UPS for Fermentation Chamber

[EtchyLives]

What size/brand UPS should I use for my fermentation chamber?

It appears that the power to my fermentation chamber is tripping slightly. When this happens it resets my STC-1000 back to the beginning of the cycle. Since I set my temp for primary fermentation it's not really a concern of bad beer, it just sucks that when it happens I have to go down, manually change the temp on the right day to raise/lower it appropriately. Why have a programmable STC-1000 if there is no need to program?

So here is my thought: get an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) to maintain limited power to the freezer/heating pad/STC-1000 in order to make sure that my fermentation stays on schedule. I would like anyone's thoughts on size of UPS or brand, as well as thoughts on other ways to fix this.

From what I can tell the power's not going out for long (a couple seconds) but it's enough to reset the STC-1000 back to the beginning of the programmed setting. It's a Brews By Smith STC-1000 setup.

Thanks,

 

[dmcman73]

It really all comes down to how much of a current draw each device (freezer/heater) draws when it kicks on. If you undersized the UPS, you'll destroy the battery in it in no time and the thing will start beeping like crazy.

Do you have any specs on the freezer and heater you're using?

 

[Tegra]

If you are able to do a little rewiring and break the STC-1000 supply off from the heater/cooler supply you could run this for a few hours on the smallest UPS or close to an hour if you rigged up a rechargeable battery into the low voltage supply.

I think even a hefty UPS would have a hard time starting a compressor. (I have one fridge that a 2000w inverter generator will not start)

T

 

[TallDan]

It will likely take some rewiring, but you should use a small UPS to power the STC-1000 and leave the freezer and heater to run on non-UPS power. A very small/cheap UPS will easily power the STC for many hours, but a rather large/expensive one would be required for the peak draw of the freezer/heater.

EDIT: what tegra said

 

[JonW]

Ditto Tegra's suggestion. Get the STC-1000 power feed on the UPS and have the compressor separate.

It's also quite possible it is the compressor that is disrupting and resetting the STC-1000.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

FedEx is a better choice for a chamber. Brown absorbs too much heat.

But the real question is, why is your system tripping at all? To me, that indicates a deeper issue that needs to be identified and resolved.

 

[EtchyLives]

But the real question is, why is your system tripping at all? To me, that indicates a deeper issue that needs to be identified and resolved.

I still need to figure this out. We just moved into a new (to us) house and I've been out of the state all week. So I need to check with everyone to find out if there was a power outage (perfectly explains the issue) or if the wiring to the shed out back (where I keep the fermentation chamber) is the problem.

As for separately wiring the STC to the UPS: any resources out there I can look at? I'm not electrically gifted but I can give it a shot.

 

[TallDan]

Borrowing a diagram found by googling:

Provide a separate power plug to the "power" on the back of the STC, and plug that into the UPS.

If it's power sags that are causing it to reset, you may be able to use a power conditioner of some sort instead of a UPS. UPSs do not do well with power problems, so if you're having constant sags, your UPS may have a short life span.

 

[Pkrd]

The STC1000+ shouldn't reset itself on power failure, it might take an hour to get back on its feet though.
From the manual;
... in case of a power outage, STC-1000+ will pick up (to within the hour) from where it left off.

 

[Tegra]

I agree that your controller should handle a power outage gracefully.

However, if you have power outages that last for more than a few minutes you might want to rethink the whole process.

T