Temperature Controller for chest freezer

[ricardo]

I recently bought a chest freezer to use for fermenting and yesterday went out and bought a 10 amp wired in box controller made by keg king. I called up keg king and my brew shop and was told this was ideal for what I wanted to do. This is the box

http://www.kegking.com.au/Temperature%20Controllers%20and%20Measurement%20Devices.html

I thought I'd try it out this afternoon when I was making a beer so a couple of hours before fermentation time I plugged the chest freezer into the box and It showed 18 degrees celcius when I put the probe inside the freezer so I set the box for 20 degrees which my yeast strain needed and set the box to heat.

No matter what I did the temperature only seemed to go one way and that was get colder, does anybody have any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

The chest freezer is a 205 litre fisher and paykel

cheers in advance

 

[Yob]

You do have a heat source plugged in as well?

 

[treefiddy]

That controller is heat or cool only.
You can either plug in a fridge, or plug in a heat source.

The wiring diagram for the 16A temp controller looks like it can control both heating and cooling, which is maybe more what you're after.

 

[ricardo]

You do have a heat source plugged in as well?

no there is only one plug at the back of the box, the freezer plugs into the box and the box into the wall. I checked at the shop and they told me the box could heat and cool! Was the advice wrong, what do I need to do, I notice the 16 amp variation has 2 plugs, one for heat and one for cold

Sorry for the stupid questions but I've only been brewing a month and i'm finding this one big learning curve

 

[QldKev]

The box can heat or cool. But a freezer is cooling only. You need to unplug the freezer and plug a heat source into the box.

 

[ricardo]

That controller is heat or cool only.
You can either plug in a fridge, or plug in a heat source.

The wiring diagram for the 16A temp controller looks like it can control both heating and cooling, which is maybe more what you're after.

Thanks for the reply.

As I stated above I'm new to this and learning the ropes. I have a chest freezer, can I ask what set up I need so that I can reach the 68 - 72 Fahrenheit temp range in the freezer. I was under the impression that the box overrode whatever devices thermostat i'm obviously very wrong

 

[ricardo]

The box can heat or cool. But a freezer is cooling only. You need to unplug the freezer and plug a heat source into the box.

have I just wasted money on a second hand chest freezer? i'm guessing if that the case, it's only use would be for lagering and I don't drink lager

Any ideas on a heat source, the only heat source I have is an old waterbed heater, would this work?

 

[Yob]

Many people use reptile heat belts, light bulbs and ceramic pots, heat pads, essentially anything that puts out a gentle heat

 

[treefiddy]

The 10A controller you have can do both, but you have to decide which.

If the room temperature is say 15°C, then change the function to H (heat) and plug in a heat source. Keg King have them for $30 or so, but I like my $20 reptile heater cord from eBay better (I have both).
Not really sure what a water bed heater is, but assuming it's a decent wattage you could just sit it in the freezer not touching the fermenter so you don't create a hot spot. It will probably provide too much heat though, who knows.

If it's hot (say 25°C) then plug in the freezer and change the function to C (cool).

The better option would be to exchange it for the 16A model, or return it and order an STC-1000 (eBay or local).

 

[ricardo]

The 10A controller you have can do both, but you have to decide which.

If the room temperature is say 15°C, then change the function to H (heat) and plug in a heat source. Keg King have them for $30 or so, but I like my $20 reptile heater cord from eBay better (I have both).
Not really sure what a water bed heater is, but assuming it's a decent wattage you could just sit it in the freezer not touching the fermenter so you don't create a hot spot. It will probably provide too much heat though, who knows.

If it's hot (say 25°C) then plug in the freezer and change the function to C (cool).

The better option would be to exchange it for the 16A model, or return it and order an STC-1000 (eBay or local).

cheers thanks for the advice, I was thinking of laying the WB heater in the freezer so will give that a go.