Stc-1000 wiring

[augiedoggy]

I made one of these and used instructional videos on youtube... it was a bit confusing but it works well.

 

[JuanMoore]

I was looking at this product again. It definitely says heat AND cool...

Yes, it can heat and cool, just not at the same time like a dual stage controller. A quick look at the wiring diagram should make that obvious. I have a couple of each, and they both serve their purposes, but they are different. For my keezer where I'll never need heat, the single stage units are fine. For my ferm fridge where I need both heating and cooling, I use the dual stage STC-1000.

 

[Kmcogar]

Does the type of extension cord matter?

 

[BigFloyd]

Honestly, just go with the STC-1000. It's tried and true and used by many people. Celsius shouldn't be a problem. I just made a small conversion chart that I keep right by it.

+100. I use three of the STC-1000 units and really like them. The one controlling the fermenter fridge has a *C to *F cheat sheet.

 

[thehopbandit]

Does the type of extension cord matter?

You mean the cord that you will wire the STC with? Well, you definitely want it to be grounded (three prong) and a wire that can handle sufficient wattage. I used a cord from a surge protector. That is generally a good bet.

 

[Kmcogar]

Built mine this morning. It works perfectly! Thanks all

 

[DoWBrewer]

I have been lurking on the forum for a while. A friend from my brew club helped me put this together. Thanks for all of the posts.

Sent from my HTC One using Home Brew mobile app

 

[scottycope]

The inline fuse is added as an extra protection for the STC unit. If there is too much current being drawn from the outlets, the inline fuse will blow, cutting power to the STC. If that fuse wasn't there, there is a potential for the temp controller to overheat and melt. I have heard the STC may have its own fuse, but hey, why not be extra careful. It's an extra dollar or two.

With regard to the fuse, I picked up a fuse holder with fuse, as described in the BYO article. However, what I'm not sure about is what kind of fuse to use. I believe the article says to use a 10A fuse. I picked up two different kinds - time delay and fast acting. Which one is more appropriate here?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[thehopbandit]

With regard to the fuse, I picked up a fuse holder with fuse, as described in the BYO article. However, what I'm not sure about is what kind of fuse to use. I believe the article says to use a 10A fuse. I picked up two different kinds - time delay and fast acting. Which one is more appropriate here?

Thanks for your help!!

Nice! That's exactly how I set mine up. Basically, you should be fine either way, but I would just go with a fast acting fuse.

Basically, a fast acting fuse blows immediately once current exceeds the rating. A time delay fuse will give you a little time before the fuse blows. This is normally used in an application where an appliance will use a sudden, large burst of electricity when starting up and then ramps down. That initial burst may exceed the rating and the slow blow fuse will give it a little leeway. Many fridges and freezers actually perform this way, but I don't think you will be approaching the current limits of a fuse with one.

A 10 amp fuse used in the US, will be good for an appliance up to 1200 watts. Basically, voltage x current (amps) = watts. In the US, we have 120 volt. So, 120 volts x 10 amps = 1200 watts.

I'd rather lose a fuse that costs <$1 than have my STC unit blow due to a slow blow fuse.

However, either way, you'll probably be fine. You just have to be more mindful if you are using an appliance that draws a lot of power, like a heater. A space heater may draw up to 1500 watts.

 

[Beernik]

I figured out something weird tonight. When I aquired my freezer, it worked just fine when plugged in. But when I ram it through the controller, the plug stopped working. So I ran an extension cord over from another plug and have been running it that way all winter.

The thought occurred to my ******* that it's a GFCI plug that tripped. So I reset it and tried to plug the controller back in.

It trips every time I plug in the controller. It's not even pulling any current for the cold or hot circuit when it trips.

So I plugged it back into the extension cord and it's running fine again.

Could it just be a bad GFCI plug?

 

[thehopbandit]

I figured out something weird tonight. When I aquired my freezer, it worked just fine when plugged in. But when I ram it through the controller, the plug stopped working. So I ran an extension cord over from another plug and have been running it that way all winter.

The thought occurred to my slow brain that it's a GFI plug that tripped. So I reset it and tries to plug the controller back in.

It resets but every time I plug in the controller, it trips. It's not even pulling any current for the cold or hot circuit when it trips.

So I plugged it back into the extension cord and it's running fine again.

Could it just be a bad GFI plug?

I think I may be confused as to what you are saying.

Are you saying fridge -> wall outlet works fine, but fridge -> controller -> wall outlet trips the plug? If so, does it trip when you have the controller, by itself, plugged in?

Are you 100% sure that you wired the unit correctly and properly connected the ground?

 

[day_trippr]

Really bad juju.

A properly sized GFI shouldn't trip from a fridge or freezer - and in any case, certainly not before the compressor even turns on - unless you are shipping current across the safety ground instead of neutral.

You really need to fix this. It could be something as simple as you tied a neutral wire to a ground wire, or a neutral wire got nicked and shorted to a metal chassis (that in turn is grounded via the safety ground green wire somewhere).
In any case, something is intrinsically unsafe and should be addressed pronto...

Cheers!

 

[Beernik]

Let me give an explainer first:

My garages are detached. Garage II is the original 1938 garage. Garage I is an add on, probably in the 1980s. The wiring would have all been done when Garage I was added on. Both garages have GFCI sockets.

The ferm camber is in Garage II. Right now I have an extension cord running from Garage I into Garage II for the ferm chamber.

I was confident in my wiring. The only mistake I thought I made was not removing the bridge. I fixed that.

The controller worked fine in my kitchen when I wired it and it works fine plugged into an extension cord and run over to Garage I. When I worked on it in the kitchen it was plugged into a power strip that was not plugged into a GFCI socket.

I ran some quick tests this morning:
1) Cell phone charger does not trip Garage II. (I wanted to do a quick current check before I started unplugging and replugging things.)
2) Freezer alone does not trip Garage II.
3) Controller alone does trip Garage II.
4) Controller + 3 prong extension cord does not trip Garage I.

I did not have time this morning to unmount the controller and check it in the house again or plug it directly into Garage I.

 

[scottycope]

Nice! That's exactly how I set mine up. Basically, you should be fine either way, but I would just go with a fast acting fuse.

Basically, a fast acting fuse blows immediately once current exceeds the rating. A time delay fuse will give you a little time before the fuse blows. This is normally used in an application where an appliance will use a sudden, large burst of electricity when starting up and then ramps down. That initial burst may exceed the rating and the slow blow fuse will give it a little leeway. Many fridges and freezers actually perform this way, but I don't think you will be approaching the current limits of a fuse with one.

A 10 amp fuse used in the US, will be good for an appliance up to 1200 watts. Basically, voltage x current (amps) = watts. In the US, we have 120 volt. So, 120 volts x 10 amps = 1200 watts.

I'd rather lose a fuse that costs <$1 than have my STC unit blow due to a slow blow fuse.

However, either way, you'll probably be fine. You just have to be more mindful if you are using an appliance that draws a lot of power, like a heater. A space heater may draw up to 1500 watts.

thanks for the advice. i'm definitely going to go the fast acting fuse route.

however, my local home depot did not have (or the worker bee i talked to could not find) a panel mount fuse holder. but they did have an inline fuse holder (link here: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbrande...r-12-BP-HMK-RP/203298931?N=5yc1vZbtvmZ1z10wqj) will this work just as well? i picked up some 10A fuses that i will use instead of the included 20A (or 30A) fuses that came with it.

any issues with this method? otherwise, i guess i can order a panel mount one from china (any other big box stores carry the panel mount variety?).

thanks!!!

 

[thehopbandit]

Beernik, that sounds very strange. So you are saying when you plug the controller in, by itself, it trips the outlet? And then if you plug the controller into an extension cord first and that into the same outlet, it doesn't trip? If that's the case, I'm not really sure what the deal is since the extension cord essentially does just that, extends the cord. Maybe have an electrician look at it if you are really concerned, or maybe just use a different outlet if possible.

thanks for the advice. i'm definitely going to go the fast acting fuse route.

however, my local home depot did not have (or the worker bee i talked to could not find) a panel mount fuse holder. but they did have an inline fuse holder (link here: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbrande...r-12-BP-HMK-RP/203298931?N=5yc1vZbtvmZ1z10wqj) will this work just as well? i picked up some 10A fuses that i will use instead of the included 20A (or 30A) fuses that came with it.

any issues with this method? otherwise, i guess i can order a panel mount one from china (any other big box stores carry the panel mount variety?).

thanks!!!

You'll be fine with that method. I used pretty much the same inline fuse holder. If the fuse holder is rated up to 20 or 30A, you can still use a lower amperage fuse in it (like a 10 amp). That's what I would do.

Just make sure you wire the inline fuse holder in the correct location. The way I wired mine was:

hot wire from the power cord -> input of inline fuse holder w/wire nut -> output of fuse holder w/ wire nut with three individual hot wires to the STC power input, the heat input, and the cooling input.

 

[Beernik]

Thehopbandit,

It's plugged into an extension cord into a different outlet.

I haven't tried into the extension cord into the same outlet. Getting the extension cord into the rafters of the two garages was a PITA. I'm not taking it down until I know I don't need it anymore. I can check with a different extension cord tonight.

 

[Beernik]

If it helps, here is a picture. Garage II is behind the turkey fryer. Garage I is to the right. My neighbor's garage is to the left. On the inside, Garage II looks just like the neighbor's garage with another garage added on.

The reason I call it Garage II is because it was built to fit a Model T. So not much bigger than a compact fits in it. And even then, you have to shimmy in and out of the car. (A Model T is shorter than a Ford Fiesta).

Garage I will fit a full sized truck.

Also, if it helps, I have little confidence in the workmanship of the guy who did the garage addition. I had to re-shingle the roof in 2010. The garage is about 2 feet out of square in its depth. No joke. It picked up over a tab and a half going across it.

 

[Beernik]

Between valentines, picking up a bed from my brother, attending a funeral, and prepping a room for painting, I managed to try plugging the controller into an extension cord and into Garage II. It still trips the GFCI.

So here's what I know:
1. The only thing that trips the GFCI in Garage II is the controller.
2. The only place the controller trips a GFCI is in Garage II.

There must be something faulty with one of them. I'll check the controller first because it's free. But it may not be until Monday.

 

[raouliii]

Between valentines, picking up a bed from my brother, attending a funeral, and prepping a room for painting, I managed to try plugging the controller into an extension cord and into Garage II. It still trips the GFCI.

So here's what I know:
1. The only thing that trips the GFCI in Garage II is the controller.
2. The only place the controller trips a GFCI is in Garage II.

There must be something faulty with one of them. I'll check the controller first because it's free. But it may not be until Monday.

Since the controller is hand wired, I suspect you have something miss-wired. Don't know why it would only trip certain GFCIs.

How many other GFCIs did you test it with? It's a long shot, but maybe the controller has a fault AND the non-Garage II GFCI(s) is(are) bad.

 

[Beernik]

It trips two GFCIs, it does not trip one

Finally had time to get to this and I'm no longer worried about my garage freezing at night.

I've double checked my wiring.

Originally, it was wired like this
Now it is wired like this

So it wired:
Hot block goes to: main plug, 1, 5, 7
Neutral block goes to: 2, cold2, hot2
Earth block goes to: main plug, cold2, hot2
6 goes to: hot1
8 goes to: cold1

cold1 and cold2 are opposite sides of the cold plug
hot1 and hot2 are opposite sides of the hot plug

Both ways trip the GFCI. It trips immediately upon plugging in. It works fine when plugged into a non-GFCI.

I can't see where any wires are bare or touching.

I'm not sure what to do other than rewire it all from scratch.

 

[day_trippr]

The diagram in the second link is proper, but it doesn't show the wires all the way to their respective terminations at the outlets and line plug. Perhaps you have the hot and neutrals swapped at those points and this is confounding the GFI units? I'm pretty sure it would still work fine on a non-GFI circuit...

Cheers!

 

[Dolomieu]

2 GFCIs?

It should only be plugged in to one. Having two in line can cause them to trip easier. At least that's been my experience.

 

[day_trippr]

2 GFCIs? It should only be plugged in to one. Having two in line can cause them to trip easier. At least that's been my experience.

LOL! No, he's just finally tried it on a second - different - GFI outlet, after discovering some time ago that it would trip the first GFI outlet he tried it on...

Cheers!

 

[Beernik]

2 GFCIs?

It should only be plugged in to one. Having two in line can cause them to trip easier. At least that's been my experience.

I have tried plugging it into three different GFCIs. There is one in each of my garages and one in my bathroom. It trips one of the garages and the one in the bathroom. It works in the other garage.

The one in the bathroom is definitely not on a circuit with any others. I also have confidence it was wired correctly.

 

[Dolomieu]

Sorry, that sux

 

[Beernik]

Ok. I'm going to post some pictures. I'm pretty sure I haven't mixed up hot and neutral.

Black is hot.
White is neutral
Green & red are ground (I didn't have any green wire)

Back of controller

 

[Beernik]

Neutral and ground side of plug.

 

[Beernik]

Hot side of plug

 

[raouliii]

....So it wired:
Hot block goes to: main plug, 1, 5, 7
Neutral block goes to: 2, cold2, hot2
Earth block goes to: main plug, cold2, hot2
6 goes to: hot1
8 goes to: cold1

cold1 and cold2 are opposite sides of the cold plug
hot1 and hot2 are opposite sides of the hot plug

.....

"Earth" or ground should NOT be connected to the same terminal on the receptacle(s) as the neutral. "Earth" should ONLY be connected to the ground (green) terminal on the receptacle(s).

Just saw the new photos. There's your problem. Ground and neutral CANNOT be connected together. Ground should only be attached to the green terminal.

Also, make sure to remove the jumper tab between the two HOT terminals on the receptacle.

 

[Beernik]

Hot block