# Stc 1000 Problems



## dreadhead

Hi guys, 
I recently bought a stc-1000 off ebay, wired it all up and the had a sparky check it over to make sure I wasn't going to fry myself. On Monday I plugged it in and it was working perfectly until yesterday when I moved the unit to a different location. When I plug it in now it no longer seems to switch the fridge on when above my set temp, even though the cooling light is flashing on the display and the probe is working accurately. I opened it up and rechecked all the wires, none were loose, and plugged the fridge in without the controller and that works fine too. Any ideas what could be the problem? Don't go too deep on the terminology, as I have very little idea about electronics.

Cheers


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## bear09

dreadhead said:


> Hi guys,
> I recently bought a stc-1000 off ebay, wired it all up and the had a sparky check it over to make sure I wasn't going to fry myself. On Monday I plugged it in and it was working perfectly until yesterday when I moved the unit to a different location. When I plug it in now it no longer seems to switch the fridge on when above my set temp, even though the cooling light is flashing on the display and the probe is working accurately. I opened it up and rechecked all the wires, none were loose, and plugged the fridge in without the controller and that works fine too. Any ideas what could be the problem? Don't go too deep on the terminology, as I have very little idea about electronics.
> 
> Cheers



YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM HERE AR ALL!!! If the cooling light is flashing that means the compressor delay protector is working. Go to settings under F4 I think - maybe F3 and check the compressor delay time. It is set to 3 mins by default. Thsi means that whenever cooling is required if it has not been at least 3 mins since cooling was used (or its the first time cooling is needed since you have switcjhed the unit on) then there will be a 3 minuite delay. I have mine set to 5 min delay. This protects your frdige from being swiotched on and off quickly which can damage your complressor.

The unit is working for you as designed.


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## Nick JD

What are your F1-F4 values?


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## dreadhead

Thanks for the quick respones, *I'm a goose*. Thought the flashing meant the unit was in cooling mode and the fridge should be on, not the compressor delay in action which I did set at 9 mins.

Thanks


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## Yob

Nick JD said:


> What are your F1-F4 values?




F1 = Ferment temps of your choosing
F2 = 0.5'c 
F3 = 5 min
F4 = 0


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## DU99

http://mashmaster.com.au/UserFiles/2321-Fi...le/brewmate.pdf


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## BradG

Hi all. First post. Don't shoot me down!!

I have recently purchased, wired and used the stc1000. I used this forum and others as a guide for the wiring so thanks. It is currently running a heater belt, and as it is currently colder in the garage than the beer set point, I don't need anything on the cooling side. 
BUT
I have noticed a potential problem, as follows:
Parameter F3 is programmed to 0. Every thing works fine. Heat comes on and off as expected. Cool comes on and off as expected without delay.
Power the device off and on again using the button on the front. Still no problems. 
Disconnect Power from the device and then back on again. The cooling won't come on. The display flashes as when the cooling is under compressor delay. But wait.....I had that set to zero. I check the setting for F3 and the display contains no value whatsoever. I have to set the value again to zero and then the cooling comes on and the device works as expected. I contacted the eBay supplier and explained and they sent a replacement free of charge. I still have the first one as it was in use on a batch. The new one does the same thing!

Is this a known issue or "feature" or am I extremely unlucky?. I have not waited to see if it comes good on its own. One of the first threads in this topic (I think) suggests there may be a anti-short delay. 
Any thoughts???

I took a video of the problem to send to the supplier to demonstrate but the file was too big to upload to the email . perhaps I'll try you tube it


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## AJS2154

Brad,

I also have the STC1000. I will give you my best shot. I suspect it is getting confused, for whatever reason, because the F3 value is programmed to zero. I have that value set to 4 or 5 minutes so that it can protect the fridge from too frequently starting. A delay via the F3 parameter (ie waiting the specified time) acts as a sort of buffer.

My STC waits the F3 set time until it turns the cold switch on, but immediately starts the hot switch without waiting. I am not sure if this is right or otherwise, it has always worked that way and it doesn't make any difference to me because it is starting a heat mat that is located in the fridge (not immediately under the fermenter but close).

Bump the F3 value up to say 4 and see what happens. Suspect it will fix the problem. I don't think you are extremely unlucky....to be honest I would suggest it is the set up on F3.


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## BradG

Hey ajs. Thanks for reply

I set the f3 delay to 1 min. Everything is fine. Cooling operated as expected Fter the delay. 
Disconnect power and back again. Cooling delay light is flashing now for a few minutes. The f3 value is blank (ie none of the segments of the last led digit are illuminated) and I need to reset it to a value before the cooling function works. 

After my first message I waited longer than 10 mins to see if it would fix itself. It didn't. 


Can you (or anyone) unplug (cut power) theirs and see if they have the same problem when powered on again?


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## AJS2154

Oh, one other thing that I just remembered. Forgive me if I am asking a dumb question here, but when you change a parameter, say time on the F3 function, do you press the on/off switch (ie the top left hand button) to effectively enter the data? If you don't it just forgets the data you had entered and goes back to the original setting. In your case that would be back to zero again. Worth asking just in case.

I checked with my STC, switched it on, ran it for a while, then cut the power as you describe. No problems. In fact, we have lost power and when I turned it back on there were no dramas.

Sorry mate, I am out of suggestions now. Over to the crew from here.

Anthony


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## BradG

Hey Anthony, Yes I exit the setup menu after changing the settings correctly by pressing the on/off switch. 

The device works correctly per the settings until it has lost power. 

Thanks for trying!!


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## BradG

Any ideas how to contact the actual manufacturer, rather than the eBay onsellers?


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## Camo6

Don't you save the settings by pressing the set button below the on/off button once?

I've cut power to my shed a few times and when I've reconnected all my stc's resume cooling or heating. Maybe it's the brand of stc? Got a link to the seller?


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## Yob

Why do you have a 0 compressor delay?


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## BradG

0min compressor delay for functional testing purposes. I have a light or fan plugged in to that (whatever's handy) to show that the output has switched.


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## BradG

Seller is ozcctv on eBay.


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## BradG

OK - I have put a very poorly executed video on YouTube to show the problem. 



It ended a bit abruptly as the phone went flat


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## nosco

Yob said:


> F1 = Ferment temps of your choosing
> F2 = 0.5'c
> F3 = 5 min
> F4 = 0



I have my F2 @ 1c. Trying to minimise the load on the fridge and the power bill.

If I set it to .5c will it improve my beer? Home brewing is never gonna be good on the power bill.


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## Coalminer

Brad

Have you waited for a while after you power off/on for the cooling light to stop flashing and then check what the reading is for F3?
I use several of these and they all have the same feature......
Usually the cooling function will turn on again at its user-set temp after the max 9 min delay, after a power failure, to prevent overloading
the compressor in case something/someone repeatedly turns the power on/off and the fridge is forced to start/stop without a suitable delay
This is how my 4 STC's work

cheers


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## Yob

nosco said:


> I have my F2 @ 1c. Trying to minimise the load on the fridge and the power bill.
> If I set it to .5c will it improve my beer? Home brewing is never gonna be good on the power bill.


Setting at 1'c means you can get a 2'c range.. I prefer to minimise the temp swings with a lower range. It's not as though it's going to be cycling much, takes s while to raise the temp again, especially toward the end.. It's at the pitch, growth, early ferment that a stable temp is the most critical


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## BradG

Coalminer said:


> Brad
> 
> Have you waited for a while after you power off/on for the cooling light to stop flashing and then check what the reading is for F3?
> I use several of these and they all have the same feature......
> Usually the cooling function will turn on again at its user-set temp after the max 9 min delay, after a power failure, to prevent overloading
> the compressor in case something/someone repeatedly turns the power on/off and the fridge is forced to start/stop without a suitable delay
> This is how my 4 STC's work
> 
> cheers


Coalminer,

I suspected that this could be the case and did wait for a period longer than 10 minutes (used a stop watch and everything). The cooling light continued to flash away. Perhaps I'll leave it for longer and see.

So would you expect after a power failure that the cooling delay is initiated for the maximum set time, regardless of what you had the F3 value set to prior to the power failure?

Note that this happens only when the power is removed. Turning the device on and off via the button does not cause this to happen.

Thanks
Brad


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## nosco

I only get about a 1c range with just cooling but I haven't used heating for a while. I might adjust it when I do


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## Crusty

Coalminer said:


> Brad
> 
> Have you waited for a while after you power off/on for the cooling light to stop flashing and then check what the reading is for F3?
> I use several of these and they all have the same feature......
> Usually the cooling function will turn on again at its user-set temp after the max 9 min delay, after a power failure, to prevent overloading
> the compressor in case something/someone repeatedly turns the power on/off and the fridge is forced to start/stop without a suitable delay
> This is how my 4 STC's work
> 
> cheers


+1.
Exactly how all mine work. It's a safety feature of the STC brad & it's designed to do just that after a power failure. Setting F3 to 0 is asking for trouble & within a short period of time, you'll blow your compressor. I have mine set for 3mins & that's probably the minimum.


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## BradG

Ok, I have tested again, just in case I was too impatient. 
I know about the compressor delay parameter and what's its for. I am not running a fridge on the cooling switch so it doesn't matter what value I have chosen for the F3 parameter. 

When I set the F3 value to 0, or 1, or 4 minutes or whatever, after that delay time, the cooling switch activates as it should. When I cycle the power using the button on the device, the cooling switch still operates as it should with the previously entered value for F3. When I cycle the power by removing the power cord, the cooling delay light started flashing away. Currently it has been flashing for more than 30 minutes and the cool switch has not come on. 
I don't think it should work like this. 

Has anyone tried to duplicate this? I now have 2 of these devices behaving the same way. 

When I check the value of f3, it is blank, not zero, not the value I previously entered, not some default value, not some maximum value, but blank. Has any one ever seen this

Now since typing this it has been 44 minutes and it is still flashing.


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## Crusty

BradG said:


> Ok, I have tested again, just in case I was too impatient.
> I know about the compressor delay parameter and what's its for. I am not running a fridge on the cooling switch so it doesn't matter what value I have chosen for the F3 parameter.
> 
> When I set the F3 value to 0, or 1, or 4 minutes or whatever, after that delay time, the cooling switch activates as it should. When I cycle the power using the button on the device, the cooling switch still operates as it should with the previously entered value for F3. When I cycle the power by removing the power cord, the cooling delay light started flashing away. Currently it has been flashing for more than 30 minutes and the cool switch has not come on.
> I don't think it should work like this.
> 
> Has anyone tried to duplicate this? I now have 2 of these devices behaving the same way.
> 
> When I check the value of f3, it is blank, not zero, not the value I previously entered, not some default value, not some maximum value, but blank. Has any one ever seen this
> 
> Now since typing this it has been 44 minutes and it is still flashing.


Who wired them up?
It's possible that it's a wiring problem if they are both doing it or you just got unlucky with two bad units.
This is the wiring diagram I used & all mine work as they should. I've wired up 4 of these & no dramas whatsoever.


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## Camo6

Went and tested one of mine for you. F3 set to 1, pulled the plug, plugged back in and after one minute cool light stopped flashing and cooling resumed.

I'd say it's the brand as there seems to be a lot of different makes of these now. Just looking at the sellers photos show three different STC's. Pretty sure mine are all Elitech branded.


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## BradG

Hey crusty, I wired them. Same as yours except swapped 5,6 and 7-8, but that won't make a difference. They work fine provided the power doesn't go out. 

Thanks camo for checking. Mine are unbranded, only having stc1000 on them.

Ultimately I don't mind, as when I eventually get a fridge for this, provided I know that the thing needs to be reset following power out I can keep the temp under control. I don't expect the temp to rise significantly provided the door remains closed. 

The supplier says they have referred the matter to their supplier/techs. 
Thanks all!!!


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## BradG

Half an update;

I thought I'd cool a brew to ambient approx 12 degc in the garage at the moment (brrrr Victoria is cold at the mo). Using a heat belt and no fridge. 
I set the stc to 11 deg so it could never get there, and sometime the following day the cool relay indicator stopped flashing and became a solid on lamp. The f3 value is still a blank, but obviously is some obscure value.


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## Matplat

Hi Brad,

Just wondering if you had made any further progress with this problem? I have experienced the same thing with the F3 value going blank and the compressor indicator flashing. It almost cost me a brew yesterday morning, fortunately I caught it before daytime temps managed to do any damage, night time natural cooling came to the rescue!

This has happened before but a fair while ago and I had forgotten about it, I haven't managed to manually repeat the problem like you have, but I will try your method tonight.

At the moment I am thinking the solution is to buy an Elitech branded unit.

Cheers, Matt


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## BradG

Hi Matt. 
Thanks for validating my problem. 

I still have the original unit running only a heater belt so the cooling fault is not a problem YET. I plan on getting a fridge before the summer temps make the ambient higher than 18degC. 
Provided that am on top of things, I know the fault can occur and then be aware of power fault and reset as required. Not ideal I know. 

I had no follow up from the supplier but am not too concerned for the price of the unit. I may seek an elitech one in the future. 

It was perhaps at least a couple of days before the compressor delay ended and the cooling output came on. 

Let me know if you have any luck.


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## BradG

Just checked your interests Matt. I could very well have been reading my own profile.


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## BradG

Except I don't make sausages.


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## BradG

And I just had a birthday too!!!


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## Matplat

Ha ha ha, you should have a crack at it! Ive got roo sausages in the freezer which are primo . yeah i have to admit though the flying side of things has taken a significant downturn since i started brewing, haven't got time for both .

I tried your power off method to re-create the problem and it worked. So yeah any time there is a power out, which happens comparatively often out here even without storms, i will lose cooling. The seller has offered a half refund which is not bad considering i bought it in Jan. So i will re-task this unit to my new 1v mash system and buy a new one for the fridge.


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## BradG

Can't fly when your pissed!


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## gunn

i dont experience this with my stc1000
i have purchased another one, this time I selected the cheapest one I could find on ebay,
will be interesting to see if the new one suffers from this.


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