EBay fish tank controller build using Wal-mart parts

[mrbradwilliams]

Thanks. This seems like a seriously cheap alternative to buying a $140 Ranco.

 

[ndsgr]

Yeah, I don't really know the advantage of the Ranco. Maybe they can get a 1*F swing or something. I don't know if 1 degree is worth an extra 100 bones though. Even for that reason, you could probably pick up a Love for around $50-60 with a 1 degree swing. My guess is that the Ranco is more ready to go out of the box. I have no experience with them, so I could be completely wrong.

 

[barleydude]

posted in the wrong thread...

 

[KES]

great write up. I was looking on Ebay for these temp controllers. Question: do they only display in C and not F?

 

[stlbeer]

great write up. I was looking on Ebay for these temp controllers. Question: do they only display in C and not F?

Right, they only display Celsius.

 

[PricePeeler]

I ordered a couple. I can deal with Celsius, especially for the price.
Anybody know the life expectancy of the Love, Ranco, Johnson Controllers, STC-1000?
I have read where some of these fail after a few years. Might as well replace the $30 controller if I have to.

Question, we don't want too small of a temp swing right? We need to keep some swing to keep the compressor from constantly turning on and off. Don't want to wear the compressor out.

 

[JuanMoore]

great write up. I was looking on Ebay for these temp controllers. Question: do they only display in C and not F?

There are sellers on e-bay that have an almost identical unit that reads in fahrenheit, but it's only single stage. I have one controlling my keezer and two in the control panel of my HERMS. If you want dual stage for a ferm chamber, they're all celcius.

Question, we don't want too small of a temp swing right? We need to keep some swing to keep the compressor from constantly turning on and off. Don't want to wear the compressor out.

Correct. It is highly reccomended to max out the compressor delay feature (10 min?), set the temp differential to at least a couple degrees F, and if possible secure the temp probe to something with some thermal mass so that it doesn't change drastically every time the door is opened. At least one of these things is a must to prevent short cycling the compressor and killing it. And FWIW you can actually set the STC-1000 to have a smaller temp differential than you can on the ranco controllers (0.3C < 1F), not that you'd want to.

 

[PricePeeler]

Thanks for the feed back JuanMoore

 

[skippyf16]

Pics down?

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Pics down?

Not down. Are you firewalled? They are on tinypic.com.

M_C

 

[h22lude]

I'm not great with electricity but I have worked on car stereos. Whenever I did wiring I would solder and then put shrink wrap over that. Could I do that instead of wire nuts?

Also, is there a difference between the round cord you bought and the flat cord you can buy? As long as it is a good length, 3 prong and at least 13A it should all be the same, no?

 

[brewyourown4life]

whats the length of the temp probe wiring? really interested in this build

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I'm not great with electricity but I have worked on car stereos. Whenever I did wiring I would solder and then put shrink wrap over that. Could I do that instead of wire nuts?

Also, is there a difference between the round cord you bought and the flat cord you can buy? As long as it is a good length, 3 prong and at least 13A it should all be the same, no?

There's nothing wrong with heat shrink as long as it completely covers the wire. I've use the flat wires too, but I find them on the bulky side when using wire nuts. That's why I went with the extension cord.

whats the length of the temp probe wiring? really interested in this build

I'm estimating it's about 6 feet. Some people (in another thread) have made it longer, and some have used a jack to make the sensor removable. Works fine too, but may need to be recalibrated.
M_C

 

[h22lude]

No need for a switch box or anything? You can just out the outlet right into the plastic project box?

 

[Tinga]

Ordered up my controller couple days ago and it's on its way. I'm excited.

 

[Tinga]

I noticed in this picture

and this picture

that the wires going into post 1 and 2 on the controller are different. Does it matter?

Also I have noticed in many of the other wiring diagrams there are three wires coming from the left side rather than two from these pictures.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I noticed in this picture

and this picture

that the wires going into post 1 and 2 on the controller are different. Does it matter?

Also I have noticed in many of the other wiring diagrams there are three wires coming from the left side rather than two from these pictures.

Reversing 1 and 2 doesn't matter - it's AC, not DC.

The "left" side has a copper "jumper/leg" for the 2 left legs to be energized at all times. The "right" side has this jumper/leg intentionally broken for the up and down legs to be energized interdependently.

M_C

 

[Tinga]

Reversing 1 and 2 doesn't matter - it's AC, not DC.

The "left" side has a copper "jumper/leg" for the 2 left legs to be energized at all times. The "right" side has this jumper/leg intentionally broken for the up and down legs to be energized interdependently.

M_C

Thank you! Just got the controller in the mail this morning. Going home after work to wire it up and test it out.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Hey it works!!!

 

[shmEk]

Hmmm... did I get to gleeful at the price and think I had found a nice Fahrenheit reading controller? I've seen comments that they are single stage. Guess I didn't read well enough and see that some are single stage. I still am hopeful this is dual stage, and was assuming Work and Set were the Heat and Cool sides.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320778369051?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Guess I can still use a single stage here and there and will have to make another dual stage after this, and at least I did catch the 220v versions and avoided that problem.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Hmmm... did I get to gleeful at the price and think I had found a nice Fahrenheit reading controller? I've seen comments that they are single stage. Guess I didn't read well enough and see that some are single stage. I still am hopeful this is dual stage, and was assuming Work and Set were the Heat and Cool sides.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320778369051?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Guess I can still use a single stage here and there and will have to make another dual stage after this, and at least I did catch the 220v versions and avoided that problem.

The STC-1000 is the one you want. Dual stage.

M_C

 

[JuanMoore]

Hmmm... did I get to gleeful at the price and think I had found a nice Fahrenheit reading controller? I've seen comments that they are single stage. Guess I didn't read well enough and see that some are single stage. I still am hopeful this is dual stage, and was assuming Work and Set were the Heat and Cool sides.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320778369051?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Guess I can still use a single stage here and there and will have to make another dual stage after this, and at least I did catch the 220v versions and avoided that problem.

I have one of those in my keezer, and two in my HERMS control panel. They are indeed single stage, but they have nice SS temp probes and more programming options than the STC-1000. The "set" light just indicates that you're in the programming menu.

 

[CGVT]

Thanks for the tutorial, Misplaced Canuck. Being an electical idiot, I was glad to see your build and most importantly for me, the pictures.

I finished mine and plugged it in today.

Success!

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Thanks for the tutorial, Misplaced Canuck. Being an electical idiot, I was glad to see your build and most importantly for me, the pictures.

I finished mine and plugged it in today.

Success!

Good job! I built another one over the turkey day weekend, took me about 1 hour. [My neighbor is holding one hostage!]

M_C

 

[shmEk]

I have one of those in my keezer, and two in my HERMS control panel. They are indeed single stage, but they have nice SS temp probes and more programming options than the STC-1000. The "set" light just indicates that you're in the programming menu.

TY much for the clarification. Looks like I'll have a single stage and just do the dual later. I do have a dual stage Ranco already and can still use the single in most cases.

 

[tehsnarf]

Just wanted to say thanks. Followed the instructions a few weeks ago, and works like a champ! Also, my wife would like to thank you for putting up clear instructions I could understand so I didn't burn the house down. She appreciates it.

 

[packy28]

i'm still new to homebrewing only been doing it for just a year.. but am in the process of aquiring a small freezer and plan on making it into a "keezer". if i where to build one of these i can use this to control the temp of the keezer is that right?.

 

[shmEk]

i'm still new to homebrewing only been doing it for just a year.. but am in the process of aquiring a small freezer and plan on making it into a "keezer". if i where to build one of these i can use this to control the temp of the keezer is that right?.

Yeup. There are some threads around here where people wire them up to their freezers mounted instead of freefloating as well. Oh, and check out this video I ran into the other day. It should be helpful for ya [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6PjiilVBXY&feature=related]Temp Controller STC-1000 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[lacticacid]

Thanks for the step-by-step guide. Just wired up one.

 

[packy28]

where did you purchase yours? there are two sellers that i found on ebay. one seller is in hong kong and the other one is in canada. or did you purchase your from someone in the states?