Hey Bobby, great video. I purchased a Johnson A419 unit for a kegerator conversion and so far have been pleased. I have another old mini fridge I would like to turn into a fermentation vessel, but don't know if I want to invest another $70. I am not strong with wiring, but I found this on Ace's website. Lux Products Programmable Thermostat (WIN100). It retails for around 40 dollars and appears to just plug directly to the fridge. What are your thoughts? If the probe is swapped out will it work?
Great build Bobby. Rather than use a jig saw for the cuts, I would use my Dremel with a cut off wheel to make the cuts. Clamp the box in a vise or clamp it to the work bench. Much better control of the working tool.
(I want to keep all my fingers and thumbs)
There are a lot of ppl that don't know about electricity. The detail about wire size and how to make the connections was great. Please keep up the great videos.
Great build Bobby. Rather than use a jig saw for the cuts, I would use my Dremel with a cut off wheel to make the cuts. Clamp the box in a vise or clamp it to my bench. Much better control of the working tool.
(I want to keep all my fingers and thumbs)
There are a lot of ppl that don't know about electricity. The detail about wire size and how to make the connections was great. Please keep up the great videos.
Mashmaster is in Australia right? They want US$63 for this device and it requires a 220V supply. The Love-Controls version was $69 so not that big of a difference. My $90 was including the probe and shipping.
Always great to see more home brewers taking fermentation control seriously. It's one of the most ignored and most critical steps to home brewing. If you've seen my videos, last year I went the route of modifying a thermostat to control a fan blowing on ice bottles in a Igloo Ultra 175qt cooler. I recently tried to change that setup out for a Johnson Controller & using peltier heating & cooling. It worked but not efficiently. I should edit and put up the video on that for folks. Thanks Bobby!
I went through similar homegrown solutions from manually adding ice bottles to a water bath to the finding the right ambient zone in the house. I finally broke down and picked up a used fridge.
I've been putting a 40w lamp in my chest freezer to heat up enough to keep my temps up so the freezer will kick on and cool it back down using the A419. I need something like this to not waste so much energy!
I did weigh the pros/cons of the ebay controller but my main reason for not going that route was that I just can't think in Celsius as much as I try. I'll admit the price premium for the Love version is tough to swallow which is why I trimmed the cost with a recycled cord. Thanks for the comments so that other viewers can consider the cheaper option.
You can get the dual stage controllers off ebay for about $22 (search "aquarium thermostat"). I have two made up. One for my fermenting fridge (which switches between turning the fridge on or turning the heating pad on depending on fermentation temp) and one for my kegerator (where i use the cooling function only). Definitely worth the investment people.
Nice build Bobby! 2 cut down on the price some more, I built one close to this with the ebay STC-1000 110v temp controller. Close to the love but you have to convert to celcius. The cost was around 27.00 for the stc.
I plan to use a clamp light with a 25 watt bulb. I won't know for sure what wattage works best until I get into next Winter. Lower wattage is obviously safer in a plastic box as long as it can keep up.
Great video! This was a HUGE help!! I just bought a love controller and Im getting ready to wire it . Cheers!
rapanek 6 days ago
Hi Bobby,
Does the LOVE controller let you schedule heat vs cold based on a calendar or day of week?
I am thinking of, for example, a hands off cold crash.
patonbike 2 months ago
just like to say thankyou i have just got one of these type controlers got it running my freezer and works great thankyou for a good idea
NavySealsutube 5 months ago
Bobby we're missing some new videos! Hope your doing ok.
scoobtoober29 7 months ago
Nice work man. I may try this out when I pick up another controller. I like how the sockets are built right into the box.
HoozierDaddy 7 months ago
Hey Bobby, great video. I purchased a Johnson A419 unit for a kegerator conversion and so far have been pleased. I have another old mini fridge I would like to turn into a fermentation vessel, but don't know if I want to invest another $70. I am not strong with wiring, but I found this on Ace's website. Lux Products Programmable Thermostat (WIN100). It retails for around 40 dollars and appears to just plug directly to the fridge. What are your thoughts? If the probe is swapped out will it work?
ceejster29 8 months ago
Great Job Bobby! and thanks for sharing...
emoneyblue 8 months ago
Pete, good point about the Dremel. That would be my first choice but I burned mine up a while ago.
BobbyFromNJ 9 months ago
Great build Bobby. Rather than use a jig saw for the cuts, I would use my Dremel with a cut off wheel to make the cuts. Clamp the box in a vise or clamp it to the work bench. Much better control of the working tool.
(I want to keep all my fingers and thumbs)
There are a lot of ppl that don't know about electricity. The detail about wire size and how to make the connections was great. Please keep up the great videos.
Thanks again, Pete
Traffic2k 9 months ago
Great build Bobby. Rather than use a jig saw for the cuts, I would use my Dremel with a cut off wheel to make the cuts. Clamp the box in a vise or clamp it to my bench. Much better control of the working tool.
(I want to keep all my fingers and thumbs)
There are a lot of ppl that don't know about electricity. The detail about wire size and how to make the connections was great. Please keep up the great videos.
Thanks again, Pete
Traffic2k 9 months ago
nice video
As i get more into brewing i will need to do that project myself. thanks
ruthlsss 9 months ago
You still selling those vinyl letters? Nice touch. Cheers!
TiberBrewing 9 months ago
Thanks Bobby, as usual another great video. Now I just need to pull the trigger and buy some stuff.
kegtapper09 9 months ago
Im builsing mine with all free parts from friends. A transformer, a pro 8000 honeywell touchscreen stat and a relay. Im looking forward to it.
Petrolstar78 9 months ago
very nice!
DickyBenfield 9 months ago
wow go to mashmaster and you can get a controler much cheaper
HomeDistiller 9 months ago
@HomeDistiller
Mashmaster is in Australia right? They want US$63 for this device and it requires a 220V supply. The Love-Controls version was $69 so not that big of a difference. My $90 was including the probe and shipping.
BobbyFromNJ 9 months ago
Always great to see more home brewers taking fermentation control seriously. It's one of the most ignored and most critical steps to home brewing. If you've seen my videos, last year I went the route of modifying a thermostat to control a fan blowing on ice bottles in a Igloo Ultra 175qt cooler. I recently tried to change that setup out for a Johnson Controller & using peltier heating & cooling. It worked but not efficiently. I should edit and put up the video on that for folks. Thanks Bobby!
steeljan 9 months ago
@steeljan
I went through similar homegrown solutions from manually adding ice bottles to a water bath to the finding the right ambient zone in the house. I finally broke down and picked up a used fridge.
BobbyFromNJ 9 months ago
I've been putting a 40w lamp in my chest freezer to heat up enough to keep my temps up so the freezer will kick on and cool it back down using the A419. I need something like this to not waste so much energy!
jakecpunut 9 months ago
@jakecpunut
I've done the same trick over last winter with a 25w bulb. I agree the energy waste is the primary reason not to do that.
BobbyFromNJ 9 months ago
Really nice project. Ive been thinking about getting the Ranco but just havent want to pull the trigger yet on it. This might be the way to go.
BeerGeekNation 9 months ago
I did weigh the pros/cons of the ebay controller but my main reason for not going that route was that I just can't think in Celsius as much as I try. I'll admit the price premium for the Love version is tough to swallow which is why I trimmed the cost with a recycled cord. Thanks for the comments so that other viewers can consider the cheaper option.
BobbyFromNJ 9 months ago
You can get the dual stage controllers off ebay for about $22 (search "aquarium thermostat"). I have two made up. One for my fermenting fridge (which switches between turning the fridge on or turning the heating pad on depending on fermentation temp) and one for my kegerator (where i use the cooling function only). Definitely worth the investment people.
sonnyjim7579 9 months ago
Nice build Bobby! 2 cut down on the price some more, I built one close to this with the ebay STC-1000 110v temp controller. Close to the love but you have to convert to celcius. The cost was around 27.00 for the stc.
dtadpole 9 months ago
Nice
loggerlance 9 months ago
pretty nice project ! Great video, what type of heater did you use ?
wesley5138 9 months ago
@wesley5138
I plan to use a clamp light with a 25 watt bulb. I won't know for sure what wattage works best until I get into next Winter. Lower wattage is obviously safer in a plastic box as long as it can keep up.
BobbyFromNJ 9 months ago