STC-1000 failure

[jeffpn]

Hi guys. I went to pour myself a beer just now, and discovered my kegs are frozen. I don’t think solid, because my water jug for the temperature probe wasn’t solid, but it was close. Has anyone ever had failure of their STC-1000? I have no idea why it didn’t kill the power to the freezer. It’s been up and running for 2-3 years now.

 

[BOB357]

Howdy stranger. I've seen several posts of STC-1000 failures. Most were thought to be sensor failures. That might explain why yours failed in the on position.

I've had a Ranco dual stage for about 7 or 8 years now and it's still going strong. If it ever goes I think I'll pony up for another one. Seen too many problems with the newer brands.

 

[J A]

Hi guys. I went to pour myself a beer just now, and discovered my kegs are frozen.

Or are your lines frozen where they're getting too close to the coolant plates in the fridge? That happens very often.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Nope I've been running my STC 1000 for about 3 years now without a glitch.
Hey let's see if STC (company) spring you for a new unit for like @ChicoBrewer got.
Sounded like his issue might been a defunked probe.

What's the unit temperature reading? What's your thermometer reading?

 

[jeffpn]

Or are your lines frozen where they're getting too close to the coolant plates in the fridge? That happens very often.

In the 3 years I’ve had the keezer, I’ve never had a frozen line. I don’t know why that’d be a problem now.

The kegs are frozen. My water jug with the probe in it is frozen. It’s all frozen now. Not 0°, but around 20° or so. probably

 

[J A]

Yeah, if you've got a chest freezer set up, lines are less problematic. I find with my kegerator, the tight space makes line placement an issue.
As for your controller failure, it seems like the relay that controls the AC voltage has failed in the "on position". What does your temp probe read? I assume that you're getting an accurate reading from it and that that the relay is just not reacting to the signal from it.

 

[DanC]

I had one fail last week after a few years of good service. My beer was frozen at the bottom of the kegs where the dip tube sits. I had a spare setup for a replacement and I haven't done much troubleshooting. The probe was sensing temperature changes.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

it happens to me when from time to time, I just clean and move my temp probe, sometimes its gets confused

 

[jeffpn]

I’ve kinda lost interest in brewing. I have a tall quarter barrel of Yuengling in there, as well as a couple kegs of my stuff. A far cry from where I used to be. It holds 8 kegs, 6 taps. I have 2 batches in carboys under my workbench, and a carboy in a chilled environment. Supposed to be Kolsch, but the extract got a little burnt. So, a roasted Kolsch.

Remember my kid became a Marine? I’ve been spending time with a group I created in Facebook. If any of you have a kid at Parris Island now, I guarantee you’re in it! Along with 14,000 other members! It’s a little large.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I’ve kinda lost interest in brewing. I have a tall quarter barrel of Yuengling in there, as well as a couple kegs of my stuff. A far cry from where I used to be. It holds 8 kegs, 6 taps. I have 2 batches in carboys under my workbench, and a carboy in a chilled environment. Supposed to be Kolsch, but the extract got a little burnt. So, a roasted Kolsch.

Remember my kid became a Marine? I’ve been spending time with a group I created in Facebook. If any of you have a kid at Parris Island now, I guarantee you’re in it! Along with 14,000 other members! It’s a little large.

You still getting Smokey with it? As in making smoked and cured meats?

 

[jeffpn]

I just loaded up my dehydrator to make jerky. It’s easier than smoking! I use the smoker now for ribs, chicken, and homemade sausage.

 

[jeffpn]

I got my replacement STC-1000. The temp probe is only 36” long, if that. What good is that??

 

[GFHomebrew]

I got my replacement STC-1000. The temp probe is only 36” long, if that. What good is that??

Yep you gotta read add descriptions if buying on ebay and check in item descriptions on probe length. 2M is the norm and will be a plastic top (wider diameter) or stainless tip.

You can get yourself some wire and just extend the probe as long as you want it doesn't seem to affect temp reading.

Well probe was shiny looks more like copper now after spending a few brews in the boil (I really gotta sort out a new thermistor).

 

[jeffpn]

I’ve purchased 4 STC-1000s from the same place. It’s been a couple years, but I just bought the same item again using Amazon. I looked up my old order, and “buy again.” You’d think it’d be the same. All the other ones are 2 meters, plastic tip. This one is 1 meter, stainless tip.

I just checked. Description says 2 meter probe.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

I'll stick with my Johnson controller. Solid state seems to last forever! I've had 2 for over 10 years and they work perfectly. YMMV
Cheers,
Brian

 

[BOB357]

I'm with Brian. My Ranco is bullet proof.

 

[jeffpn]

I'll stick with my Johnson controller. Solid state seems to last forever! I've had 2 for over 10 years and they work perfectly. YMMV
Cheers,
Brian

The STC-1000 isn’t solid state?

 

[The Brew Mentor]

The STC-1000 isn’t solid state?

Not any that I'm aware of.

 

[Nosybear]

Not any that I'm aware of.

I'm pretty sure it is - no one works with tubes any more - but the solid-state part likely isn't the problem. It'll be a circuit board or connection that's gone bad.

 

[ChicoBrewer]

If your talking about the relays the ones in my 308 are mechanical. If you can hear them click that is the case. Solid state ones have far more cycles. The symptom of my failure was that the temp readout looked correct (68) but the actual temp of the beer was 45. This leads me to believe the probe went bad or the board had a problem with the probe signal.