I always check out ebay before buying something and wasn't surprised to see temp controllers at less than half off. Anybody tried one? I hate paying $80 for a controller from NB knowing I could get 3-4 from eBay for the same price.
I picked up two of the two stage STC-1000 controllers about a year ago (one for the kegerator, one for the fermentation chamber) off eBay for about $23 bucks shipped from China. Both work fantastic and are pretty simple to get going (there are a bunch of wiring schematics on HBT.) The listing said it was for 220v but the seller confirmed that units being shipped to the US would be the 110v version. The only downside is that it measures in Celsius, but a conversion table taped to the controller makes it a non-issue.
If I was in the market for another controller or two, the STC-1000 would likely be my first choice. I could live with the Celsius problem, such as it is. If you're crafty enough to build a fermentation and/or dispensing system, you've certainly got enough brain cells to hook one of these up, IMO.
I was given an old over/under freezer/frig. Is it possible to wire a controller to that to keep the freezer going while having the frig turn on/off to regulate temp. First, I'm guessing I need to determine if it is a dual compressor. If not, any ideas?
If it's a standard consumer model, then it likely has only one compressor. But you can still use a controller for finer control over the fridge temp. Set the internal thermostat (the knob labeled 'Fresh Food' or similar) to its coldest setting. Then set the 'Freezer' control (actually, just a damper) as you normally would. Effectively, you're replacing the internal thermostat with the external unit. Keep in mind that the light will turn off when the controller turns off the compressor.
I picked up my JC A419 for $70 shipped. In my opinion, if you don't need both heat and cold at the same time...it's worth every penny. Has loads of features, and absolutely hassle free.
I think the question was whether it's worth the extra $50 to $60 for a Johnson. In my opinion, the answer is No.
One nice thing about the STC-1000 (I expect that other dual stage units would have this as well) is that you can set the tolerance/variance of the unit, meaning if you have the target temp set to 20*C, you can set the unit to allow it to get up to X degrees away from that target temp before the unit turns on the heat or fridge - this can be a big plus in terms of not burning out your fridge compressor due to too much cycling.
The STC-1000 also has a compressor delay feature. You can set it to however many minutes delay before it will cycle on again.
If you want to go geek, you can get a PID controller for about $10 which has distinct advantages over thermostat type controllers for heating. Probably overkill for brewing, but it'll sure impress your friends! ...and they also do fahrenheit!
