Stc-1000+

[alphaomega]

Oh ok, cool

 

[kwadric]

I ordered from Lerway via Amazon on Monday (6/30/2014) and received a Version 1.0. It's just one data point, but I did get the desired STC.

 

[poptarts]

Flashed 2 of my 3 today, one in C for my HERMS system and one in F for my chamber. This stuff is nice. Thank you for all the work you did on this project.

 

[alphaomega]

@poptarts: Maybe I misunderstood you a bit. You can still have 0.1 hysteresis even though the setpoint is in the triple digits, it's just the setpoint will have to be an integer. So if you set it at 152, it will still switch on heating at 151.9 (and cooling at 152.1).

@fuzzewuzze: Of course you should aim for accuracy and calibrate as best you can. My point is that 0.1 resolution is misleading, even though it can be useful. Also don't attribute to much to the specified accuracy. You will probably have pretty decent accuracy (when calibrated), close to your point of calibration. But at higher/lower temps accuracy will be worse. I don't know for sure, but I can't imagine that the DS18B20 uses anything other than a thermistor to measure temperature. Sure, it could have been manufactured with better equipment, but honestly I think actual accuracy will be comparable to the NTC and AD of the STC-1000.

 

[crajax]

I ordered an STC1000 back in Jan 2013 from these guys, and it's a 1.0
I just received another one from the same (Lerway) yesterday, and its also a 1.0

could be just lucky.

waiting for my arduino to show up now, and I'm gonna give this a shot.

I have had good luck with Lerway on amazon, but no promises. There was a guy that posted here the other day who got the wrong version from them. To my knowledge, there isn't a guaranteed supplier of v1.0 we've found yet.


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[Rjstewart22]

Let's just work in kelvin

 

[disney7]

I ordered an STC1000 back in Jan 2013 from these guys, and it's a 1.0
I just received another one from the same (Lerway) yesterday, and its also a 1.0

could be just lucky.

waiting for my arduino to show up now, and I'm gonna give this a shot.

I've gotten 1.1s from Lerway. I wonder if their supplier changes or what...

 

[atoughram]

That is a really nice tip, with the heating and peeling. I'll try that next time.
Here's another one:
My new favourite way of clearing the solder pads from solder is heating with soldering iron and quickly jabbing a wooden tooth pick in the hole. I find it best to melt from bottom and run the tooth pick in from the top.

I heat them up and blow through them from the opposite side - works every time - just dont do it on the carpet... Hot solder flying alert. I did them in the garage on the concrete floor.

 

[BoulderBayBrewing]

Hey all,

I've been reading through this thead, just bought an STC-1000 through Amazon.ca, seller Brainydeal, happened to be the right version of controller! Can't wait to get one of these babys up and running. Thanks to everyone who's been working on it, especially Alpha!

 

[BoulderBayBrewing]

Currently trying to flash my stc-1000. I decided I'd try by holding wires on to the pins. The first time I tried to flash it, it seemed to start the process.... I had to send "d". when I did that, nothing seemed to happen (guessing my hand moved). Now when I try to do it again, when uploading to the uno, i get an error: avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x30

Does that me I'm not making a good enough connection with my pins? I'm pretty sure I have the wires in the right order.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[wbarber69]

You cannot guarantee a connection by holding it with your bare hands.

 

[BoulderBayBrewing]

I figured it out. I had the wrong com port selected. Once I figured that out, it worked no problem!

 

[Drio]

Hi,

This one delivered a 'good' STC-1000:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IJ0F2OW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You can notice the difference without opening the case, as I only found out after opening ;^)
There different spacings between connectors which depends on PCB, so that's the main check.

'Good' one:
Connectors: NO space between two connectors on left (with adhesive label up)
On sticker: triange with exclamation sign before word Note is BLACK ON WHITE

'Bad' one:
Connectors: quite some space (same as for connectors on the right) between two connectors on left (with adhesive label up)
On sticker: triange with exclamation sign before word Note is WHITE ON BLACK

Other Differences
'Good' one
Main PCB:
A400_P
Version:1.0
64.7*66.5mm
Thickness:1.2mm

Display PCB:
A400_D&M, Version:1.1
67.5*25.2mm,Thickness:1.2mm

RELAYS: JQC-3FF
on SIDE of trafo:
Cx
E30-10-135
BCY-432-3025
1-5: 230V 50/60Hz
7-9: 10V 1.35VA
WUXI XINCHANG ELEC.

has NO CE sticker below other sticker on cab for connections

'Bad' one
Main PCB:
S1000-Power_V1.1
2013.11.18
65*66.8*1.2

Display PCB:
S1000-Display_V1.0_121313
67mm*25mm*1mm

RELAYS: HF3FF
on TOP of trafo:
Unicreed
UC30D-2-10015
PRI 230V/15mA 50/60Hz 1-5
SEC 10V 1.5A 7-9

has CE sticker below other sticker on cab for connections


ETH

Drio

 

[Spellman]

Good observations! One issue is that most retailers don't update their pictures with each batch that comes in. My suspicion is there are a few different factories making slightly different models that for all original intended use function the exact same. They are probably going to the same warehouse where they are shuffled around and then sent to the retailers, who in turn send to you. This makes it very difficult to tell right off the bat what you are going to get. I think the best advice is to try the ones that people have found worked, even though that isn't a sure thing, and keep trying until you get the model you need. Just like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play! They are well worth it when you get them. The other models can still be used for other things around the brewery like keezers and kegerators and work very well at that.

 

[alphaomega]

That is excellent info! Great tip for identifying version without opening!
I suspect that the 'good' version is really a knockoff. Which might be why you'd be more likely to get the wrong version when buying a branded one.
On the other hand the 'bad' one just might have gone through some kind of certification and the quality of components might be better.

On a side note, I have had somewhat of a breakthrough today with the mashing firmware today. I've been kind of stuck trying to get the fix point regulation to not overflow, but I think I have come to an acceptable solution. There's still some way to go, but it looks a lot better now.
It will probably be PI control, the D part just brings more problems than benefits. And the regulator will be pretty basic, it might not be suitable for everything. I will probably keep (at least some) profiles, but drop ramping as is serves little purpose (and I desperately need code space). First I need to make a better model and do more testing.

 

[crajax]

My Arduino card showed. I've had my STC1000+ running for a day now. I had a second STC1000 that I upgraded, and just swapped it out with the older one that I was using. I'll update that one at a later date.

so the STC1000+ went in mid-fermentation. I setup a profile, and then stepped ahead. love the ramping feature.

love the Fahrenheit readout, I've been able to remove a thermometer I had setup for the sole purpose of a fahrenheit display, along with my C to F conversion chart. while I'm comfortable with and work (mostly) in metric for weights and volumes, I dunno, metric came to me in my mid 20s and celsius is one of those "advanced metric" things that I just cant seem set into my brain.

love the whole profile feature - basically, I love this controller, its awesome !! it's now doing everything that I used to do manually, and will be less forgetful and more consistent than I am.

Thankyou Mats for all your work on this firmware and the user manual, and thanks to everyone who contributed. I would happily send you some homebrew as a way of thanks, but international borders, customs and alcohol regulations being what they are...well, you're probably not short of a homebrew or two anyways...

Cheers !

 

[KidIcarus]

Drio - thanks for the help identifying the model number on the STC-1000.

I ordered from Amazon via the seller LERWAY. I placed my order on July 12th, and I got a v1.0 unit.

Below are pictures to illustrate the info Drio provided to determine if you got the flashable v1.0 version of the STC-1000.

Hi,

This one delivered a 'good' STC-1000:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IJ0F2OW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You can notice the difference without opening the case, as I only found out after opening ;^)
There different spacings between connectors which depends on PCB, so that's the main check.

'Good' one:
Connectors: NO space between two connectors on left (with adhesive label up)
On sticker: triange with exclamation sign before word Note is BLACK ON WHITE

'Bad' one:
Connectors: quite some space (same as for connectors on the right) between two connectors on left (with adhesive label up)
On sticker: triange with exclamation sign before word Note is WHITE ON BLACK

Other Differences
'Good' one
Main PCB:
A400_P
Version:1.0
64.7*66.5mm
Thickness:1.2mm

Display PCB:
A400_D&M, Version:1.1
67.5*25.2mm,Thickness:1.2mm

RELAYS: JQC-3FF
on SIDE of trafo:
Cx
E30-10-135
BCY-432-3025
1-5: 230V 50/60Hz
7-9: 10V 1.35VA
WUXI XINCHANG ELEC.

has NO CE sticker below other sticker on cab for connections

'Bad' one
Main PCB:
S1000-Power_V1.1
2013.11.18
65*66.8*1.2

Display PCB:
S1000-Display_V1.0_121313
67mm*25mm*1mm

RELAYS: HF3FF
on TOP of trafo:
Unicreed
UC30D-2-10015
PRI 230V/15mA 50/60Hz 1-5
SEC 10V 1.5A 7-9

has CE sticker below other sticker on cab for connections


ETH

Drio

As Drio mentioned, you can look at the STC-1000 unit without opening it up and determine if it is the v1.0. See the two green connectors on the left? Note that both connectors are touching (not spaced far apart).

Since the outside appearance seem to show that this is a v1.0, let's look inside. In small text on the bottom right of the green circuit board, you can see that this is indeed the v1.0.

Here is a closer up picture:

Hope this helps!

 

[poptarts]

I just got done brewing last weekend with this stuff. I have my HERMS flashed with it and my fermchamber both are working perfect. The herms held nice and the fermchamber successfully did a ramp from 65 - 75 over 48hrs so thanks again for putting in the time to make and share this firmware, i mean fermware

 

[1RogerRetro]

Alphaomega,
This is my first attempt at using an Arduino, so I don't have experience to guide me. I have managed to set up a Pro Mini for programming the 'correct' STC, based upon the best I could make out from your post #805. It appears that you have connected to:
JP# PIN
7 1
7 2
6 2
6 4
4 1
These pins map to D8, D9, GND, VCC, and A7 respectively in the v13 diagram. Are these correct? I do not know how to map these pins to appropriate functions. I get the typical "STC-1000 NOT detected. Check wiring" message, and expect that the pin configuration definitions in the code are different for the Pro Mini... If so, (or not) what if anything needs to change in the code to program through the Pro Mini?
Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
Roger

 

[alphaomega]

The (functional) pins are the same and should be D3, D8, D9, Vcc and GND.
You should not need to make any changes to the sketch.

 

[jleiii]

I've had good luck from Lerway on Amazon. Not saying it's a guarantee, but I've gotten 50 controllers from them and all have been 1.0.
Keep in mind that this is "fulfilled by Amazon", so that opens up a whole range of potential sources, as I understand it. Good luck!

I've gone back the 20 pages to the above post, and don't see anyone listing any other seller. The current Amazon listings for the only one with "Lerway" in the description have Elitech in the the title and the pics show the 'black' note, and are sold by Lotfancy.

Handysmart, AGPtech, Brainytrade all sell them 'fullfilled by amazon' but again, the 'black' note on each one.

I have 4 Elitech units that are all the other version, so this is not a good feeling, but 2 have Elitech printed on the face, the others 2 are plain. Identical boards inside.

Anyone have luck on ebay? Lots of 'white' note pics, but not a single one shows the terminals. The note alone is not convincing, where as the terminals are much more so.

 

[KindofBlues71]

I wouldn't go by the pics on Amazon. I have 3 Elitech units, all are v1.0. Two were sold by Lerway and one was sold by Orino. Searching for "stc-1000" on Amazon brings up units with Elitech, AGPtek or IMAGE in the title. For the two Elitech units, one shows by Elitech - sold by Lerway - fulfilled by Amazon and the other shows by Lerway - sold by IMEEA - fulfilled by Amazon. The AGPtek unit shows by AGPtek - sold by IMEEA - fulfilled by Amazon. And the IMAGE unit shows by IMAGE - sold by BrainyTrade - fulfilled by Amazon.

So basically it's still a crap shoot...

 

[1RogerRetro]

OK!
On second look, I see where I misinterpreted your picture. As a NooB, had your references to (9), (8) and (3) been to (D9), (D8) and (D3), I would have figured it out without pictures... Ready to close in less than one minute!
Thanks for the clarification, and MANY MORE thanks for your fantastic presentation of this project.
Roger

 

[1RogerRetro]

I wouldn't go by the pics on Amazon. I have 3 Elitech units, all are v1.0. Two were sold by Lerway and one was sold by Orino. Searching for "stc-1000" on Amazon brings up units with Elitech, AGPtek or IMAGE in the title. For the two Elitech units, one shows by Elitech - sold by Lerway - fulfilled by Amazon and the other shows by Lerway - sold by IMEEA - fulfilled by Amazon. The AGPtek unit shows by AGPtek - sold by IMEEA - fulfilled by Amazon. And the IMAGE unit shows by IMAGE - sold by BrainyTrade - fulfilled by Amazon.

So basically it's still a crap shoot...

I just received a v1.0 "sold by Lerway - fulfilled by Amazon" a few days ago. (fwiw)...
Roger

 

[andrewmalizia]

Not sure if anyone asked yet.

Any reason why this wouldn't work on a 12v stc?

I assume it's the same board but different relays.

Anyone tried?


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[jleiii]

I just received a v1.0 "sold by Lerway - fulfilled by Amazon" a few days ago. (fwiw)...
Roger

Lerway is a supplier AND a seller it seems. Multiple sellers selling their brand, and I did not pull up every item, but almost. Now it makes sense to me.
Still not liking the 'crap shoot' idea at all..... I'm the epitome of getting a 50/50 chance and 80/20 results not in my favor.

 

[andrewmalizia]

Also there is one on amazon that is a Fahrenheit stc but not labeled stc. This may mean the board had to have been flashed meaning it's v1.0. It's $10.57+2.49 shipping

AC 120~120v digital temperature controller thermostat F


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[jleiii]

Also there is one on amazon that is a Fahrenheit stc but not labeled stc. This may mean the board had to have been flashed meaning it's v1.0. It's $10.57+2.49 shipping

AC 120~120v digital temperature controller thermostat F


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There are some F controllers out there, but all the ones I've seen are single function heat OR cool, or 220 volts. But then I've not reached the end of the internet yet.

 

[Spellman]

Also there is one on amazon that is a Fahrenheit stc but not labeled stc. This may mean the board had to have been flashed meaning it's v1.0. It's $10.57+2.49 shipping

AC 120~120v digital temperature controller thermostat F


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That isn't actually an stc-1000. It is heating or cooling. I have one of these measuring my coolant temp. They are nice, but totally not what we are looking for.

 

[andrewmalizia]

That isn't actually an stc-1000. It is heating or cooling. I have one of these measuring my coolant temp. They are nice, but totally not what we are looking for.

Ah I see that now. Couldn't read the Chinese on the label but it has 8 terminals it looks like so I assumed it was dual stage.


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