Cheap Chinese 2-stage Temp Controller

[Mylo]

You already have a nice metal box on hand already. Get out the dremel and make a spot for your controller!

Fermenting saisons in that chest freezer, Danny? 80* yikes!


Mylo

[andersonimes]

You already have a nice metal box on hand already. Get out the dremel and make a spot for your controller!

Your controller looks almost like the cheap chinese one I (and the others in this thread) bought, except yours appears to read in fahrenheit. Where did you acquire this contraption and how much was it?

[codewritinfool]

Your controller looks almost like the cheap chinese one I (and the others in this thread) bought, except yours appears to read in fahrenheit. Where did you acquire this contraption and how much was it?

http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Products/Product.cfm?Group_ID=402&sPageName=Ordering
$65.00

Their TS2 series (not shown here) is less expensive at $52.50

[DannyW]

You already have a nice metal box on hand already. Get out the dremel and make a spot for your controller!

Your controller looks almost like the cheap chinese one I (and the others in this thread) bought, except yours appears to read in fahrenheit. Where did you acquire this contraption and how much was it?

What Code said. That's exactly the one.

No, I wasn't fermenting at 80F, just was so excited when I got it put together and working that I had to take a picture Right Now!

[andersonimes]

Ah ok... looks nice. I was hoping you'd say it was $25 like the el-cheapo we've been talking about on this thread. It's almost identical.

[Magilla]

I just hooked this up and am testing it with the temporary kegerator. Seems to work pretty well.

What I don't like is that the settings clear if the power goes out. When I hook it up to the ferm frig, I'll use a backup on the power for the actual control unit. We lose power a lot here, but usually only for a few minutes.

I bought an extension cord at walmart and used that for all the wires including the small jumpers; I used the same cord for the unit power as well as the refrigerator power. I also used the little screw on caps to splice wires together. All in all, it went together in about 15 minutes. The boxes I mounted them in were at Lowes for a buck each and I just bolted them together. I plan to mount it directly to the ferm frig eventually. What I have right now is all temporary.


And for the "but it's in Celcius!" crowd...

[Beertastic]

I found these controllers online and was wondering if those of you who bought them, I saw this is an old post so hopefully I get to benefit from people having experience with these controllers, still like them? I was also wondering what type of temp probe they came with and if the Brewers Hardware temp sensors would work with them.

Thanks,

Chris

[EvilFrog]

I found these controllers online and was wondering if those of you who bought them, I saw this is an old post so hopefully I get to benefit from people having experience with these controllers, still like them? I was also wondering what type of temp probe they came with and if the Brewers Hardware temp sensors would work with them.

Thanks,

Chris

I can't really tell you anything about temp probe compatibility but I did purchase one of these and I am quite satisfied with it. A buddy of mine also bought one and I have not heard of any issues from him either. I have used mine to control fermentation temps in my chest freezer. I've had it for many batches across a couple seasons so I have had a chance to verify that the heating and cooling cycles both work as expected.

I say go for it. It is a good value.