Your videos are extremely helpful and informative, I enjoy just viewing ... in fact, I might actually get started brewing . Tried it 36 years ago until one day when my wife and I got up Saturday morning and my 4 yr old son and 2 year old daughter were at the kitchen table trying to open a bottle of home brew. When she asked “ what are you guys doing?” They both responded...” we havin a beer”..., that was the end of that. We laughed too hard to chance that again
Just finished building a Keezer and used this wiring guide with one extra addition, I broke the brass tab connecting both outlets on the plug and ran another hot line for my PC fan. Thanks for the tips!
One thing to note, the inkbird wiring diagram has two different versions that show the unit's power terminals reversed depending on which version you're looking at. I believe it actually works fine regardless of which way you wire it, since I wired it opposite this video and seems to work.
You mentioned that you would probably do a video where you used this for fermentation and that you would show both the heating and cooling side of things. Did you ever do that? This was good. I keep thinking that they're just switches and all I have to do is feed the hot wire through them. Am I mistaken?
Just to be clear, either outlet plug could be used for the keezer cord, correct? Without breaking the tab, you're switching both on/off? I'm also assuming breaking the tab and running hot/neutral to one of the plugs from the heating side would give you both options?
GREAT video! I am building my keezer and like your video only using cooling terminals so I have a stupid question. Is the other outlet the freezer isn't plugged into live only when the circuit is closed to turn the cooling on? I am hooking up fans on the inside of my keezer and need a second outlet and would like to run the wiring to the 2nd outlet but need the fans powered on and running 24/7.
I had a question I connected everything following the diagram you provided. Really helpful by the way. My question is when my probe reached the temperature I set it doesn’t power the plug to the freezer off so the freezer keeps cooling and then the inkbird tries to turn on the heat which I don’t have it connected. Not sure where I went wrong
Great video! i have had mine working for over a year, came in last week and it said -9, and kegs were frozen. I pulled the temp sensor out and it went to 70, let everythiing thaw, put it back in, everything fine for a week, now -9 again today. Any idea Whats broke?
Love the content you put out. One question though, why do you have the neutral wire to terminal 1 when the instructions for the stc show hot wire going to terminal 1?
I learned to never put braid wire into a terminal like you did at 6:08. Always crimp a cap onto it. Otherwise there is the danger of overheating because of conduction problems in the connection.
Wouldn't we all !!!!! The manufacturers are obviously Chinese and do not have a clue but more importantly do not give a stuff about causing a great deal of confusion even amongst electricians.
what is amazing is that no one shows what kind of power source they use for this kind of unit that also runs multiple fans, and a peltier module. any suggestions? trying to make a home made humidor
Thanks for your Valued help. Essential You Tube. The makers do not seem to have seen the terminology 'Break on Rise' /Make on rise! in temperature of course. A good guess has no place in electrical work = bang. As you will know by your experience.
You don't. I just don't like doing "destructive" modifications in case you ever wanted to switch it back to a freezer. Which of course you could just add a new plug...just me I guess..lol
I am looking to replace my beer fridge with a keezer simply because it is starting to die. This is exactly what I was looking to do, and thank you for the additional wiring diagram as that is something that I have always been a bit worried about messing stuff up. I did hear you mention that you were thinking about using the heating side for a temp controlled fermentation chamber. Is that something that you are still looking at doing? I am curious as to what you would be using for the heating portion of the project. Also do you recommend using some sort of insulation to cover the hole for the box or around the wood portion of the keezer collar to assist with keeping leaks down to a minimum?
@@ShortCircuitedBrewers I have so many ideas of things to do, but not the wallet to support them lol. Even to the point of doing a similar wiring, but doing a double outlet so that a circulation fan and a mini dehumidifier could also get power without the need for another extension cord for supplemental power. Also routing in a groove on the collar to run the power lines to the back. Love watching your videos. I will slowly be getting all the stuff to make my brew setup more efficient.
Yes this tutorial does not impact the freezer at all. The cord is still intact. The STC1000 is what is the thermostat control for the freezer. To use it as a freezer, unplug the freezer from the outlet shown in the tutorial and plug it directly into the wall... Freezer again! 👍🍻
Hi Brian! Great video as always. I am in the process of building a glycol chiller from a window air conditioner. What are your thoughts on this controller handling the load through the Inkbird relay? The A/C unit draws 6 amps total and I think the Inkbird 1000 is rated for 10 amps but that is more than likely a rating for just amp load and not running a compressor or fan motor. I am worried about back EMF. I thought about buying an inkbird and an SSR to put the load through. Just picking your brain.! Cheers
No problem Glad you found it helpful. I kind of agree with you I think I would use the ink bird to trigger a relay. I don't know that you need to go with an SSR quite honestly I would probably just use a mechanical relay because you're not cycling on and off that much. There's a lot of cheap stuff you can purchase off of Amazon that would do the trick. 👍🍻
@@ShortCircuitedBrewers Reading the information about the controller it does say that for cooling there is programming for compressor delay but I cant find anything about what type of load (inductive vs resistive). Funny thing is the price for a mechanical contactor is more than the inkbird. lol. Cheers!
@@CanadianBrewingChannel haha that is pretty funny. I'm pretty sure the heating and cooling circuits will handle 10 amps individually. You obviously wouldn't have them both running at the same time.
@@ShortCircuitedBrewers As an HVAC mechanic I am being more cautious than I probably need to be. I am recording the build and will put it on my channel in a week or so. In the middle of a brew right now! Cheers.
So maybe this is a dumb question, but what if you wanted to insulate your collar, could you just use the wire inside of the power cord instead of the whole cord? My thought is it would be easier to hide the wires behind the insulation instead of the cable
Is this unit a replacement for the Ranco A12-701 that's used for the compressor on a commercial restaurant cooler, if so how would I wire that? This unit rapidly turns on and off when I connect the 2 wires that connected the A12-701 to the cooler. If not, can you tell me what digital unit I have to purchase to replace the Ranco A12-701?
Hi Brian. Great video. I just have one just have one question. I used relays on my STC. I was told that the unit is not strong enough to power a fridge. Why are you not using relays to divert mains power away from the STC? We have 220V.
Not sure about over where you are but our appliances like freezers and refrigerators generally only draw about 5 to 7 amps. The ITC switches are rated for 10 amps so there's plenty of overhead in my opinion. I'm not sure about the stc1000 but I imagine it's probably the same thing just rebranded by Inkbird. Cheers! 👍🍻
Am I correct in understanding that the second plug is a dead plug (unconnected)? If so, would it be too much for the wires to handle to make the second plug hot? I have a circulation fan I also want to connect to the keezer. Cheers!
As long as the total draw did kit exceed 10 amps you would be fine. The idea was to connect the second plug to the "heat" side of the inkbird and use it for heating as well.
@@ShortCircuitedBrewers Thanks, the fan is only 12v. So I don't think that would impact it, but I really wasn't sure. Now I think I have to get some bigger butt connectors :)
Short Circuited Brewers thanks for the quick reply! Really the only ones we’d worry about anyhow would be the main cord going to the wall and the white/black power into the inkbird - ya? The wires you colored with a sharpie don’t really have have much going through them and just serve as a communication for the switch - correct?
thank you so much for the video. The wiring diagram I've seen on 4 units bears no resemblance to the correct wiring your unit shows. Any potential danger regarding electricity is a no no as you know very well as per your knowledge to be able to give explicit instructions that are safe. As it happens I am using 24v DC max. When there is heat involved it makes me wonder if fires have ensued because of the lack of both wiring and user instructions that should have been given with these units. Having to look on You Tube to see all one needs to know about these units not least to 'get them to work' seems ridiculous. There are plenty of other manufacturers who are guilty of not issuing good instructions with there items sold through out the world but how do they get away with this complacent way of doing business?
Thanks again, Excellent build tutorial as always! I'd recommend that you use the correct slot on your crimping tool, as the ratchet style stops when compressed enough/ properly. Using the "blue" slot on the yellow connectors will cause strain on the aluminium ferrules. The fact that it jams when crimped is a good sign that you're using the wrong slot on the tool. If the tool's not color coded, the inner slot's for red, middle for blue and the outer one's for your yellow ferrules.
Hi, is it possible to have a PIC controller change between temperatures? Lets say the temeperature should be 200. As soon as it reaches 200 it should drop down to 190. When 190 has been reached, it should raise to 200, drop to 190 and so on.
Sort of.. You would just have set the differential to 10 degrees, and it would heat up and then cool down in a cycle. Out of curiosity, why are you wanting to use it that way?
Short Circuited Brewers i would use this for a pizza oven. I would like to have the heater already heating while putting the pizza into the oven. Under differential „P“ my manual says 0.01S/degree Celsius. Is that the correct setting to adjust?
@@ShortCircuitedBrewers Thank you!! I heard it was a #4 pan head x 1/4" but the internal threads look like something finer than a sheet metal screw. Maybe a 4-40 screw?
Hi Guys: PLEASE HELP My controller is working fine cooling and heating, however i cant get into the settings to change the temp setting.I hold the (S) button in for 3 or more sec but nothing happens. ANY ADVICE thanks.
Another great video! Nothing to do with the video but have you found a alternative replacement temp sensor for the ITC1000? I've found that to be the weak part of this setup.
I would also like to add a 12v a ppliance to the set-up (a fan in my case). Would it not be possible to add a stepdown transformer and run the resulting power wires to the freezer outlet instead of going via the inkbird?
Sure you could do that. I would probably recommend running your fan all the time though. If you don't need heating you could wire on of the outlets to have constant power and run it that way. 👍🍻
@@ShortCircuitedBrewers Thanks for the quick reply. I would definitely like to have it running all the time, but worry that kind of wiring might be a bit advanced for me ha. I guess I can always just run the fan wire through the back of the collar and reattach the plug at the back. Not anywhere near as neat as your solution. If it isn't too much trouble, how would I go about giving the other outlet constant power without the freezer also working constantly. Or does the inkbird switch take care of that? Thanks!
Great video once again. You make these things look so easy. I was looking to add a temp controller like this to my brew control panel for a fermentation chamber. Of course it would have to work independently of the key switch so that it would remain on while the rest of the panel was off. not sure if any of that is possible. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! You can certainly do that just wire it in before the switch. There is at least one (depending on your panel voltage) power wire you can connect to. It is as easy as I make it look just take your time. Just be sure that you unplug the main plug on your panel before you start doing any wiring. Cheers! 👍🍻
Hey Brian, great video. Thanks for making it. I’ve tripled checked my wiring, and I still can’t seem to get it to work. When I plug the power in for the ITC it turns on then turns right back off. The only difference between my setup and yours is I’m using a GFCI. Any thoughts on a fix?
Great video! Iv enjoyed your other channel as well. I noticed the bandaid was on after the wire stripping lol.... I would love to see the STC used in Fermentation Chamber and any other things you can use it for. Can you use this the same as the Johnson A19 or A419 with a RIMS tube? I’m not sure of the Watts (output) on the STC? The Johnson can support up to 1,500 Watts I believe?!? Thanks for the Vlogs Cheers
LOL this video was actually shot over several days. Irie shot several of the wiring Parts because I wasn't happy with how they showed on the camera. The ITC is only rated for 10 amps in the switches and 1500 watts would exceed that so I would say you have to put a relay in between that would handle that amount of current. Thanks for watching and commenting!! 👍🍻
I did not show that. I am going to do a follow up on that in another video. Coming soon! if you know what I am talking about, you can remove the connection between the terminals on the plug and wire the cooling to one plug and the heating to the other.
Great having you back Brian! I recommend all to use these crimp terminals to make the wires tidy in the connectors. Link for connectors and tool are attached. Have a great weekend! Connectors: www.ebay.com/itm/Useful-800Pcs-Wire-Copper-Crimp-Connector-Insulated-Cord-Terminal-AWG-22-10-TSUS/123347432321?hash=item1cb8147381:g:1jAAAOSwPCVX-7~C:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true Tool: www.ebay.com/itm/0-08-6mm2-Terminal-Crimping-Tool-Bootlace-Ferrule-Crimper-Cord-Wire-End-Sleeves/152007949212?hash=item2364613b9c:g:xVoAAOSwn-tZJpbD:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true
Thanks Thomas! I do need to get some better crimpers because those are cheap ones that I bought. As someone else pointed out I'm using a smaller jaw for the yellow connectors because the yellow slot doesn't crimp them as well. Are you putting out some more videos on all the cool stuff you got going on over there? I've been watching your Instagram you got some pretty neat stuff!
It feels like there are a bunch of unstated assumptions about the overall wiring of the system like which set of wires plugs into the wall vs. into the unit. It just dives into connecting neutrals and hots without saying which and why. I bought a used keezer 4ish years ago, which recently got so cold it froze all 4 of my kegs. So, am attempting to replace the temperature controller/probe (apparently called an ITC) and am afraid I am more, not less confused now. Mine does not have a receptacle and it never really explains why you would want one. Maybe preface the video that this is for new-builds only? Will keep scouring the internet for that sweet spot between licensed electrician, I can read your mind, and yes in fact I do know what the black wire is.
