Homemade programmable thermostat!

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by ladyjustice33

Will this work like the Herpstat in that you set it to a certain temp and it will turn the heat tape temp up or down as needed? Also, do you know how many watts of heat tape it can handle?

yes. not sure but I can check. Its original intent was a window a/c unit or spaceheater, so I'm assuming quite a bit, but I'll check when I get home and see if the instructions say.

Originally Posted by spots

I was going to suggest heat shrink lol
Awesome job, I was hoping to find something like this!

my original plan was to use heat shrink, however I was out of butane for my heat shrink torch when I did the original write up.

Originally Posted by infernalis

My personal preference when doing these kinds of projects is to solder the wires together and use shrink tubing over the joints.

Thank you for posting this step by step, it's great that you took the time to do it.

Thanks Wayne, I would agree solder is the way to go, however I find that the quick connectors are simplest for beginners. I also need to pick up some more solder next time I'm getting supplies.

I've been meaning to post these pictures, but I went through and did the quick connect connections on one I made for a member here that contacted me via the sSnakeSs facebook page. I'm not sure of his screenname.

found out the entire assembly comes apart with a gentle tug (or continued dis-assembly and reassembly ) Makes working with it easier.


bam, totally apart


these are the connectors I was working with, they female ends are a little (and by that a mean REALLY) snug fitting, they took some work.


crimp the ends, and wrap in tape, I use half width first then full width to make sure its completely sealed.


connect them like thus


wrap in tape or heat shrink and put it all back together and you're done!
This was much easier and more efficient than all the cutting and crimping I had to do previously, plus it leaves all of the wire for the thermocouple intact. I'm down to this taking me about 20 minutes.

[infernalis]

Nice...

Since I work in the copier and printer industry, I have ready access to 5 volt solid state puck relays that are used to connect CPU signals to motors and lamps.

They work perfectly to connect digital thermostats to loads up to 1200 watts.

[millertime89]

wow... That's some bonkers power output. I'm not an electrical genius by any stretch of the imagination, I just know what to wire and how to wire it. As promised, here's the electrical ratings on the instructions if anyone wants to translate for the rest of us (I'm used to dealing with car electronics so its a bit different)
ELECTRICAL RATINGS
120V/60Hz
Maximum load is 15 Amps at 120 Volts
Power Consumption 2 W (maximum)
Plug and Receptacle NEMA 5-15R (normal household 15 Amp receptacle)

Make sense to you guys?

[infernalis]

The thermostat uses 2 watts (half the power of one single Christmas tree light) and is capable of switching roughly a 1000 watt load, more than any single reptile cage including Chompers new room would ever need.

The 120/60hz means it's made for use in the USA & Canada, but would not work in the UK or any othe European country.

The Nema code explained...



However, I bet a very similar thermostat could be purchased through IKEA or TESCO overseas.

[millertime89]

Thanks Wayne, so how many devices do you think I could plug into this with a power bar and not overload it? provided temps remained consistent could I potentially use one of these to control the temps in 3 or 4 vivs? I was originally going to use one for each, but that could get expensive. If I were to use one to power heating elements in several that would drastically cut costs.

[infernalis]

Simply add up the rated wattage of each device, and don't go over 1000 you should be fine.

However what if one heater goes nuts and the probe is in another cage?

[millertime89]

yeah, that's always my concern, or one fails, or the temp in one part of the room changes that specific tank's requirements. I've got some time before I start experimenting with the variables.

[spots]

Hey Kyle,
where do you get these thermostats from. I've looked at every DIY store here in Calgary and none of them have seen or carry these
Do you know any where online that sells these? I need to make 2

[KORBIN5895]

I don't think there would be anyway to add multiple probes to one unit. I recommend crimping the butt splice to your extra wire first as opposed to your probe wires. That way if you mess up you don't have to try to remove it from the probe end. Also as long as your original solder studs aren't polarized ( polarized meaning the studs are different sizes so the wires only attach a certain way) you shouldn't get too worked up if you forget to mark the wires.

Looks awesome I may try it. I may also try to make some and sell them to my friends that have snakes.

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by spots

Hey Kyle,
where do you get these thermostats from. I've looked at every DIY store here in Calgary and none of them have seen or carry these
Do you know any where online that sells these? I need to make 2

I've found them on amazon and a few other places.
Amazon.com: Lux WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat: Home Improvement

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

I don't think there would be anyway to add multiple probes to one unit. I recommend crimping the butt splice to your extra wire first as opposed to your probe wires. That way if you mess up you don't have to try to remove it from the probe end. Also as long as your original solder studs aren't polarized ( polarized meaning the studs are different sizes so the wires only attach a certain way) you shouldn't get too worked up if you forget to mark the wires.

Looks awesome I may try it. I may also try to make some and sell them to my friends that have snakes.

I've made some slight revisions as I've made more of these, I've now made 5 of them and will probably make a 6th and update the pictures with my current method. I'm still not soldering though because I'm lazy and hate soldering, I can never seem to get it right and there really isn't enough extra wire to screw up too many times and keep removing the part I screwed up on.

[KORBIN5895]

The extra wire would be the piece from the studs to the probe. I myself don't see the need to soldier the together. But splices would work just fine especially if you heat shrink them. I think heat shrink is a must.