thermostat.

The STC-1000 itself is going to be installed in the refrigerator door, and will stick into the built-in butter dish. Why? Because the insulation is thinner there (to keep the butter soft), and because once I'm done I can close the butter dish door, and seal it with a little silicone or acrylic caulk.

Of course, if and when I install a heater I'll need to run some dedicated wiring for it and the heating relay....
 
To do list... I'm sure this will be at the top of the list of to-do's... Good thing I just sold my house and I have a fat bank account (for now) :ban:
 
Assuming you start with the hot-side wire to the thermostat, I think your proposal should work just fine...

Cheers!
The hot wire was easy to find; it has a pigtail that feeds the light. And fortunately, everything's connected with standard-sized spade connectors. So all I have to do is unplug existing wires and plug new ones in.

I bought a twenty dollar electrical repair kit at an auto parts store; it has all the connectors and tools I need. If I work away from home much longer, I'll own at least two of every tool ever made.... :)
 
@troy2000 It sounds like you're on the right track. To make your life simpler, try and disconnect the existing temperature controller completely. Pull both sides of the existing temperature controller and place your new controller in it's place as described. This way you don't have to run a new wire to the compressor.

Although, it sounds like you've got this under control! Good luck and post pictures if you get stuck.
 
@troy2000 It sounds like you're on the right track. To make your life simpler, try and disconnect the existing temperature controller completely. Pull both sides of the existing temperature controller and place your new controller in it's place as described. This way you don't have to run a new wire to the compressor.

Although, it sounds like you've got this under control! Good luck and post pictures if you get stuck.
I didn't run a new wire to the compressor.

I simply pulled the hot wire from the existing thermostat, split it and used it to power the STC and the cooling relay, and ran the cooling relay's second wire right back to the hot side of the existing thermostat.

Everything works just like it always did, including the compressor fan shutoff delay, but according to the temperatures set by the STC-1000 - which are higher than the thermostat could be set for on its own. I suppose I could've removed the thermostat completely, but why bother? I'd only have had to mess with more wiring...

Below are pic's of the original wiring and the mod's I made, although it isn't all that easy to see the changes I made (the red circle is around the hot wire connector I pulled from the thermostat). Also a pic of the fridge loaded with a batch of saison on the left, and a batch of petite saison/session beer on the right. Half of the lighter batch is in aluminum Bud Light bottles, to take camping and fishing without worrying about broken glass.

I kept the bottom bins, to stash bags of uncrushed grain in. And although the freezer probably won't stay as cold as it used to, it'll still be a decent place to store dry yeast and other odds and ends.

If need be, I can fit another case of beer in by loading it into six-pack totes, and sliding a pair in on either side of the thermostat/light console.

Beer fridge 010.jpg


Beer fridge 014.jpg


Beer fridge 015.jpg


beer fridge 019.jpg
 
Guys, I read through a ton of this thread until my eyes hurt, so sorry if I missed this, but what gauge wire is everyone using to hook everything up... controller, lights, plug, etc.

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Wire gauge depends on configuration. For the short run involved in this case you could get away with 16ga stranded. Otoh, if you were doing a more classic case with the unit's cord plugged into the controller relay and the controller plugged into a wall socket, I'd up the controller line cord to 14 gauge just on g-p's..

Cheers!
 
Guys, I read through a ton of this thread until my eyes hurt, so sorry if I missed this, but what gauge wire is everyone using to hook everything up... controller, lights, plug, etc.

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If you're doing a standard setup where the STC-1000 is hooked to plug outlets or other circuits directly feeding compressors and heaters, you should normally go with 14 gauge stranded wire and be done with it. 12 gauge would be even better, if you're running a big fridge or powerful freezer. But it's a lot harder to handle, and hard to stuff into a project box or other limited space - especially if it's solid instead of stranded. I used solid 12 gauge stripped out of old house wiring on my last project (a fermenting chamber), but I'm stubborn.

On the conversion I just finished (turning a fridge into a conditioning space), nothing was involved but the thermostat and the STC-1000 itself. The power to the compressor still goes through the original wiring; the STC-1000 just feeds the thermostat. And it doesn't pull much juice, just powering itself and opening or closing relays. So I grabbed some lighter used wire... just eyeballing it, I'd say it's 18 gauge. There's writing on some of it, but my eyes aren't what they used to be. :)
 
Good deal. Thanks for the response. Ive got all I need on order. Except a fridge/freezer that is.

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