Freezer Temperature Controller

[brew]

The 250mA rating is likely on the trigger side of the coil, the output side of the relay is very likely much higher. It's not often that relays that can do 120 or 240v are rated in the 250mA range. Just saying.

Brew, what points are you touching exactly with the meter? It might be the two points you're touching are electrically common points when the relay is on, in which case the reading of 0V is correct and the meter isn't faulty.

Yeah man, on top of my relay it says "240v 5A" - which I thought was funny as the unit is marked on the outside as 110v. Must be the same relay for multiple models - maybe cheaper that way? The controller though, says 110v 5A - so I'm at a loss. I turned it on this morning (fry it if I cant use it) and my deep freeze is a nice 5C now. Unit is working great, and a little warm but not at all hot by any stretch.

The points I was touching with my meter were the two connections on the relay that have a solder line direct to the output posts which I wired to a receptacle. Of course I was being stupid and not making good enough contact with one of the leads on my meter - DOH! Now that I've figured that out, my meter is showing 119v and things are working... (unless something fry's - got water and a fire extinguisher handy!) We'll see how it performs today...

[HappyHax0r]

Dry chemical only please... water and electricity don't mix .

[fakr]

Hey Brew,

I bought a temp controller with a similar rating.  The input power is 120V yet the internal relay is rated for 10A/240V.

No biggies as the rating is the relay's max power rating.   It can still do 120V.

[brew]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback on this thread - this little unit is working great, doesn't seem to have any trouble with the current (Chris suggested maybe 220mA is the draw of the device rather than the max load it can carry) at least its not heating up when its passing current to the freezer... While you can only hook up one load to the device (can't do both a refridgerator and a heater at the same time like for a fermentation chamber) it will do either mode, heating or cooling. Not bad for $15.99 to my door...

[DandyMason]

Thats an awesome deal for 16 bucks.