New brew fridge

[Soton]

I have just had my STC-1000's delivered today and I thought there is no time like the present so I wired one up, the odd thing about it was the STC-1000 cost just over £7 but the box to house it cost me £5!!!!. Anyway I installed the 60W heater in the base of my to be brew fridge plugged the heater and fridge into my new toy and it works a treat, Hmmm new brew fridge up and running so there was only one thing for it, I had a Woodford Admiral reserve ready for a fermenting bucket so in it went for a proper test:razz: Its now inside the fridge letting it work its magic to get down to a temp for pitching yeast

 

[Duffman]

Hi Soton

Looks like you've stuck the STC-1000 inside a box and the 2 plugs wired to the top ?

I'm interested in setting something like this up myself and was wondering how difficult the wiring up is and if it would be possible to post some pics of the wiring to see how its wired

Thanks ;-)

 

[Soton]

Hi Soton

Looks like you've stuck the STC-1000 inside a box and the 2 plugs wired to the top ?

I'm interested in setting something like this up myself and was wondering how difficult the wiring up is and if it would be possible to post some pics of the wiring to see how its wired

Thanks ;-)

Its easy to do, I just copied it from here

http://www.berrybrew.co.uk/fermentation-fridge-build-brew-fridge/

The hot and cold on my STC-1000 were around the other way to the diagram on the link but its clear on the STC-1000 which way round they are, It cost me £10 for the fridge from eBay, The STC-1000 was £10 (but there is one for about £8), the box housing was £5 and the plug sockets were 50p each from clearance section at B&Q and I just cut some wire from an old extension lead for the internal wiring and mains plug lead
Here are a couple of links that might help you

http://www.banggood.com/Plastic-Wat...Junction-Box-Instrument-Chassis-p-971080.html

http://www.banggood.com/STC-1000-220V-All-Purpose-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Sensor-p-91676.html

http://www.banggood.com/RC-112-220V...egulator-Temperature-Controller-p-983667.html

I did consider using a smaller housing for the STC and just have a couple of leads with these plugs one black and one white for hot and cold
http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-10a-3-pin-plug-socket/170984_BQ.prd

I hope that helps

 

[Duffman]

many thanks thats really helped, will definitely be giving this a go and thanks for the links

 

[Duffman]

Having read through and studied the link you posted, i'm wondering if you could wire the green house heater and fridge directly into the STC-1000, so you'd have power into the STC-1000 from the mains, the power cable from the fridge directly in and the lead from the heater directly in, then if the temperature is set either the fridge or heater would engage to maintain temperature, this way you negate the need for the two plug sockets.
Of course the downside is you couldn't use the fridge as a fridge any more, with the two sockets you can disconnect and plug the fridge into the mains and just use as a fridge, so ferment, then use the space to condition at a consistent temperature and then chill the entire batch ready for drinking.

 

[Duffman]

Quick update - I've now made the decision and purchased:

Control box
STC-1000 controller
60W 1ft Green house heater

I've a few options on Ebay second hand fridges and will pick something up within the next few days, as the control box and STC-1000 are coming from HK i recon i have time to source the fridge at the right price (preferably free if i can find one)

The wire, plug sockets and other bits and bobs i'll source locally from the DIY store.

Having thought it all through the fridge option has multiply uses, firstly maintaining a constant temperature during initial ferment, then i can crash chill the brew, once bottled use the fridge to store and condition and finally chill the bottled batch down for drinking. Also presents the option of all year brewing if i want to, and an extra fridge might come in handy at Christmas (that is if its not full of beer which is my primary plan ) :

 

[DoctorMick]

I'm sure I read somewhere that wiring directly into the stc was a bad idea, I'm no electrician but it might be worth looking in to if that's what you plan to do.

 

[Duffman]

I'm sure I read somewhere that wiring directly into the stc was a bad idea, I'm no electrician but it might be worth looking in to if that's what you plan to do.

Having read your post above, i've done a bit more research and found a few other threads where something similar has been put together (one of which was an aquarium forum :| ) and the only difference to that of Soton's build and the guy in the link is an inline 13A fuse ! one guy put a fuse holder into the box and wired it into the mains in, so in this config you'd have the fuses in the two appliances, the fuse in the mains plug and the additional fuse.
It was pointed out that the STC-1000 draws a low current and its likely to be the heater or fridge that causes an issue, however like yourself i'm not electrician, and if anyone knows better or has a better idea then i'll happily stand corrected.

 

[BeerCat]

Its easy to do, I just copied it from here

http://www.berrybrew.co.uk/fermentation-fridge-build-brew-fridge/

The hot and cold on my STC-1000 were around the other way to the diagram on the link but its clear on the STC-1000 which way round they are, It cost me �£10 for the fridge from eBay, The STC-1000 was �£10 (but there is one for about �£8), the box housing was �£5 and the plug sockets were 50p each from clearance section at B&Q and I just cut some wire from an old extension lead for the internal wiring and mains plug lead
Here are a couple of links that might help you

http://www.banggood.com/Plastic-Wat...Junction-Box-Instrument-Chassis-p-971080.html

http://www.banggood.com/STC-1000-220V-All-Purpose-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Sensor-p-91676.html

http://www.banggood.com/RC-112-220V...egulator-Temperature-Controller-p-983667.html

I did consider using a smaller housing for the STC and just have a couple of leads with these plugs one black and one white for hot and cold
http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-10a-3-pin-plug-socket/170984_BQ.prd

I hope that helps

Cheers Soton that was really helpful. Been looking for a decent box for ages and all are either small or much more expensive.

 

[Soton]

If you get the right Stc-1000 you can flash it and then program it to ferment at a set temp for say a couple of weeks then it will cold crash it, you can also set it up for largering
This video should give you a better idea
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nZst7ETP-w8[/ame]

 

[Fil]

Im not an electrician or qualified to give advice,,

Saying that my brewfridge controller switches the compressor on/off directly bypassing the fridges internal thermostat. This allows for sub 5C setting if you wish to crash chill or lager @ 0c.

Its not necessary but is an option, you should find a junction box close to the fridges compressor where the power feeds in, Neutral and earth will probably be directly connected to the compressor (blue, green/yellow wires) while live (brown) gets diverted to the thermostat and return in a (grey?) wire back. to mod simply disconnect the live to the thermostat (and light!!) and connect it directly to the compressor in place of the thermostat return..

 

[BeerCat]

If you get the right Stc-1000 you can flash it and then program it to ferment at a set temp for say a couple of weeks then it will cold crash it, you can also set it up for largering
This video should give you a better idea
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nZst7ETP-w8

That's really cool. I already have an stc1000 although the flashing instructions require an arduino which i dont have.
Would be great to have a go at Lager with the proper equipment.
Can you squeeze 2 fermentors in your fridge?
Also confused how to wire the STC up. Power supply 1 & 2 but which is neutral and live? Thanks.

 

[Soton]

That's really cool. I already have an stc1000 although the flashing instructions require an arduino which i dont have.
Would be great to have a go at Lager with the proper equipment.
Can you squeeze 2 fermentors in your fridge?
Also confused how to wire the STC up. Power supply 1 & 2 but which is neutral and live? Thanks.

Below is a link how to wire the Stc,
http://www.berrybrew.co.uk/fermentation-fridge-build-brew-fridge/

You can also find video of people wiring them on YouTube
Not all Stc-1000 can be flashed, I had to buy another one and a arduino to do it, but it never cost a lot and the flashing of the Stc was easy, I am yet to use it for largering but I use it to ferment my beer then drop the temp to cold crash
I think you can have five different programs programmed into the Stc

 

[Fil]

the live/neutral distinction isnt important for the stc1000 power in terminals. with no earth terminal you cant miss wire it

 

[Pope]

Its easy to do, I just copied it from here

http://www.berrybrew.co.uk/fermentation-fridge-build-brew-fridge/

The hot and cold on my STC-1000 were around the other way to the diagram on the link but its clear on the STC-1000 which way round they are, It cost me �£10 for the fridge from eBay, The STC-1000 was �£10 (but there is one for about �£8), the box housing was �£5 and the plug sockets were 50p each from clearance section at B&Q and I just cut some wire from an old extension lead for the internal wiring and mains plug lead
Here are a couple of links that might help you

http://www.banggood.com/Plastic-Wat...Junction-Box-Instrument-Chassis-p-971080.html

http://www.banggood.com/STC-1000-220V-All-Purpose-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Sensor-p-91676.html

http://www.banggood.com/RC-112-220V...egulator-Temperature-Controller-p-983667.html

I did consider using a smaller housing for the STC and just have a couple of leads with these plugs one black and one white for hot and cold
http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-10a-3-pin-plug-socket/170984_BQ.prd

I hope that helps

Hi Soton...

Firstly thanks for putting all this info up...it's really useful for someone like me, who wants to fermentation fridge, but had no idea how to do them.

One thing which I wasn't sure about, was the cables going into the fridge. On the berrybrew link, he's got the flex for the heater and the black cable (is that for the temperature sensor?) going through the door. Will this not prevent the door from shutting?

 

[Fil]

depends on the flex and door seal.. another easy port in is the drain hole at the back

the 50w tube heater if used may come with a heavy duty thick flex attached, As its a low watt device you can rewire with much thinner lighting flex safely..

#1 tip Use wires of the correct colour to wire up in your box, if you dont and need to revisit it in a few months it will be more confusing than necessary

 

[Pope]

depends on the flex and door seal.. another easy port in is the drain hole at the back

the 50w tube heater if used may come with a heavy duty thick flex attached, As its a low watt device you can rewire with much thinner lighting flex safely..

#1 tip Use wires of the correct colour to wire up in your box, if you dont and need to revisit it in a few months it will be more confusing than necessary

Any wiring shouldn't be an issue...I'm a qualified electrician, working as an electrical engineer as a day job.

For what it's worth, I'll be getting an inkbird itc 308 controller, it looks better value than messing about yourself with the configuration mentioned on the links.

The biggest issue seems to be getting hold of an old fridge/transporting it.

 

[Fil]

Out of the box comparrison of the 2 options i agree, However an STC1000 V1.0 has greater capacity for upgrading https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p
if you want to apply specific fermentation profiles for a brew or auto crash chill, or receive brewfridge temp and relay status over an RF connection, as an electrical engineer the reflash shouldnt present any problems just ensure you source a v1.0 box if you intend to flash one. there is a link to a V1.0 supplier in the github listing
and pm me if you want specs for a remote logging receiver..

 

[BeerCat]

I had another look last night and does not seem too hard to do so going to try and flash the next one i buy and give the arduino to my son to play with. I wired up my second STC last weekend and after 5mins it died so i ordered another. Took that apart in case there was a fuse inside and it was very easy to do. No fuse though.
Soton could you recommend a socket for the temp probe? Would like to be able to remove them as i can see myself breaking it.

 

[Fil]

check out 3pin XLR and mini XLR plugs and sockets as used with microphone audio leads for heavy duty budget priced plugs and sockets..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Pin-XLR...hash=item1c5b757daf:m:mgk1kgy_EIzobxfemo52fIA

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-3-Pin...hash=item3d291a14fa:m:mCk4B9s9LUYf5mLR4GJgUPg

as alway ebay links are just examples NOT recommended sellers..