BrewsBySmith.com STC-1000 + DIY Kit Contact Information: Greg Smith www.brewsbysmith.com greg@boostbysmith.com
I. Hardware Included: STC-1000 flashed with latest software (v1.06 currently) (if purchased) o (2) Orange locking clips o (1) Temperature sensor (1) Plastic enclosure, pre-machined (1) Three prong 120V inlet (screw type mounting) o (2) Zinc plated mounting screws o (2) Zinc plated nylon insert locknuts o (1) 10amp time delay fuse (2) three prong 120V outlets Two position molex connector male/female for temp sensor Wire for internal wiring of STC-1000 to inlets/outlets o 14 AWG White neutral connection from inlet to outlets Black 120V connection from inlet to STC-1000 relay inputs Green ground connection from inlet to outlets o 20 AWG White neutral connection from inlet to STC-1000 power supply Black 120V connection from inlet to STC-1000 power supply o Adhesive shrink tube for covering soldered 120V black wire connections to the side of STC-1000 6ft 16 gauge power cable Mil-Spec rubber grommet for T **Optional Tri Color LED (4 pin, green pin not used) o 2.2K resistor o Shrink Tube for covering connections at LED o Clear LED Holder o 20 AWG Wire Red STC-1000 Relay +12V to 2.2K resistor to LED common anode Black STC-1000 Heat Relay ground to LED ground for RED color Blue STC-1000 Cool Relay ground to LED ground for BLUE color
II. Assembly Start by sliding the inlet into place, using a Phillips screw driver and a 1/4 open end wrench or socket to secure the inlet into place using the supplied zinc coated screws and nylon insert lock nuts. The nut close to the cover mounting boss can be a little tricky, just take your time. Once you have it started, use the open end wrench facing straight on to hold it will you tighten with the Phillips screw driver. Make sure they are tight, but don t over tighten them to the point of breaking the enclosure, its plastic. You can remove the fuse door carefully and insert the fuse into the holder, and then the holder into the inlet. You do have to apply a fair amount of pressure for it to pop in. Make sure it s lined up correctly so you don t damage the fuse. Next slide the outlets into place until they bottom out. You will want to take a small straight screw driver and very gently pry outwards on the mounting tabs until you feel a slight click. Don t go too far or they will pop out of the hole. After you have felt the click on each side, make sure that they are in secure, you don t want them pulling out when you try to remove your cord later on. Next, use a soldering iron to solder the internal 14 AWG green ground wire from the inlet to the outlets.
Solder the 14 AWG white (red in the photo below) wire into place on the neutral connections on the inlet and outlets. Insert the mil-spec rubber grommet into the hole between the inlet and outlets. A little bit of lube on the grommet will make it easier to insert. I use a small pair of needle nose to insert it. Now you can cut off a length of the temperature sensor wire, give yourself enough room to be able to reach the STC-1000 when it s not fully in the enclosure. Lube the wire up before sliding it into the grommet or it s easy to push the grommet into the enclosure. Crimp the female pins onto the wire that is now inserted into the grommet. Insert female pins into the female plastic housing until they click. I use a small screw driver or needle nose pliers to help seat them if you can t do it with just pushing on the wire. Crimp the male pins onto the remaining temperature sensor wire and insert into male connector. This is the tool that I use for crimping pins. If you are creative you can solder the wire to the pin and use needle nose if you don t have a proper crimper. The pins are molex brand. I typically would use the 2.0L and 1.7L setting on the tool for this type of pin.
**If you are wiring in the optional Tri-Color LED, you will want to make sure and make your modifications and wiring to the STC-1000 before inserting it into the enclosure.** Now use the 14AWG black wire and solder a piece to the inlet connection leading forward into the enclosure to the side of the STC-1000 as seen in the photo below. I then
take 2 more pieces of black wire and connect all 3 next to the STC-1000 making sure to solder this connection very well and then using the adhesive lined shrink tube to cover it up. The 2 additional wires will now go to terminals 5 and 7 per the sticker on the unit. This is the relay inputs for the heat / cool circuits. To power the STC-1000 (terminals 1 and 2), you can use the smaller 20 AWG wire as it s easier to work with. Solder a piece of black wire to the inlet 120V and a piece of white wire to the inlet neutral. You can use the 14AWG if you like, its overkill but is more difficult to work with. Black wire should be secured to terminal 1 of the SCT-1000 and white wire goes to terminal 2 of the STC-1000. Now you can also attach the temperature sensor wires to terminals 3 and 4 on the STC- 1000, they are not polarity sensitive. Make sure all of your terminal connections are tight up to this point. Next take a couple of small pieces of the 14 AWG black wire and make connections from terminals 6 and 8 to the 120V connections on the outlets.
Picture below shows wiring connections and routing before the STC-1000 has been inserted and terminal connections made. From Left to right you see: 14 AWG Black wire from terminal 8 to cool outlet 120V (up-left side of outlet when looking at this view) 14 AWG Black wire from terminal 7 to heat shrink at far right 14 AWG Black wire from terminal 6 to heat outlet 120V (up-left side of outlet when looking at this view) 14 AWG Black wire from terminal 5 to heat shrink at far right Small black wire temperature sensor to terminal 4 Small black wire temperature sensor to terminal 3 20 AWG White wire from inlet neutral to terminal 2 20 AWG Black wire from inlet 120V to terminal 1 Heat shrink has 3 large black wires inside, 2 going to terminals 5 & 7, and the other going to inlet 120V After wiring is complete and STC-1000 inserted with terminal connections all tight, you can use the orange locking clips that slide along the rails of the plastic case, pushing them against the inside of the enclosure to secure everything in place. A Phillips screw driver is used to secure the 4 screws that hold the cover in place. Be careful as you plug things in and out of your SCT-1000. The STC-1000 is rated for 10 amps, it is strongly advised not to exceed this to avoid damage to the controller, your wiring, enclosure.
Optional Tri-Color LED wiring You will need to start by modifying your STC-1000 plastic case to allow room for the extra 3 wires that you will have to add to the PCB board connections at the relays. See photos below for a rough guideline. Attach the blue, red, and black wires to the corresponding points on the circuit board relay controls. Its best to try and scrape the clear coating off of the solder points before soldering your wires on. Pre-tin the wires also to make it easier. Once soldered on, make sure they are secure. You don t want wires bouncing around in there during assembly.
You will now want to double check your LED with a voltmeter if it has a diode check function, it looks like a triangle with a line through. See illustration of the LED below, take your positive probe to the common anode pin, pin 2, and then touch your black probe and touch the other pins, you should see the LED illuminate for each color faintly. Don t forget before making any of your solder connections to slide a piece of shrink tube far down the wire first, make sure to give yourself a lot more shrink tube on the red wire as you will have the resistor connection between the red wire and the LED common anode pin. The led pins can be shortened up, just do one at a time so you don t lose track of which pin is which. Solder the 2.2K resistor to the red wire, and then solder the resistor to the common anode pin. Solder the black wire (heat relay ground signal) to the red pin on the LED. Solder the blue wire (cool relay ground signal) to the blue pin on the LED. The green pin you won t use. You can carefully cut it off if you like or shrink tube over it. Before you heat the shrink tube up I personally like to verify the LED functions correctly first. If you are testing anything with the lid off make sure not to touch any of the exposed wires as this could injure or kill you.
] To mount the LED, you will need to drill a ¼ hole into the case, make sure its spaced far enough away from the STC-1000 and it s mounting clips. Insert the LED holder all the way into the enclosure (pushing from the outside of the enclosure). The led once wired up and shrink tube shrunk will slide into the back of the LED holder. Make sure there is no tension on the wires as the LED holder doesn t hold it real strong, you don t want it sliding out the back. Route the LED wires away from the other soldered connections etc., you don t want a sharp solder point entering your 12v wire, this will cause severe damage if 120V gets applied to a 2 volt LED.
Photo below shows basic wire routing for LED and where I placed my LED holder. I used different color wire on my original build so don t let that confuse you. Once completed your cooling cycle will illuminate the LED BLUE, and the heating cycle will illuminate the LED RED. This is only once the relay has been energized. The blinking LED on the STC-1000 gives a warning that a heating or cooling cycle will be starting, your indication LED that you just wired in will not function in this manner.