DIY - DIY TEMP CONTROLLER ON THE CHEAP

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DIY TEMP CONTROLLER ON THE CHEAP

Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: DIY
Forum Description: Do it Yourself
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4196
Printed Date: July 09 2026 at 5:57pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: DIY TEMP CONTROLLER ON THE CHEAP

Posted By: seti007
Subject: DIY TEMP CONTROLLER ON THE CHEAP
Date Posted: October 31 2004 at 9:21pm

Check out my post on RC about a checp DIY controller I made.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=462229 - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&thre adid=462229

Replies:

Posted By: Kahuna
Date Posted: October 31 2004 at 9:47pm

Nice project. You should bring to the meeting and share it with everyone.
Kirk

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Cell 801 860-7333

Posted By: seti007
Date Posted: October 31 2004 at 9:49pm

Thats a good idea Ill do that.

Posted By: coreyk
Date Posted: October 31 2004 at 10:05pm

Way cool! Great project!

Posted By: Kull
Date Posted: November 01 2004 at 5:00am

I've been thinking about putting one of those nice digital things in my house, when I do I may just buy two or three so that I can give this a try. It looks like it wasn't to hard. But I can be all thumbs at times, like the time I was trying to enlarge a hole in a piece of plastic and ended up with 12 stiches, and a thumb that's still numb...

I didn't see anywhere that I had to cut anything, just soldier. I think I can handle this one.

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"So this is what gives meaning to your life." -Unknown

Daniel in Santaquin

Posted By: seti007
Date Posted: November 01 2004 at 8:39am

PM me if you have any Qs Kull.

Asad

Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: November 01 2004 at 9:24am

Very cool Asad. I've been toying with that idea too. The only thing keeping me from trying it out was I wasn't sure where the thermistor was for the thermostat... you've solved that mystery! Did you know that you can often find electronic thermostats at the NPS store too. I upgraded my home thermostat to one from NPS (only cost $10).

BTW, it's been my experience that even after siliconing the themistor/thermocouple salt will still get into the connection and corrode it. I tried it with a remote sensing thermometer (it was a stocking stuffer a few christmas's back). Maybe I just didn't do a good enough job with the silicone. Let us know if it "stops working". What I was thinking of doing was to tape or silicone the thermister to the outside glass.

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Jon

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing...

Posted By: seti007
Date Posted: November 01 2004 at 3:48pm

Jon, I got a thermostat from NPS but I think it has a bad thermister, anyways I used the one from HD and it worked fine. You can always replace the thermostat if you end up damaging it ( just match the resistance value).

As for the Silicone, I dont know why it would leak over time as there is no pressure involved. In anycase if salt water gets in there, the resistance will change and the temp reading will as well. I will still use my old analog thermometer in the tank as a backup. I think that using it on the outside glass is not as accurate but will still pribably work.

ASad

Posted By: flashmc
Date Posted: December 01 2004 at 8:46am

Do you think the old temp probe off of a titanium heater would work for the thermistor? I had one that I thought went bad and before I threw it out, I removed all possible usable parts, which included the probe.

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mailto:[email protected]" rel="nofollow - Robert Gordon

Riverton,UT

Posted By: seti007
Date Posted: December 01 2004 at 2:03pm

I doubt it will work because the resistance and temp vs resistance gradient is very specific to the thermister. If the resistance is close enough you might be able to calibrate the controller against a known thermometer but even then the temperature reading might be off.