Fermentation chamber heating element wiring help

[Shinglejohn]

I recently moved and my new brew room is the basement. Problem is that the temperature down there in the winter is around 58 degrees so my ferm chamber that was designed to keep temps down needs to be modified to also warm things up.

I purchased a lizard tank heating 50W black bulb and want to hook it up to my current controller which is a modified house thermostat that i found on the web.

I need instructions on how to wire this up. I dont know much about electric, so keep it stupid please.

Thanks!

 

[stevescott123]

Check my post here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ebay-aquarium-temp-controller-build-163849/index312.html

 

[Shinglejohn]

Thats pretty sweet but im not looking to build a whole new system. I just want to ad on to what i already have.

 

[stevescott123]

If you have a two stage controller, should be easy. You're using one circuit for the cooler, now use the other for the heater...no?

 

[Shinglejohn]

Its a home thermostat wired to run a 12v dc fan for cooling. I need to know how to wire up a 120v ac light socket to the the thermostat for heating.

 

[stevescott123]

Errrr...so it's a one stage thermostat, meaning you can only either heat to OR cool to a set temp and not have it switch between two? And it will only switch a 12V circuit for a fan? Sounds to me like you need some kind of relay that works from the 12V "message" from the thermostat but activates a 120V device.

Frankly it's getting out of my knowledge base but you might have a hobby electronics store near you with some advice. I do not mean Radio Shack. You could have a look at Parts Express on line or just Google for info on this.

In the long run though you might want to consider a thermostat that is 2 stage and can operate 120V appliances. That way if you get a big enough temperature variation your sytem will take care of it for you. That's why I went 2 stage. I'm going to get a freezer for a fermentation cabinet. There's no way Herself would let me put it in the house. If I could I'd be all most guaranteed to only ever cool (especially for lagers) because I live in NV. but it's going in the garage where it can be 115 in the summer and drastically less in the winter. Maybe I'll never need to heat but with the controller I have I can. I'm covered!

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=075-118 This is the kind of thing I'm thinking about. I am NOT qualified to tell you this is the correct thing and is safe to use, but the guys at Parts Express are...

 

[meadmazer]

Some home thermostats can 2 stage if they are made for AC and heat. You would need a 110v relay in the circuit, with a 12 volt coil. Should be around 15 bucks give or take. Radioshack would probly have one, the link above would work also, a socket mount for it would be helpful.

To answer your question, you would just replace the 12v fan with the coil side of the relay. When the thermostat closes it energizes the coil and pulls the contacts in on the relay, turning on whatever you have wired to the normally open side of the contacts on the relay. You could also run the coil and fan in parellel and still run the fan too if you wanted.

What are you using for 12 volt power source?
For the money for a relay, the fish tank controller above is a better option, IMO, unless you can get a relay for a really good price. I am ordering a couple of those.

 

[stevescott123]

Thanks for saying well what I was trying to say!

 

[Shinglejohn]

Its this thermostat. It has settings for "heat", "coool", ans "Auto". So im pretty sure it has the ability to do both. The power supply for the fan is just a 12V wall plug from an old cell phone charger.

 

[stevescott123]

It does. You can do what you want to do.

 

[meadmazer]

something like this