After losing almost half my set turkey eggs to various foam incubator temperature malfunctions over the past two months (running a rock steady 99 then spike to 104 overnight, running steady 99 then dropping to 95 for no apparent reason) I finally bought a pair of STC-1000 Microcomputer temperature controllers off of Amazon.
While the documentation is a little user unfriendly, the concept is simple and the performance is excellent. The STC-1000 has two relays, one that kicks on a cooling cycle, the other kicks on heating cycle. I bought the "110V AC" model. Here's how it is wired:
I took an old cheap extension cord and cut it in half. On the plug end, I traced the wires to identify the hot and neutral leads. I attached the hot to pin 2 on the STC-1000, and also a short jumper wire. I attached the neutral to pin 1 on the STC-1000, and also a long white wire.
The long white wire runs to a receptacle in an electrical box, to the silver terminals. This provides unbroken neutral.
The short jumper wire runs from pin 2 to pin 5. This provides power to the heat relay.
A long black jumper wire runs from pin 6 to the receptacle in an electrical box, to the gold terminals. This provides relay switched power.
The thermal sensor attaches to pins 3 and 4. I taped this into an empty pill bottle at middle of egg height. The bottle creates a still air pocket that prevents excess switching.
The adjustment knob on the Little Giant incubator control is turned all the way up (hottest). On/off is now controlled by the STC-1000.
The Little Giant cord is plugged into the receptacle.
The STC-1000 should be installed in a project box with properly secured and wired electrical connections.
I set the F1 temperature control to 37.5C. I set the differential to .3C. I left the compressor delay and calibration at default.
After 20 minutes the incubator was up to temperature and the STC-1000 switched to "Cool" mode. Since nothing is connected to the leads for the cooling relay, the temperature just drifts down naturally. I am thinking about putting either a fan or a more rapid egg turner on the Cool terminals.
When the temperature drops to 37.2C, the heating element turns on and remains on until 37.5 is reached. Since the element continues to hold heat for a few minutes after power is removed, the temp will reach 38C or a little more before it coasts down again.
This controller is MUCH more stable and does not need constant recalibration due to ambient room temps or developing chicks. I am now confident that I could build a nice coolerbator or other homemade incubator and have good success too, if I used larger heating elements.
After I was done building this, I realized I could have just used the receptacle end of the extension cable instead of using a receptacle box. I will do that with the next one.
While the documentation is a little user unfriendly, the concept is simple and the performance is excellent. The STC-1000 has two relays, one that kicks on a cooling cycle, the other kicks on heating cycle. I bought the "110V AC" model. Here's how it is wired:
I took an old cheap extension cord and cut it in half. On the plug end, I traced the wires to identify the hot and neutral leads. I attached the hot to pin 2 on the STC-1000, and also a short jumper wire. I attached the neutral to pin 1 on the STC-1000, and also a long white wire.
The long white wire runs to a receptacle in an electrical box, to the silver terminals. This provides unbroken neutral.
The short jumper wire runs from pin 2 to pin 5. This provides power to the heat relay.
A long black jumper wire runs from pin 6 to the receptacle in an electrical box, to the gold terminals. This provides relay switched power.
The thermal sensor attaches to pins 3 and 4. I taped this into an empty pill bottle at middle of egg height. The bottle creates a still air pocket that prevents excess switching.
The adjustment knob on the Little Giant incubator control is turned all the way up (hottest). On/off is now controlled by the STC-1000.
The Little Giant cord is plugged into the receptacle.
The STC-1000 should be installed in a project box with properly secured and wired electrical connections.
I set the F1 temperature control to 37.5C. I set the differential to .3C. I left the compressor delay and calibration at default.
After 20 minutes the incubator was up to temperature and the STC-1000 switched to "Cool" mode. Since nothing is connected to the leads for the cooling relay, the temperature just drifts down naturally. I am thinking about putting either a fan or a more rapid egg turner on the Cool terminals.
When the temperature drops to 37.2C, the heating element turns on and remains on until 37.5 is reached. Since the element continues to hold heat for a few minutes after power is removed, the temp will reach 38C or a little more before it coasts down again.
This controller is MUCH more stable and does not need constant recalibration due to ambient room temps or developing chicks. I am now confident that I could build a nice coolerbator or other homemade incubator and have good success too, if I used larger heating elements.
After I was done building this, I realized I could have just used the receptacle end of the extension cable instead of using a receptacle box. I will do that with the next one.
