Diy dual stage temp controler?
- Thread starter Wiskey
- Start date
douggiestyle
New member
not sure how much diy you want simple would be to use a ranco temp control. you may be able to find a dual stage for about $50-$60
douggiestyle
New member
grainger.com has ranco etc 211000 for $103 no shipping costs if there is a pickup near you.
i also found an apiary supply place selling single stage rancos for $25. you could buy two.
if you are using fans i wouldnt spend the money. get a biger heater and let them battle it out. i like running fans 24/7 it helps with evaporation. that way i can add more kalk water.
i also found an apiary supply place selling single stage rancos for $25. you could buy two.
if you are using fans i wouldnt spend the money. get a biger heater and let them battle it out. i like running fans 24/7 it helps with evaporation. that way i can add more kalk water.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
The problem with a DIY controller is complexity and quality. A Ranco is a bit more than a thermostat. YOu need to build hysterisis into a controller. This is very important in a dual stage. Reliability is also a huge factor. RANCOS are made with quality components and a very sound design. $150 is pretty cheap for what you are getting. To DIY something like that you will have $50 in finished parts and $50 or more in protoype parts.
The project will end up in a junky project box and will not have any digital functions (other than display) and no memery.
If you are really serious about such a project you could use 2 analog thermostats with remote bulbs covered in epoxy. The stats could be wired to heavy duty ice cube relays or contactors.
The stats are going to cost you $25 or more each, and the relays about $10 each. A tube of suitable epoxy is about $5. Misc parts maybe anothe $10. Thats about $75 for a rube goldberg analog dual stage controller. With a little injinuity you could wire the relays so that only the chiller or heater could run, but not both. This would serve as failsafe if the setpoints on the analog stats ever wandered.
I would buy the ranco, and sleep much better.
Then again you could go all out and use a PIC or ATMEL and write some rather basic code to do all of this... but your not going to get a micro and learn to use it for a $50 bill.
The project will end up in a junky project box and will not have any digital functions (other than display) and no memery.
If you are really serious about such a project you could use 2 analog thermostats with remote bulbs covered in epoxy. The stats could be wired to heavy duty ice cube relays or contactors.
The stats are going to cost you $25 or more each, and the relays about $10 each. A tube of suitable epoxy is about $5. Misc parts maybe anothe $10. Thats about $75 for a rube goldberg analog dual stage controller. With a little injinuity you could wire the relays so that only the chiller or heater could run, but not both. This would serve as failsafe if the setpoints on the analog stats ever wandered.
I would buy the ranco, and sleep much better.
Then again you could go all out and use a PIC or ATMEL and write some rather basic code to do all of this... but your not going to get a micro and learn to use it for a $50 bill.
Wiskey
New member
I bought the ranco 211000, and got a 10% discount through my company, the heaters could out compeate the fans, but I was wasting a lot of power. My 250W and 200W heaters were on half the day.
BeanAnimal you had some great points, and it was the last "nail in the coffen" for this diy project. I did build a DIY single stage for my my FW tank, but it never worked right under water (still use it for controling temp in hood) and I could not see any cheap design doing much better in a duel stage model.
Thanks all,
Whiskey
BeanAnimal you had some great points, and it was the last "nail in the coffen" for this diy project. I did build a DIY single stage for my my FW tank, but it never worked right under water (still use it for controling temp in hood) and I could not see any cheap design doing much better in a duel stage model.
Thanks all,
Whiskey
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Yeah don't get me wrong I am dreaming Up DIY electronics projects all the time... most of the time I spend a small fortune on parts and never finish the project, only to change course in mid-stream. A PIC or Atmel would be fun to throw at this, but in the end I think the RANCO would still fit most of our needs better. For that matter it would be easy to hack the ranco display and relays to get status inputs to a DIY controller.
douggiestyle
New member
i guess this is little late but you could wire a relay in a gang box. plug the heaters into it. as well as the fans. and have the wiring such that the fans are not running when the heaters are on. of course you are then using the heaters thermastat.
