Bought an STC1000 controller, wish I hadn't

[zacster]

Now that I have it, I wish I had just bought a pre-wired Johnson A419. There isn't anything wrong with the STC1000, not at all, but it is going to cost me money to make it work, never mind my time. Sometimes I think DIY is worth it, perfect example being my stir plate/computer fan that is doing its thing right behind me on my starter. That cost $25 total, if that.

This OTOH will end up costing around $50 when all is said and done, and I could have had the A419 for $80. That $30 difference just isn't worth it to me. I'll end up at Lowes for a second time I'm sure to get something. I don't want this to end up like my immersion chiller. By the time I was done it cost as much as the LHBS version, and mine looks like crap although it works. Copper tubing is not cheap. Boxes, electrical cord, outlets, cost money too if you don't already have.

Next time I'll consider ALL the costs, including my free time.

 

[Jay-Brew]

I hear you. I recently did a STC-1000 build. The controller was 25ish and then the extras do add up. However, the STC-1000 is dual stage and the A419 as far as I know is a single stage controller. I think having a dual stage controller is much better than a single stage, if that makes you feel better about the cost and time investment getting the STC set-up....

 

[zacster]

I guess another trip to Lowes is in the plan for today. Also need to go to the LHBS to get the rest of the ingredients, and 2 3 gallon Better bottles that will literally squarely fit in my fridge.

 

[rawlus]

So why did you get what you didn't want instead of getting what you wanted?

Impulse? Peer pressure?

I have a Johnson controls digital for my keezer but an sct-1000 for the fermenter as it's dual stage... Happy with both.

This is a hobby that tends to cost money and time to enjoy. I accept that.

 

[zacster]

I didn't really think about the total cost when I ordered it. The $80 A419 seemed like too much, but in retrospect it is probably a decent price. The STC1000 is a good unit too.

I spent a good deal of money upgrading my commuter bike. $40 here, $20 there, $80 for a dynamo... It all added up, but nothing cost more that $100. It goes under the radar that way. Somehow $80 for this seemed like a lot, I think because I'll use it maybe 4-5 times a year, whereas I ride my bike all the time.

Anyway, I'm going to ride my upgraded bike over to the Lowes and get what I need. I found a good write-up on a build that makes sense. Some of the builds I saw I didn't like. Then I'll drive over to the LHBS to get the ingredients, they're too bulky to put on the bike with the Better Bottles.

 

[dinnerstick]

i don't get it, what are you spending so much extra on? some wires and an outlet? i guess maybe now that i think about it my two stc-1000s are pretty ghetto, cannibalized extension cords and lots of tape... maybe you are doing yours right with boxes and fancy things

 

[VT-NAV]

Sometimes I think DIY is worth it, ....

Next time I'll consider ALL the costs, including my free time.

I guess it's a personality quirk, but it annoys me when people don't associate a cost with the time involved.

Occasionally somebody will say something along the lines of "No way I was going to pay a mechanic $120 to install a part. I can buy the part and install it myself for only $40. It'll only take me an afternoon to do."

In my mind I'm thinking, "Yeah but it really cost you $40, 4 hours of your spare time, and the risk of screwing up the installation."

If you don't place a very high value on your spare time all kinds of things might be good deals. E.g., standing in line for 8 hours to save an extra 10% on Black Friday.

For a lot of do-it-yourselfers, calculating the real cost of a project is difficult, because most derive pleasure from executing a successful project. If you enjoy the process of buying a copper pipe and bending it to make a fully functioning immersion chiller, then the cost in terms of time is reduced by the fun you could have had doing the next most fun thing. How do you measure an intangible like fun? Who the hell knows. This dork is done talking.

 

[Beernik]

One of the things I like about the STC-1000 DIY build is that after a couple months of usage, I've decided that I want to add an always on outlet to it. And I can. After this weekend's brews ferment, I will.

 

[audiophool]

I guess it's a personality quirk, but it annoys me when people don't associate a cost with the time involved.

I am one of those people. Crafting things, whether beer, DIY, repair or whatever is enjoyable to me. The time required is a bonus, not a cost of a project. If I don't look forward to doing something, it goes on the back burner.

That said, I made a STC-1000 controller that cost too much, with a case and outlets, probably $45.00 since I had wires and a power cord on hand. But, as soon as my current batch is done fermenting, I am going to mount the controller in the door of my fermenting fridge and direct wire the STC-1000 to the compressor and the heater in the fridge. If I had done that the first time the cost would have been only the controller.

 

[Beernik]

I don't consider my time a true cost. At least not a $ cost. That's the difference between a business and a hobby. I'm not billing anyone at 2.5x salary. I don't think I could justify brewing if I considered the time I spend formulating a recipe, brewing, and bottling as a $ cost.

But that's not to say that time doesn't factor into my decision.

When it comes to DIY anything, the two main questions I ask myself are: "Can I do this myself?" and "Do I really want to do this myself?" If I answer both "yes" then I do it myself.

 

[zacster]

I think my answer to the second question is more of a no than a yes. However, I did just get back from Lowes with a box, a power cord and a duplex outlet, so I guess I'm all in now.

 

[j1n]

$50?

I just built a temp controller with the stc1000 and cost me total $35.

$21 for the stc-1000 from Amazon
$10 for the project box from Radio Shack
$2 outlet homedepot
$2 outlet cover home depot
Free - used a power cord i had lying around for a computer for my wiring.

 

[FRS]

I have a 419, and wish I had a two-star controller like the stc-1000. It's a pain to have to open the case of the 419 to switch back and forth between cooling and heating modes. I will be installing an external switch in the case at some point, or just putting a stc together

 

[grathan]

You could just buy beer instead of making it too. That $50 could have been 2 cases.

 

[zacster]

It came out to around $45 when all was said and done. I bought a new cord and that upped the cost. We tossed all of our old equipment a few years ago, including all the old power cords.

If we all looked at our costs we'd never home brew. It costs more just for the ingredients to make than to just buy. And at my going consulting rate we're talking about $1000/case.

 

[negativereaction]

There has to be some value in knowing how something works too. You built it, you know how it works, you can fix it if it breaks, you can tweak it later if you want to. Buy a Johnson controller, and it acts up or craps out...you can do nothing.

I had the chance to buy an electric brewing rig on craigslist cheap lately, some guy's homemade rig. Not a bad way to get into it...except I would have learned nothing by buying something pre-made. So I passed on it. When i want to get into it, I'll buy my stuff, learn my way, take my lumps, and be proud of the end result. Hopefully. But learning the steps has some value.

 

[HumulusHead]

Just bought an stc for like 17 bucks on amaZon. Shipping was free cuz I'm prime.

Extension cord lying around home.

No box no outlet no nothing. $17

If you consider I get billed out $110/hr at work and I spent half hour on it than I guess it cost me $67

But then again I didn't do this at work


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[Jay-Brew]

I don't think the ingredients cost more to make beer as opposed to just buying beer. Even a big beer that is hopped out that comes to $40-50 for ingredients that gets you a 5 gallon batch equals a buck or just over a pint. I suppose if you want to throw in time well then yeah, but no one is charging their consulting rate to make beer....

$45 for a dual stage controller is good in my books.

 

[Jim_Holmes]

i just ordered an stc-1000 myself 17.00 with shipping. i always figure cost before i do any project, with most its what i have lying around and figure a few things i have to buy. on this build i have 12-2 wire left from a wiring job and a box full of outlets and outlet boxes left over from other jobs, box is gonna be a plywood enclosure so pretty much the build is going to cost me 17.00 and some time. i dont figure time cost as i like doing things like that and when i show something like that to someone else i get the pleasure of saying i did that with my own two hands. pride in my own work is worth the time i spend doing something.

 

[HumulusHead]

^ I second that


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[northcal]

Have to disagree with you. You should go all grain... 20% the price of store bought microbrew if you buy ingredients in bulk. Time is free unless you're working.

Think about it,

If we all looked at our costs we'd never home brew. It costs more just for the ingredients to make than to just buy.

 

[SpeedYellow]

You must factor in that a 2-stage controller simply works better than single stage for some uses, so what's that worth? Since my t'stat controls my lagering fermentation chamber and i use a thermowell, a 2-stage is a must-- when the beer temp drops too low, the heat pads (wrapped around the fermenter) turn on. Hard to put a dollar value on better performance.


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[zacster]

I finally finished the build today and hooked it up to the fridge. It took me a while to find a box to put it in, but the old external drive sitting next to this computer ended up being the donor. I had bought a junction box at Lowes but it just seemed way too big for the purpose. This is much smaller.

I set it to 7.2 Celsius, around 45, and I put the probe squarely between the two 3 gallon square Better Bottles. The fridge hasn't kicked in yet and it has been about 4 hours now. It takes some time for 5 gallons of liquid to warm up.

 

[grathan]

A fermwrap works great with the stc1000 if your not already using one.

 

[zacster]

The beer is only cold because I started it out this way. I'm letting it warm up slowly.

 

[opiate82]

Here is what mine cost to build:

STC-1000- $17 shipped from Amazon
Project Box- Free (gutted and repurposed power supply from old computer)
Wire- Free (again, repurposed from said computer)
Power Outlet- $3.95
Build Time- 30 minutes tops.

Dual stage temp controller, compressor delay, temp differential, can't beat list of features. Maybe if A419 did something that an STC-1000 couldn't do, it would be worth a 40%+ premium, but it can't. And you can find a pre-built STC-1000 for less than the Johnson controller if your "free" time is really that valuable.

 

[816North]

Now that I have it, I wish I had just bought a pre-wired Johnson A419. There isn't anything wrong with the STC1000, not at all, but it is going to cost me money to make it work, never mind my time. Sometimes I think DIY is worth it, perfect example being my stir plate/computer fan that is doing its thing right behind me on my starter. That cost $25 total, if that.

This OTOH will end up costing around $50 when all is said and done, and I could have had the A419 for $80. That $30 difference just isn't worth it to me. I'll end up at Lowes for a second time I'm sure to get something. I don't want this to end up like my immersion chiller. By the time I was done it cost as much as the LHBS version, and mine looks like crap although it works. Copper tubing is not cheap. Boxes, electrical cord, outlets, cost money too if you don't already have.

Next time I'll consider ALL the costs, including my free time.

It's far superior to the Johnson. Yes, it takes about an hour to wire up, but the dual stage is far superior to the single stage. I am the least handy person in the world and I was able to wire it up without any problems.

 

[zacster]

It's up, it's running. It took a lot more than an hour to build though, mostly in the cutting. Measure twice, cut once. But to rush through any electrical work is a bad idea, and that alone took an hour. Ultimately it didn't cost $50, just needed a cord and outlet, I had everything else on hand. If I used an existing extension cord I'd then be buying another one to replace it. We're always one short! I spend parts of a week looking for a proper box, only to find one next to the computer. I started cutting on Friday afternoon and got everything to fit in about 1.5 hours. Then I wired it the next day. Spent a methodical hour doing that, checked continuity, checked for shorts.

It is a nice unit, it does the trick. My beer is happily fermenting, and in the end I'm happy I did it.

 

[opiate82]

When you don't have beer fermenting it can double as a sous-vide cooker. Just add a crockpot! :rockin:

 

[MindenMan]

I ghetto'd my STC-1000 controller. Said controller, 2 gang electric box, 1 duplex plug, 1 duplex cover, $2.99 for power cord, and my box isn't closed up in the front. On one side, hot/cold outlet, on the other, Controller is floating unsecured. If I had a dremel tool, or something like it, I would made made mine pretty too. I checked and double checked continuity and wire placement, fired up fine and it is smooth as silk. I am very glad those with experience in such matters, share their wisdom and knowledge, to help out those who need it.

As mentioned above regarding costs, the grain bill for my last full boil Irish Red 5 G batch, was $19.00, Granted, I had yeast I re start from the "mother", so every starter I make is no more than second generation, and I had some of the hops left over from before. Granted, if I had the place to store bulk 2-row and such, my batch cost would come down even more. Still, if I had to buy hops and grain for the same batch, $23.00 wouldn't even be close to the cost of two cases of premium beer from the store. No, I don't count my time, as I can be doing other things while the wort boils...

 

[GenIke]

I hard wired mine right where the original temp controller was On my keezer. All I added was four 6 inch wires to pigtail into the stc 1000. Sat down with my tablet to follow the HBT build threads I needed and i was finished before my beer was 1\2 gone.

I'm sure it was under $25 total.

 

[user 141939]

Geez i just built mine for the price of the controller. A plastic box and some wires are not things that are hard to come by. I happened to have an extra outlet though.

My stir plate though i totally should have bought. That was a pain and took several trips to the hardware store. I had a hard time getting the height/distance right and at the time didn't realize there were ones to be bought that are around $50


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[poptarts]

I just built a complete HERMS system including a STC-1000 for 52$

 

[icebob]

Everything I needed for the STC-1000 was found in drawers, closet ect.... the only thing I didn't have was edge sealer to put on the connections...

 

[rawlus]

I really like the sct-1000 but I think I will end up gifting it to my bro in law once I get my raspberry Pi based RaspberryPints+BrewPi integrated system setup... Really a dedicated computer/webserver for both tap list and fermentation control with the ability to add-on doodads over time..