Use Of Stc 1000 On A Hlt And Mash Tun

[ledgenko]

Guys ... I need advise as to how to hook up a STC 1000 to both a HLT(70l Keg with 2 x 2200 w Heat sticks from Keg King) and a 100l Mash tun (with a 19lt pot with copper pipe and a Heating elm and bottle brown pump) ...


I will assume that the STC 1000 has to control the heat elm but unsure as to where to install it??

Note .. I have been looking through forums but have been unable to locate them..

 

[kelbygreen]

well on the HTL it would need to be in the water so you will need to have a probe or thermowell as I would not trust dipping the probe into the hot water. I have had one in a tallie in the keezer its been submerged in water for about a year now and still works.

sounds like you have got a herms coil for the MT??? if so you will need to put a probe on the wort exiting the herms unit. As if you put it coming out of the mash tun by the time temps reached it will of overshoot the temp. Not sure how to plumb in a probe as never done one lol

 

[Yob]

tandem STC's, 1 box, calibrated units... thats alot of juice for a single unit

 

[kelbygreen]

hmm missed the hook up to both lol. Well you cant unless they are going to be the same temp. Also as yob said the unit can only take 10A so it will not run your HLT
4400W = 18.33A so you will need a PID with ssr and also will need 2 circuits or 40A circuit to run both at once. I aint no electrician so I could be wrong.

If you go a PID then get one with ramping to control your herms so you can do step mashes. but you will need a PID for the HLT for sure or buy heaps of stc-1000 so you can keep replacing them when they burn out.

 

[booargy]

You need to run it through a relay of some sort. Jaycar have a 30A DPDT. or SSR. or one element through each STC1000 and change the probes over which would be a barbed probe in the arse.

 

[ledgenko]

Hey Guys .. cheers for the info so far .. to clarify a few points :

I am having an additional 3 x power circuits added to the brewery as I am aware of the large draw of power, I currently use 2 circuits as the brewery is in the garage and I have access to the 2 main power circuits from the house. I brew during the day and more often when there is no one else home due to .. well me spending hours in the garage brewing and the family gets bored and well they come down and somehow make the brewing not quite as fun ...


I am new to looking at trying to automate facets of the brewing process and hence the possibly poorly written question but ... I have already been using a STC 1000 to control the fermenting fridge ...

The current set up I have is 1 x 2200w hot stick in the Keggle (40l stock pot) and a Crown 20lt Urn and a 55l esky as my Mashing tun. but with my planned build it increases the volumes and I am thinking that trying some bling on might be fun..

Cheers

Matt

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I'm using 2 * STC-1000 in conjunction with these stainless probes

One is in the HLT which controls a 2200W element (pics are in my signature)

The other is in a 6" nipple / tee arrangement on the outlet side of my herms coil, the probe senses the out let temp of the wort

As noted above these controllers are only rated to 10A or 2400W

If you intend to switch more than that you will need a relay (or a more highly rated controller and more $$$)

With the HLT (and not getting too fancy) I would have each element on separate circuits and have one controlled by the STC-1000 so you can heat the water to temp with both elements and then switch to the STC-1000 to maintain temp with a single element on

I reckon a single element would be the go for the herms

Cheers

 

[ledgenko]

Cortez ...

Great response thanks ... I like the cut of your Jib ...

I , like most brewers like to keep the cost down so will start with the STC 1000 on the HLT and use manual adjustments for the heat up.

I did consider the use of a manual temp control such as the ones in a Crown or Birko Urn to set and hold temp in the HLT and will be playing around with that for a while yet (I think there is a challenge in that) ... and it also means I get to spend more time looking around recycling centres and council pick ups .. Its the thrill of the case

Cheers

Matt

 

[kyleg]

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, ive been searching for ages but can't find what I'm looking for. I just want to know if you can submerge the standard stc 1000 sensor directly into the mash. So temperatures up to 70c ??

Planning to use it to control my element and regulate mash temp for BIAB.

Thanks

 

[Rob S]

I wouldn't but you may well be able to. I have a stainless steel one. Mashmaster sells them I think.

 

[QldKev]

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else, ive been searching for ages but can't find what I'm looking for. I just want to know if you can submerge the standard stc 1000 sensor directly into the mash. So temperatures up to 70c ??

Planning to use it to control my element and regulate mash temp for BIAB.

Thanks

I've done it for the past 2 years with temps up to 78c, never had an issue.

There are 2 types of probes. The ones I have are all rubber. I have seen a s/s tip one and have never tried them.
I prefer not having them in a thermowell as you read the direct temp of the water/wort. With a thermowell you need to wait for the s/s housing to change in temp, hence a lag time.

video of how I mounted it into the HERMS return.

QldKev

 

[kyleg]

Thanks guys. Will check that vid out kev. I have a stainless steel prope that I bought from craftbrewer, but that means drilling another hole in my pot and it needs to be low as I'm doing BIAB, also I have the 2200w element at the bottom of the pot so there isn't alot of room for another prope with out the probe touching or being quite close to the element. I'll just use the standard sensor for now until i have a better idea of where to put the SS probe.