DIY Two Device Thermostat

[Foxton]

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.


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.


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.


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.


A little decoration from the stickers that came with a naga mouse I got.


In place and warming up to calibrate what they should be set at.


Bonus setup with some re-purposed LED lights for nighttime viewing or just extra light in general.

[norwegn113]

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

[Foxton]

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

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.

[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?

[Foxton]

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?

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.

[nucklehead97]

What amp outlet did you use?

[Foxton]

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/

[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?

[Foxton]

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?

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.

[danthebugman]

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 .