Mini Digital Temperature Controller

[WishboneBrewery]

You better measure up for yourself, I'd do the same should I buy another

[troublebrewing]

I really need IP65.

[Spurros]

Hi guys,

Been reading the site for a while and been scanning through old threads, but I haven't been able to find an answer to my question so I'd thought I'd ask -

I see many people are using something like the ATC-800 or TC-10 for temp control, and have successfully wired up their own gear as shown in this thread. I have to say, the thought of learning how to mess around with plugs and wires fills me with abject horror.

I'm fundamentally a lazy man, and always assumed you would be able to get a ready-wired temp controller, that you simply plug your fridge into, then plug the controller into the mains. I've been hunting for some time and haven't yet found one - the closest I could come to it was ATC-800 package 3, which Fortrex have wired-up for you, but it is pretty expensive. I've found a few pieces of american-made equipment which fit this bill, but of course are no use in the UK.

I guess I'm just surprised to learn that there is nothing else out there for someone like me who doesn't want to do their own wiring - so I'm asking if anyone knows of any ready-to-go temp controllers a simple man like me could use.

Cheers

[Kev888]

Hello, and welcome.

The only one I know of is the ATC 800+ package 3 that you mentioned. It is more expensive but actually if you were to buy all the bits to do it yourself the saving may not be as big as you'd imagine. Then there's all the time it takes to do it and if you're at all uncertain of wiring one I wouldn't want to put a price on your safety and the safety of anyone around you. All in all I would say its actually quite good value for what you get, and the extra price per pint not significant if you make a few brews using it.

This forum does tend to be a bit biased towards DIYers, and there are also those wanting to save as much as possible, but it isn't necessarily the best approach in all cases or for all people so I completely agree that you should go with a ready-made one if you're not happy with wiring it yourself. Similarly you'll see people have bypassed fridge thermostats, but if you're using ale yeasts then you don't need to do that - its only if you need colder temperatures for true lager yeasts/lagering and maybe crash cooling that the fridge thermostat could start interfering.

Cheers
Kev

[troublebrewing]

Yes, I was just totalling up my expenditure so far and projected on the ATC800+ and I agree that there won't be much saving DIY, a bit, but not much.

I'm confident I can do it, but it's going to take at least a week to sort the parts, enclosure, crimps, heat shrink perhaps, glands, grommets, flex, trailing leads, and then build it.

Or you go to a shop and buy one. Easy. You pay more, but what you're paying for is for someone else to go through the grief of the above mentioned.

[rimski]

I used the GW44208 GEWISS IP56 Junction Box via ebay. £9.50 in P&P

240x190x90mm

HERE is a link to the box on ebay

[bogmonster]

I am still waiting from my STC 1000 from eBay. Been over 5 weeks now

The person I bought the unit from has very good fleabay feedback so I guess it is delayed or genuinely got lost - sure that the seller is genuine. Anybody else have difficulties with items not turning up?

My fridge has been ready for weeks, ice shelf removed, thermostat removed, heater installer. Just need the controller.....

[Spurros]

Thanks for the replies and advice guys, I think I will go for the ATC 800+ package 3 - I've been looking to try some lagers and this seems to be the only proper solution. Cheers.

[mr.c]

Hi all i`m using a fridge freezer as a "Temperature Control cupboard " and using a ATC-300 where is the best place for the sensors, i`m thinking on top in the middle



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[llannige]

l just tape mine to the side of the FV.Never had a problem.

Also don't want to run the risk of contamination inside the FV.

[Kev888]

That looks a good position to me. In a fridge I tape it to the side, and it seems to work very well, but freezers can use the wall as the cooling mechanism so you'd get a biased reading if thats the case with yours, so somewhere in free air would get a better measure of the real/average internal temperature.

There are those who put the sensor in the FV but I personally don't like that as much because it takes ages to change the temperature of all that wort and so the controller is slow to respond to external changes; consequently the heater/freezer are on for a long time and things can get very hot/cold outside the FV.

However if you find its too sensitive and you get any oscillation of heating following cooling (or visa versa) then putting the sensor in something with 'a little' thermal mass like a bit of copper or a small bottle of water/starsan can solve that. You can achieve something similar electronically, by widening the ATC's dead band (or allowable deviation from the set temperature) but I can't quite decide if that would ultimately maker it less accurate than the physical damping, so I leave mine set with an allowable deviation of +/- 1degreeC just to stop heater/cooler chasing each other.

Cheers
Kev

[bogmonster]

I am still waiting from my STC 1000 from eBay. Been over 5 weeks now

The person I bought the unit from has very good fleabay feedback so I guess it is delayed or genuinely got lost - sure that the seller is genuine. Anybody else have difficulties with items not turning up?

My fridge has been ready for weeks, ice shelf removed, thermostat removed, heater installer. Just need the controller.....

OK, controller arived today

The seller has already posted a replacment, a really top guy. The seller was 'mixtea'.

BM

[richc]

For positioning the sensor you need to be aware you are measuring the temperature of the wort/beer not the temperature of the air (remember fermentation releases heat). If you don't want to put it into the fermenting vessel stick it to the side of the bucket/barrel. In the case where you have 2 buckets in the fridge/freezer trap the sensor between them to get a passable average temperature.

[Kev888]

For positioning the sensor you need to be aware you are measuring the temperature of the wort/beer not the temperature of the air (remember fermentation releases heat). If you don't want to put it into the fermenting vessel stick it to the side of the bucket/barrel. In the case where you have 2 buckets in the fridge/freezer trap the sensor between them to get a passable average temperature.

Yes, thats a good point that I'd forgotten to mention - obviously a lot is down to personal choice but as I personally prefer to measure the air I instead deal with it by setting the controller about 1degreeC less than I want the wort to be (and I find 2degrees is closer on bigger 45L batches). Originally I increased it again once the fermentation dies down but I must admit that I don't always bother these days, it makes no real-world difference that I can detect by that stage.

Cheers
Kev

[mdex]

Will either of these work with the STC1000?

Are they NTC probes?

http://www.forttex.com/index.php?main_p ... ucts_id=25

http://www.forttex.com/index.php?main_p ... ucts_id=52