Seeking box w/display

[David Lesher]

So I'm looking to make some digital thermostats.

This would a small box, say 2x5 or less, with 2 digits of
display & 2 pushbuttons. Within, a temp sensor and 1-wire
interface.....

These would be the thermal sensing end of a new furnace zone
system a friend is building himself.

The hard part is making this public part look nice. Has anyone
spotted a surplus box being sold that has a display already?

 

[SoothSayer]

So I'm looking to make some digital thermostats.

This would a small box, say 2x5 or less, with 2 digits of
display & 2 pushbuttons. Within, a temp sensor and 1-wire
interface.....

These would be the thermal sensing end of a new furnace zone
system a friend is building himself.

The hard part is making this public part look nice. Has anyone
spotted a surplus box being sold that has a display already?

I have seen and used 3 digit (not seen any two digit) drop-in panel
mount voltmeters that have a nice bezel. You are likely going to have to
come up with a way to consistently cut the right hole in the right place
on each lid. That's all. There probably is a pre-integrated unit out
there somewhere, but it isn't worth the time lost hunting it up. The
panel mount displays and the boxes are easy to find. The pre-integrated
version may not be.

 

[Rich Webb]

So I'm looking to make some digital thermostats.

This would a small box, say 2x5 or less, with 2 digits of
display & 2 pushbuttons. Within, a temp sensor and 1-wire
interface.....

These would be the thermal sensing end of a new furnace zone
system a friend is building himself.

The hard part is making this public part look nice. Has anyone
spotted a surplus box being sold that has a display already?

I'd start with the usual suspects for enclosures (Polycase, Hammond,
Rose-Bopla, OKW) and integrate a simple LCD character display. For the
display, the EA-DOG http://www.lcd-module.com/products/dog.html 8x1
might work. This is a DIP form factor so you could put the whole thing
on one PCB inside a case with a clear top.

 

[Rich Grise]

So I'm looking to make some digital thermostats.

This would a small box, say 2x5 or less, with 2 digits of
display & 2 pushbuttons. Within, a temp sensor and 1-wire
interface.....

These would be the thermal sensing end of a new furnace zone
system a friend is building himself.

The hard part is making this public part look nice. Has anyone
spotted a surplus box being sold that has a display already?

Can you do all that crap for $15.00 worth of your time?
http://www.google.com/products/cata...8&tbm=shop&cid=4192240067506891254&os=reviews

Have Fun!
Rich

 

[ehsjr]

So I'm looking to make some digital thermostats.

This would a small box, say 2x5 or less, with 2 digits of
display & 2 pushbuttons. Within, a temp sensor and 1-wire
interface.....

These would be the thermal sensing end of a new furnace zone
system a friend is building himself.

The hard part is making this public part look nice. Has anyone
spotted a surplus box being sold that has a display already?

You can buy a digital thermometer for under $10.00. Here's one
example:
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=392

Maybe you can hack that for your thermostat.

Ed

 

[Rich Webb]

Add Pac-Tec to the list:
http://www.pactecenclosures.com/

Done. Thanks!

 

[mike]

So I'm looking to make some digital thermostats.

This would a small box, say 2x5 or less, with 2 digits of
display & 2 pushbuttons. Within, a temp sensor and 1-wire
interface.....

These would be the thermal sensing end of a new furnace zone
system a friend is building himself.

The hard part is making this public part look nice. Has anyone
spotted a surplus box being sold that has a display already?

If it were me, I'd put a bluetooth interface on the main
box and use $1 garage sale PDAs to do the remote (and local)
user interfaces. Once you have the infrastructure, you'll think
of other stuff you can do with it.

 

[David Lesher]

I'd start with the usual suspects for enclosures (Polycase, Hammond,
Rose-Bopla, OKW) and integrate a simple LCD character display. For the
display, the EA-DOG http://www.lcd-module.com/products/dog.html 8x1
might work. This is a DIP form factor so you could put the whole thing
on one PCB inside a case with a clear top.

Thanks for the on-topic response. I don't see they sell any
matching bezels which throws it back into the "lots of PITA
making it look good" dept. Sigh.

Re: other replies.

I don't want a thermostat, thermometer, or even a Theremin. I
want a box with a display. I will make it measure temperature,
display setpoints, phases of the Moon, whatever. It will have a
1-Wire sensor and some 1-Wire way of driving the display. But
for now, I'm box-hunting.

I don't want Bluetooth. We have very fire wires just waiting to
be useful.