STC 1000 Build.

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Jonesy

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Not posted for a while due to moving house and getting settled. I finally gave in and decided to build a fermentation chamber using an STC1000 and a Zanussi chest freezer.

I had toyed with the idea for a while but couldnt justify it, then couldnt see it being all that good or effective although I have to say it's been the best thing I've done, my unit holds a perfect programmed 19c and is producing excellent results with only a .5 degree tolerance.

Basically a post to people like me who wondered whether to bother, worried by the costs or if you're concerned by building such a uniy, id recommend it, it is Well worth the effort and if you are prepared to search you can find the parts very cheap online.

The STC1000 and the components including heater, case, and wiring etc came in under £45.00 and my freezer was £140.00

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I like the box! Exactly what i'm planning to do, however all the builds show people using actual plug sockets. I'd prefer to directly wire into the project box. Do you need anything special, or can you wire the heater/cooler and STC-1k directly to the corresponding hot/neutral/earth from the mains plug? Was worried about earthing the heater/cooler and if the switch provided anything else or served any other purpose....?
 
I like the box! Exactly what i'm planning to do, however all the builds show people using actual plug sockets. I'd prefer to directly wire into the project box. Do you need anything special, or can you wire the heater/cooler and STC-1k directly to the corresponding hot/neutral/earth from the mains plug? Was worried about earthing the heater/cooler and if the switch provided anything else or served any other purpose....?

Don't do it, you are removing fuses from the circuit by direct wiring. That's why people wire to sockets, it means everything you plug in has its own, correctly sized fuse.
 
Was afraid someone would say that :-( So I take it you mean the fuze present in the power cable? My fridge has that but my tube heater is just bare wires, so i guess I'll just need to fit a 3A plug to it.
After posting this, i saw a couple of posts of people who have direct wired, i take it the risk here is if one appliance shorts, it would affect everything in the project box right?
 
Twofold reason for using actual plug sockets, firstly the fuses as mentioned although so long as the plug for the box itself is suitably fused for the two devices in use (i.e. don't put a 13A one in it) then it's probably acceptable. But the additional protection of having in line fuses for both the heater and fridge is preferable.

Secondly with the sockets the box is standalone so you can easily change to a different fridge or heater if you have problems or even use it for something else entirely (e.g. using a slow cooker for sous vide cooking).

I built my first one with an STC-1000 but since then the Inkbird ITC-308 has come along. Does exactly the same as what you've just built but it's all ready to go, no wiring, just plug and play. I'd build another with an STC-1000 if the Inkbird device was expensive but as it is by the time I added a box, the sockets, some wire and a plug to my last STC-1000 build the cost is pretty much the same hence I bought an Inkbird controller for my second brew fridge.
 
Thank you both for the response! I wish I'd thought of the Inkbird before i bought the project box and STC. I'm considering to keep them now for another project and just go for the Inkbird, it seems like such an easier solution.
 
Apologies in my box I do have in line fuse holders they were only a few quid I forgot to mention
 
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