Dual Stage Fermentation Controller Project

Rather than take the easy way out, I spent an hour or so building a housing for a dual stage heating/cooling control using a love controls brain from Dwyer Industries. I figured I'd shoot some video to give you some ideas if you wanted to do the same. For sure, most of the time, the controller will be switching my fermenting fridge but the dual stage capability is practical for Spring and Fall weather.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• home
• brew
• fermenting
• temperature
• control
• dual
• stage
• love
• ranco
• johnson
• controls

[BobbyFromNJ]

Pete, good point about the Dremel. That would be my first choice but I burned mine up a while ago.

[steeljan]

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!

[BobbyFromNJ]

@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.

[jakecpunut]

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!

[BobbyFromNJ]

@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.

[wesley5138]

pretty nice project ! Great video, what type of heater did you use ?

[BobbyFromNJ]

@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.

[rapanek]

Great video! This was a HUGE help!! I just bought a love controller and Im getting ready to wire it . Cheers!

[patonbike]

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.

[NavySealsutube]

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

[scoobtoober29]

Bobby we're missing some new videos! Hope your doing ok.

[HoozierDaddy]

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.

[ceejster29]

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?

[emoneyblue]

Great Job Bobby! and thanks for sharing...

[Traffic2k]

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]

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