Electronic Building Blocks
By Julian
Quick and easy
Construction
Temperature Controller
Large complex projects are fun, but
they take time and can be expensive.
Sometimes you just want a quick
result at low cost. Thats where this
series of Electronic Building Blocks
fits in. We use cheap as chips compo-
nents bought online to get you where
you want to be... FAST! These projects
range from around 15 to under a
fiver... bargains!
Temperature Controller and Display
This month we kick off with a brilliant
temperature controller thats so cheap
its unbelievable. You want to control
a cooling fan based on temperature?
Well here is an incredibly cheap 12V
module that not only will do that, but
also displays the temperature in clear
LEDs. How cheap? Try 14 delivered
to your UK letterbox. To find it, search
on eBay under DC 12V Digital Tem-
perature Controller Thermostat C. At
the time of writing a typical unit is
eBay number 281081740269 13.99
including postage, but hunt around
and you my find it for less. Do check
that it is the same unit though or at
least does what you want it to do
there are many variants.
The module is 78 71 29 mm (L
W H) and uses a display window
LEDs (left) indicate set point and operation
Edgar
Great results on
a low budget
that requires a cut-out
of 70 28mm. It has
a mass of 110 grams.
The controller uses
an LED display that
shows temps up to
100C to one decimal
place (eg, 35.6), and
above 100C in single
units (eg, 105). The up-
date rate is fast (about
three times a second)
and the sensor is very
responsive to changes
in temperature.
In addition to the
numerical display,
there are two individ-
ual LEDs. One shows
when the set-point has been exceeded.
(The set-point is the temp at which
youve set the device to activate its
output.) This LED has two modes
steadily on when the relay is activated,
and flashing when the set-point has
been passed but the module is running
an inbuilt delay before turning on the
output. (You can vary this delay time
more on this in a moment.)
The other single LED shows that
the display is indicating the set-point
temperature.
On the face of the instrument are four
push buttons up/down arrows, Set
and Reset. Inside view, with connectors at the bottom of
the photo
Making Connections
Wiring connections are by means of
screw terminals on the rear of the
module.
The module doesnt look at all cheap
and nasty in appearance it could
easily be an expensive instrument
The whole controller and display unit needs and that sentiment also applies to the
just four simple buttons internal build quality.
 LED display
Top view
Relay contacts Power Lock
1 2 3 4 5 6
Ground +12V
Thermistor
Fig.1. All you need to display just temperature just four connections
Displaying Temperature
The simplest use of the instrument is to
display just temperature. This requires
only four wiring connections and no
menu configuration see Fig.1.
Power (12V nominal) connects to
Pins 3 and 4 ground to pin 3 and
positive to pin 4.
Sensor the NTC (negative tempera-
ture coefficient) sensor that is provided
COL connects to pins 7 and 8 it doesnt
matter which wire goes to which termi-
nal. With these contnections made, the
display should come alive and show
the temperature at the sensor. Note:
the thermistor wiring can be extended
as required.
The default values programmed into
the instrument mean that straight out
of the box it will work fine as a digital
thermometer.
Controlling an output
The module is fitted with a 5A relay.
This means it can be connected di-
rectly to low voltage buzzers, fans and
warning lights.
To get a feel for how the control
system works, its a good idea to play
with it before installation. Lets take a
look at how it can be set up.
Pressing the Set button briefly
changes the display to show the set-
point temperature. This setting can be
altered by pressing the up and down
keys. When done, press the Set button
again or simply wait a few seconds
View of the units connections
Thermistor Relay contacts
7 8 1 2
Ground
Fig.2. Inside view, with connectors at the bottom of the photo
and the display reverts to the current
temperature.
Pressing the Set button for 3 seconds
brings up a second menu. Different
parameters can be selected by press-
ing the up/down buttons. To change
the selected parameter, press the Set
button a second time then make the ad-
justments with the up/down buttons.
Whatever setting is selected is retained
in memory, even if power is lost.
The available parameters are as
follows:
HC this menu configures the module
to either turn on its relay when the
temperature exceeds the set-point (C
mode), or turns on the relay when
the temp falls below the set-point
(H) mode.
d this sets the difference in tempera-
ture between switch-on and switch off.
(This is sometimes called the hyster-
esis.) By using the up/down buttons,
you can set this anywhere from 1 to
15C. This is a very powerful control
that can make a huge difference to how
the system functions.
L5 this is the minimum tempera-
ture the set-point can be configured.
Normally, this would not need to be
altered from its 50C default.
H5 this is the maximum tempera-
ture the set-point can be configured.
Normally, this would
not need to be al-
tered from its 110C
default.
CA this function
allows you to cor-
rect the temperature
display by adding
or subtracting 1C
from the displayed
reading.
LED display
Top view
Power Lock Thermistor
3 4 5 6 7 8
Thermistor
+12V
P7 this function is used when in
C mode you dont want the output
cycling on and off at short intervals.
The setting can be anything from 0 10
minutes. For example, if it is set to one
minute, after the relay has activated
once, it will not activate again until a
minute has passed even if the temp
set-point has been tripped. In most
uses you would set this to zero.
The wiring for an over-temperature
alarm buzzer is shown in Fig.2.
Conclusion
For the money, this is just a phenom-
enal instrument. Having an accurate
and fast-response digital thermometer
is just great but being able to smartly
control a relay output is just amazing.
The icing on the cake is the adjusta-
ble hysteresis and delay to prevent
cycling. Oh yes, and the fact you can
calibrate it I think you will agree,
what a superb piece of kit for the price!
Next month
Need a cheap audio amplifier per-
haps as a test bench amplifier or for
a kids MP3 sound system? Well it
doesnt get much cheaper than this
try under 4 for the prebuilt amplifier
module, including postage to your UK
letterbox!
Tune in to our next Electronic Build-
ing Block article.
Next months amplifier