Has anyone used one of the temp controllers on Amazon?

[metro424]

I have a hydrofarm thermostat which is decent for the price, but i am interested in one of the other digital temperature controllers. They look fairly simple and should be accurate, but I was wondering if any one else had used one like the one I'm going to link. For the cost of a rheostat I can have what looks like a decent digital thermostat. I would be using it to control a UTH for a hog island boa.

http://www.amazon.com/Elitech-All-Pu..._cd_al_qh_dp_t

Thanks!

[artgecko]

Looks like it it Celsius only. Also, it looks like it is non-proportional.. meaning it turns off and on like your hydrofarm, it won't increase / decrease the percentage of power the UTH gets to keep a stable temperature, but turns off when it hits a set temp and then turns power back on when it gets below a certain point. Something else to note is that it looks like you have to wire it yourself, so if you have electrical experience, have no problem with celsius, and are fine with on/off operation instead of proportional, I'd give it a shot.

[metro424]

Yeah, i've been looking more closely at it, and I do believe that it would still be more consistent as you can set the point at which the heater comes on at off at 0.5 degrees above or below the specified temperature. That comes out to a little less than 1 degree fahrenheit under/over the set point. Compared to the +- 2 fahrenheit with the hydrofarm.

After more research I think that a PID controller would be a better option. Using one such as those listed on amazon should give me the most consistent heating. It seems reasonable that people use those PID controllers with the Solid State Relays to control anything from microbrew fermentation to furnaces. These seem like they might be the most ideal as they are proportional and take that one step further and use logic to minimize the error in heating and anticipate the overshoot in temperature that is a problem with a regular thermostat. Even better is that the SSR use no moving parts and will not have the same clicking that the hydrofarm does when the relay opens and closes. Admittedly my knowledge is limited but I think I will purchase one and make a post on how I wire it and how well it works.

I decided a while back that I want double redundancy for heating safety and Ill use the hydrofarm set to say 95 so that even a failure of the PID will not result in any harm to my reptiles

[metro424]

Well I cant find the edit button but this is the PID controller I am going to buy
http://www.amazon.com/Sestos-Tempera...productDetails

Unfortunately there are no reviews on amazon but for 40$ its not a huge deal. Being a PID i will be able to calibrate the thermocouple in a bucket of ice water as well as boiling water and I will be able to compare it against my thermapen and it should result in the most accurate temperature control for the money! Compatible with regular 110V household current.

[metro424]

I wired up the STC 1000 that I had in the first post and it works wonderfully. It will kick on when it's 0.3 Celsius from the set point. Its also good for up to 1000watts.

I ordered the PID controller as well and will try to wire it up this weekend to see how much better it holds the temperature.


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[metro424]

here is a picture of the wiring. I still need to stuff it in a project box to clean it up. But I'm pretty impressed with the thermostat for under $20


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[artgecko]

Wow, great job. I wish I was more comfortable with the technical side of things.. I'm too much of a chicken to try wiring stuff or even soldering heat tape.

I'm glad the setup seems to be working for you and that you got it at a good price. I know I'd have a lot more enclosures and snakes if herpstats went for $20.

[CrystalRose]

They do make these in a fahrenheit model. This is from a china seller but there are sellers in the US that sell them as well. I might have to try one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fahrenheit-A...item565fdab50a

[metro424]

Celsius isn't much of an issue since my thermometer is in Fahrenheit and that's what I use to monitor the temps. Once the thermostat is set and at operating at the temp I want, it's set it and forget it.


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[kc261]

Metro, thanks for all the info you have provided in this thread. I've been looking at doing the same thing, although I've been looking at the Fahrenheit model. I do the same thing as you, monitoring the temps with a F thermometer and setting the t-stat based on that, but I figure in case I ever use it in a different situation it'll be nice to have one that works in F so I don't have to deal with converting.