Sorry for another STC thread - want to make sure I understand this

[Nizmoose]

Hi guys I know the wiring for an stc has been done to death and the many diagrams seem easy enough. My questions dont so much relate to the how part of wiring it up but the whys. I hate just doing things without a sound understanding of how things work whether thats wiring, brewing, pulling cars apart, etc. I have a reasonable amount of experience with wiring in cars but haven't done anything 240v and appliancy (definitely not a word). I want to make sure I've got this right using the below diagram.


Firstly Im not sure if this diagram is from the US and if we have slightly different colours but I think its right?

So we have the brown(ish) which is live?

Blue which is neutral?

and green which is earth?

Our stc power terminal has a live wire from the mains and a neutral wire back to the mains?

Our sensor terminal has both sensor wires in it, nothing from mains.

Both our heating and cooling has power from mains going in and a power line coming out and going to its respective plug?

Both our heating and cooling plugs have a neutral and ground wire running from the mains to the heating/cooling plug or from the heating/cooling plug back to the mains depending on how you look at it?


Hopefully someone can fill in those blanks with yes and no! I know theres a heap of diagrams out there but sometimes I find it helpful to spell out where each wire is going and what it is doing to get a sound understanding of how the unit is working, I havent seen a good detailed explanation of each wire and its function so hopefully (assuming the above is correct) it'll be helpful to others.

Cheers

EDIT: also as more of a general electrical question. The difference between neutral and ground is that neutral is the usual return for electricity back to the mains and the ground ensures that if a neutral or power wire hits the fridge and makes it live the current will travel through the ground wire and trip the breaker in the house preventing crispy humans?

 

[MHB]

It looks the goods, the way I remember the colours is
Red and Redish Brown - Active - the colour of blood dry/blood because the active can kill me
Black and Blue - Neutral - as in bruises, can hurt me but less likely to be fatal

Not exact and all but it makes sure I keep my big fat fingers out of active circuits...

Earth is Yellow/Green striped.
The modern house hold protectors don't look at the earth, they compare the power in the active and neutral and if there is a difference it shuts off. It would be quite easy to set up a situation where lots of power is going through you and not going down the earth wire, leading to crispy critters = bad place to be.
Mark

 

[Nizmoose]

It looks the goods, the way I remember the colours is
Red and Redish Brown - Active - the colour of blood dry/blood because the active can kill me
Black and Blue - Neutral - as in bruises, can hurt me but less likely to be fatal

Not exact and all but it makes sure I keep my big fat fingers out of active circuits...

Earth is Yellow/Green striped.
The modern house hold protectors don't look at the earth, they compare the power in the active and neutral and if there is a difference it shuts off. It would be quite easy to set up a situation where lots of power is going through you and not going down the earth wire, leading to crispy critters = bad place to be.
Mark

Thanks mark especially the last bit, so what is the ground doing essentially in terms of its necessity for a safe circuit?

 

[Crusty]

I'm about as useless as tits on a bull but I've wired up 7 of these now & used this diagram.
Even colour coded for special people like me.

 

[dannymars]

^^ both these are exactly the same....

Our sensor terminal has both sensor wires in it, nothing from mains.

Both our heating and cooling has power from mains going in and a power line coming out and going to its respective plug?

Both our heating and cooling plugs have a neutral and ground wire running from the mains to the heating/cooling plug or from the heating/cooling plug back to the mains depending on how you look at it?

Yes

Yes

Yes, funny way of wording it though...

The diagram you posted is correct.

 

[idzy]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/66428-stc-1000-in-pictures/ Stc-1000 in Pictures is good even for people a bit derp...

 

[Nizmoose]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/66428-stc-1000-in-pictures/ Stc-1000 in Pictures is good even for people a bit derp...

yeah this was the first thread I read, its sort of helpful for the assembly but besides the wiring diagram it explains f all about the wiring and why things are going where

 

[sponge]

Brown/Active is being switched (opened/closed) by the heating/cooling contacts in the STC (closing the circuit for current flow) and thus does not require a neutral connection, unlike the mains supply which requires the potential (between active and neutral) to power up the actual STC unit.

Once the heating/cooling contact closes on the STC, the current can then flow through to the load where the potential will power a fridge/heat an element/etc.

In an absolutely perfect world an earth would never be required as it really is only a safeguard against faulty connections/equipment/wiring/etc and provides a path of least resistance to earth for stray current instead of going through a person. Because of human error (and of course other factors), earth wires/connections are an absolute necessity.

This is a very basic summary of why/how an STC does what it does.



As a side note, NEVER **** with electricity!!

 

[Nizmoose]

Brown/Active is being switched (opened/closed) by the heating/cooling contacts in the STC (closing the circuit for current flow) and thus does not require a neutral connection, unlike the mains supply which requires the potential (between active and neutral) to power up the actual STC unit.

Once the heating/cooling contact closes on the STC, the current can then flow through to the load where the potential will power a fridge/heat an element/etc.

In an absolutely perfect world an earth would never be required as it really is only a safeguard against faulty connections/equipment/wiring/etc and provides a path of least resistance to earth for stray current instead of going through a person. Because of human error (and of course other factors), earth wires/connections are an absolute necessity.

This is a very basic summary of why/how an STC does what it does.



As a side note, NEVER **** with electricity!!

Haha good side note and one I'm a big believer in thus the thread! Excited to get the stc in the mail and finally have temperature control now

 

[dannymars]

This is the same (but different).. I find it easier to wire like this...

 

[Camo6]

This is the same (but different).. I find it easier to wire like this...

Maybe if you're Mr Squiggle. Out of interest, what sized wire are you using to be able to fit two into a single STC terminal and how are you splicing those earths?

 

[TheWiggman]

Why he would be using a double screwed connector of course!

 

[Camo6]

If you can tell that from that diagram you must be Blackboard!

 

[Barge]

If you can tell that from that diagram you must be Blackboard!

Hurry up! Hurry up!

 

[spog]

Settle down Bill.

 

[MartinOC]

Nizmoose, that's definitely the BEST wiring diagram I've seen (in your OP) for wiring these things up. Someone should put this up as a "keeper" somewhere here.

Common Neutral.

Common Earth.

The Active powers the unit itself & is switched for the heat/cool relays.

Use Terminal blocks for all the common connections & you can't go wrong.

Dead simple! Pardon the obvious pun..... h34r:

 

[Nizmoose]

Nizmoose, that's definitely the BEST wiring diagram I've seen (in your OP) for wiring these things up. Someone should put this up as a "keeper" somewhere here.

Common Neutral.

Common Earth.

The Active powers the unit itself & is switched for the heat/cool relays.

Use Terminal blocks for all the common connections & you can't go wrong.

Dead simple! Pardon the obvious pun..... h34r:

Just the diagram or explanation below? It is fairly simple once you get used to what wires are what. I find it so much easier to understand when I know what each wire is as opposed to brown here and there and green here blue here etc.

 

[BradG]

If you have to ask what the wires are for, then perhaps seek professional advice before attempting this.

 

[Nizmoose]

I think to be fair it's more about double checking with people who have done it for piece of mind. Nothing dangerous about attempting something you know thoroughly. But it sometimes takes a bit of confirmation from others to know that you do understand the set up and it'scomponents. I definitely understand the concern but if I had no idea what I was doing I wouldn't be touching the thing.

 

[MartinOC]

Nizmoose,

The COLOUR of the WIRES doesn't matter once it's in a closed box. It's the connections that matter.

I've used bits of green for this & bits of blue for that for some of my wiring...whatever I have at the time.

Follow the wiring diagram you put up in your OP & it's all good. What you posted-up is correct.

If it makes you feel better, use the appropriate coloured wires for your connections so you get it right the first-time. After that, it's a breeze & you can just follow the diagram when you do your next one.

RDWHAHB....etc...etc...