So I upgraded my Grainfather with a new brain...

For anyone who is thinking the Grainfather needs a little more grunt, I replaced the STC-200 temperature controller with an upgraded STC-1000. It slots straight in, connects to the existing wiring and temperature probe and works brilliantly.

The software does cool things like automatic step mashing - set temperatures and durations and the unit will automatically raise the temperature to the next step, it beeps when it needs attention e.g. sparging, it counts down the boil minutes, has hop addition alarms etc... A fantastic upgrade, especially when you consider the cost (you could have the whole thing done, including buying an Arduino clone for less than $45). If you decide you need to go back, the STC-200 pops straight back in. i.e. it's fully reversible.

I got the STC-1000 from these guys: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1305777 It's the web store of the actual company that make the upgradable ones, so you should be able to avoid the STC-1000 roulette by going for one of those ones. Get two and add this software to make your fermenting fridge 100% better than it was: https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p

The software comes from here: https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p-ovbsc/tree/work

You need to dismantle the STC-1000 and use an Arduino (or clone) to flash the new software across. If you live in Nelson then contact me and I can either loan you my Arduino, or bring it round and I'll upgrade it for you.

If you want more info, plus some piccys then I wrote about it on my blog: http://homebrewery.nz/process/grainfather-stc-1000/