DIY Two Device Thermostat

Sure two individual sensors would work and there's always the very overly expensive alternatives but I wanted one device to control the temps with for both the ambient and belly heat. And being kind of handy I decided to make my own.

Materials Used, everything from Lowes except the first. Example Wiring diagram

2x STC 1000
http://goo.gl/mljncm

8" x 8" x 4" PVC Enclosure
~20$

12 gauge braided wire, 4' of black and white
~5$

Replacement 16 gauge electrical cord
11$

Outlet
5$

I attempted to use the laser I used in this thread to cut the holes but this material was terrible and didn't want to cut cleanly. Instead of liked to melt back into itself so the cuts came out really ragged. If I did another I would use hand tools to cut the spaces out.

Enclosure with the holes cut. Can see where the inside has been burned and melted.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...ps72a52009.jpg

Back with everything in place. Holes for the cables are just big enough to let them in so the sensor ones aren't going to slip out without a lot of work. Power cord was secured with a very big zip tie. Left outlet is for device 1 and the right is for device 2.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...psfb3af4b3.jpg

Wired up, would have went with a full 16 gauge setup if the Lowes guy hadn't grabbed me the wrong gauge. 12 is overkill and hard to work with for the tight space.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2fb88e77.jpg

Front finished, I did make some rectangular cut outs so the stc 1000s would be secure since the cut out area ended up being too big.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...ps43fda74d.jpg

A little decoration from the stickers that came with a naga mouse I got.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5de30af5.jpg

In place and warming up to calibrate what they should be set at.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...psf38b515b.jpg

Bonus setup with some re-purposed LED lights for nighttime viewing or just extra light in general.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...ps02f8ee68.jpg

I really like this idea. It would be hard to get used to dealing in Celsius.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by norwegn113

I really like this idea. It would be hard to get used to dealing in Celsius.

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They do make them that are in F, and it might be possible to switch a breaker inside these two swap it but I don't really care too much, once it's set then I don't have to play with it.

How would you wire that and would it work for a combination of a UTH and heat lamp? Also how difficult was it to wire up because my dad is okay with wiring electronics and stuff but I would like to know how hard this would be for me to do?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nucklehead97

How would you wire that and would it work for a combination of a UTH and heat lamp? Also how difficult was it to wire up because my dad is okay with wiring electronics and stuff but I would like to know how hard this would be for me to do?

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It's actually very easy to wire, I put a link near the top to a site where someone made a nice diagram for it. This does work for a combination of both, which was why I wanted it in the first place. All it took was breaking the metal jumper between posts which lets the two outlets operate independantly. I'm using the left outlet for UTH while the right controls the heat lamp.

If you look on youtube there are several good videos of how to wire up an STC 1000 for heating/cooling to get an idea if it's something you're capable of. This one is pretty good. http://youtu.be/SrdOpk10MkE Being that it's electricity it's always better to be cautious if you don't know.

What amp outlet did you use?

20 amp outlet, went for a more expensive one for the ability to do screw and clamp to attach the lines to save on wire nut usage.

Differences in how to attach
http://www.handymanhowto.com/electri...sus-back-wire/

So you had to wrap the wire of the right STC 1000 to the right screw and the left STC 1000 to the left screw right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nucklehead97

So you had to wrap the wire of the right STC 1000 to the right screw and the left STC 1000 to the left screw right?

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You attach the line from the 'heat' output to whichever outlet you want to be for it. As long as you break the bridge between the two posts they'll operate independently. Only need to break the bridge on one side though.

Might be good to try to work with your dad on this project and follow the wiring diagram if you do it. Here it is again Silver/Yellow are the same lines, Blue connects into that same circuit as well. If you notice where the blue connects to the posts, the bridge is cut. The sensor lines don't matter which way they go, just so long as they are both connected.

The STC is a little cheaper ($13.99) right now at this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...43ZNVIWRBCXLBV and if you wanted to shave a little extra off the cost then you can usually pick up some power cords off old appliances and what not without too much trouble. I've built some STC controllers for homebrewing applications and will probably do some more when I build some 3x2 enclosures in the near future. They're handy little devices :gj:.

Are the STC 1000 proportional or just on off

Over in this part of the world we don't get herpstats and stuff like that. Pretty much all of my thermostats are wired myself like that. I like dixell from emerdon climate technologies, they are the best I've tried thus far.

This is a very cheap and easy way to have thermostats instead of spending hundreds on Herpstats or Helix, ect.. I spent $65 on theses four from amazon and they control the UTH's and ambient temps for both enclosures. I know they are not as good or reliable as the said above stats but for us who don't have hundreds to spend they are great! @Foxton. Good write up! You saved me a lot of money. http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...712e80aca3.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...3a49acdd9c.jpg


[emoji216]2.0 Royals[emoji216]

I was just looking on amazon at these and wondered if they would work as well as a helix or hepastat.....for $20 a pop you cant go wrong!

Well the only thing that I don't like is that they are on/off. Meaning when they get to desired temp they shut off. When they get below desired temp like one degree they come back on. Besides that, if u can't afford the hundreds for a actual reptile stat these are the way to go. I went with the "Inkbird" ITC1000. It is the Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. (Note: The one in pic is not in use. That's why temp is so low) http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...f44e0d2869.jpg


[emoji216]2.0 Royals[emoji216]

Hmmm, this might just end up being a project for the boyfriend (who has some experience wiring things).
Great writeup, thanks for sharing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andyroof1979

I was just looking on amazon at these and wondered if they would work as well as a helix or hepastat.....for $20 a pop you cant go wrong!

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They are nothing a like. Herpstats and helix are proportional controllers. They have no hysteresis and are very accurate probes (0.5ºC up or down) this unit is a on off unit, all of them have hysteresis. The accuracy is 2ºF up or down. Basically it is a hydrofarm controller, or zilla. They are ok for heavy enclosures where the spikes all on/off produce are regulated by the thermal mass of the set up. Comparing a proportional unit to an on/off is not reasonable.

This is an interesting unit, does anyone know the hysteresis of this? The better on/off units it is only 1ºF, some have an adjustable hysteresis. Others are quite a lot.

From the product info I could find online, this unit has an accuracy of +-1 F.
Adjustable hysteresis.
Alarm When Temperature Exceeds the Limit or When Sensor Error.

So probably as good, or better than the Hydropharm. (hysteresis on the Hydropharm is 2 degrees.)
And these units are only $16 US.

I may have to pick up a few of these, for some future cage builds I have planned.

interesting, after reading your post I did some looking too. I found specs on both the 'ink bird' and STC-1000 from what I saw they both have an accuracy of +/-1ºC (+/-2ºF) that is close to a 4º spread. IMO too much for plastic tubs, marginal for a PVCx but perfect for glass.

The Inkbird has an impressive hysteresis 0.1ºC so that would minimize the spikes IF the probe response is fast enough and doesn't do some odd behaviour coupled with the relatively slow sample rate (0.5s, the herpstat is 0.02s I think 60 samples per second)

The STD-1000 also seems to have good hysteresis (difference set) 0.3ºC. They didn't spec the sample times I can find. The probe response time is not in either specs typical it is too variable depending on the manufacturing process.

Are the probes of both units heavy or light?

one of the big issues with hydrofarms are the heavy probe the slow sample rates and in the old units the huge hysteresis, (2ºC!!!) They are IMO ONLY good as a back up nothing else.

I personally would not suggest one for a primary on anything but glass myself but they are certainly better than most of the reptile specific crap on/off units out there.

I am interested in them as a fail safes, i have been using hydrofarms but these look better and could be stacked easily. Where did you find the "InkBird" units?

http://www.tradeger.co.za/pdf/stc100...ing_manual.pdf
http://www.ink-bird.com/product/deta..._ITC-1000/id/6 (download manual)

I got my Inkbird on amazon. Here is a picture of the probe. http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...18bd7805e1.jpg


[emoji216]2.0 Royals[emoji216]

Nice, I am going to look for a set as failsafes, if I convince my wife that replacing stats for other stats is needed...