11 replies to this topic

[KSUwildcatFAN]

Seems like you could get an old (maybe free, or close to it) house thermostat, a relay, and a few other odds and ends and make it happen.Anyone ever tried?

[Humperdink]

Seems like you could get an old (maybe free, or close to it) house thermostat, a relay, and a few other odds and ends and make it happen.Anyone ever tried?

For what kind of application? A fermenting chamber or a fridge, etc? What did you have in mind?

[Humperdink]

For what kind of application? A fermenting chamber or a fridge, etc? What did you have in mind?

Reason I ask is I have house thermostats controlling the heating and cooling on my fermentation chambers, but I'd have to think about how to get it to run a fridge...

[KSUwildcatFAN]

For what kind of application? A fermenting chamber or a fridge, etc? What did you have in mind?

Yeah, controlling a fridge. It seems that if you wired (with resistors, believe thermostats us 24V) the thermostat to a relay that would close the circuit instead of triggering your furnace, it would be fairly simple.

[DirtyRugger]

I would be interested in seeing your setup for the fermentation chamber. This is my next project and I don't see why I should spend $60 for something to control a light bulb and a computer fan. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Humperdink]

I would be interested in seeing your setup for the fermentation chamber. This is my next project and I don't see why I should spend $60 for something to control a light bulb and a computer fan. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

What'd you have in mind? A fridge used to cool the chamber or ice or what? I helped a good friend of mind build a large chamber with dual temperature zones using a mini fridge and some insulation and other odds and ends. my setup at home is much simpler and uses ice for cooling etc. Let me know and I'll try to either link or post some pics in another thread.Which makes me think... My buddy has a thermostat running his mini fridge. It's absolutely possible KSU. Let me see if I can find the link.ETA: link knewshound builds the beast

Edited by chriscose, 19 February 2010 - 11:57 AM.

[KSUwildcatFAN]

What'd you have in mind? A fridge used to cool the chamber or ice or what? I helped a good friend of mind build a large chamber with dual temperature zones using a mini fridge and some insulation and other odds and ends. my setup at home is much simpler and uses ice for cooling etc. Let me know and I'll try to either link or post some pics in another thread.Which makes me think... My buddy has a thermostat running his mini fridge. It's absolutely possible KSU. Let me see if I can find the link.ETA: link knewshound builds the beast

I guess I was thinking it would either be a heating or cooling chamber. I'd have to think a little more about how to do both. Bottom line, it that you either plug the fridge or the light bulb/heating pad into the "circuit". When the the thermostat says it's too hot or cold it sends a signal to the relay, which then closes the circuit to allow the fridge or heating source to turn on.

[Humperdink]

I guess I was thinking it would either be a heating or cooling chamber. I'd have to think a little more about how to do both. Bottom line, it that you either plug the fridge or the light bulb/heating pad into the "circuit". When the the thermostat says it's too hot or cold it sends a signal to the relay, which then closes the circuit to allow the fridge or heating source to turn on.

Absolutely, it's easy to use a thermostat to control the signal to a light bulb or heating pad or whatever. I use a thermostat to control my chambers, but mine aren't hooked to a fridge. I thought that's what you were looking at which is why I linked that article.

[BrewerGeorge]

I don't want to discourage you, but I've built a lot of stuff - including the electric element controller from Christmas lights. It's been my experience that you are going to be better off purchasing something manufactured for your purpose than building something. Unless you have tons of recyclable pieces around you can reuse, the individually cheap $2 or $3 pieces will add up to the cost of just buying it outright. If you want to build a device as an end in itself - if you enjoy the process of creating and maintaining it - that is another story. However, if you just want something that works, it's usually more efficient to buy it.

[3rd party JKor]

You can buy a thermostat for $10 at Home Depot that will directly switch a fridge. Range and deadband could be a little bit of an issue, but for cheap it'll work.

[beach]

I have this controller Link-O-Matic on 3 of my temp-controlled *chambers*. I paid ~$37/ at Menards. Single stage heat/cool that controls down to 45*F. The only thing you need to mod is the wiring to the thermister. I just spliced in some CAT cable to get the thermister to where I wanted it.Beach

[xd_haze]

Seems like you could get an old (maybe free, or close to it) house thermostat, a relay, and a few other odds and ends and make it happen.Anyone ever tried?

This is the link you are looking for: My linkI've built two, and they work just great. Cooling down to 35 deg.mike