Ranco Two Stage Controller

[johnc66]

I finally get to use my controller to heat and cool, however I am a little fuzzy on setting it.

Stage one is heating, Stage 2 is cooling.

I have it set and it seems to be holding at 68F. I was just wondering if some of you have settings I can use that might work better.

Thanks,

John

[Crut]

depends on what you plan to do with it. I actually have it hooked up reverse from you. You can switch what each stage can do.
This time of year i only use heat (space heater style with built in fan), but when that weird time of year comes when its watrmm and cold in one day, i like to set the heat so it turns on when ggets down to 62-3, and the A/C unit when it gets up to 69.

Did that help any, i might be a lil froggy on the ?
-Crut

[Herms]

I just built 2 fermentation chambers that both use the Ranco dual stage.

I've found that with a dorm fridge and a low wattage heat source, yo can set the differential to 1 and the set the hot and cold set point to the same temp. Which, for me, makes it a no brainer.

So for example, if you set both set points to 66, if the temp gets to 67 the fridge turns on, if the temp goes to 65 the heat goes on.

As an aside, I made my first beer with the temp sensor in the beer ( with the more beer metal dip tube thing), it is the way to go.

Mark

[johnc66]

Thanks guys. I think one of the things i need to do is change the Stage one to H1 rather than C1 so it knows it is a heater... found that in the instructions from B3. Stage 1 is the fermwrap due to the plug on the freezer, it would block the second plug because of the way the cord is made.

Thanks again!!

[Mylo]

I just built 2 fermentation chambers that both use the Ranco dual stage.

I've found that with a dorm fridge and a low wattage heat source, yo can set the differential to 1 and the set the hot and cold set point to the same temp. Which, for me, makes it a no brainer.

So for example, if you set both set points to 66, if the temp gets to 67 the fridge turns on, if the temp goes to 65 the heat goes on.

As an aside, I made my first beer with the temp sensor in the beer ( with the more beer metal dip tube thing), it is the way to go.

Mark

If your heater has a lot of thermal mass or your insulation is very good - you might want to put a one or two degree dead band in there. Otherwise there will be unnecessary bouncing....

Example:

Stage 1 - Cooling, Setpoint 65, Threshold 2
Stage 2 - Heating Setpoint 64, Threshold 1

That means that the compressor will come on and lower the temp to 65. It will wait until the temp is back up to 67 before it will kick on the compressor again (good to keep a two degree swing on the compressor to avoid over-cycling). If the temp falls below 63, the heater will kick on and shut off at 64. Because of the thermal mass, the temp might overshoot a little - but I doubt that it will be three degrees. Two is definitely possible with a big heating pad.


Mylo