Ranco ETC-111000 or Johnson Controls A419

Vince said:

I'm going to replace my Honeywell L4006A aquastat with a digital one. I can't decide which one to use. A Ranco ETC-111000 or a Johnson Controls A419. Looking for opinions on these controlers. Also will the sensor of either one fit in the well that is in my stove that my Honeywell is using?

Click to expand...

I have been using the Ranco controller you speak of for about a year as a thermostat to open our DHW zone from thermal storage... I really like this controller, and thus far have had zero issues here and in the field with it. Very accurate, very reliable, very versatile... very cost effective. In fact, today I just replaced a mechanical aquastat on the DHW loop (the one that makes sure the heat exchanger is hot before circulating the dhw through) with a Ranco 111000... and I have another one on the shelf that I'll use for something... someday.

I have not used the Johnson Controls model, so I have nothing good or bad to say about it... but I have every confidence in the Ranco controller...

cheers

I have not used and no comment on the Ranco. I do have a Johnson A-419. It's functions, besides setpoint and differential, if useful to you, include: anti short cycle delay, sensor failure, temperature offset (a form of reset), touchpad lock, and various heating/cooling modes. I don't know for the Ranco as to how far the sensor can be from the control, but for the A-419 I mounted the sensor about 50' from the control by splicing in a 2 conductor piece of zip cord. It works fine. Unless some feature of one and not provided by the other is important to you, I would likely would buy based on price. Shop around, prices vary substantially. Try the auction sites, too.

The Ranco sounds like a little simpler unit than the Johnson. It has a set of both normally open and normally closed contacts on the relay... a temperature setpoint, a differential setpoint up to 30°, and either a heating or cooling mode (which places the differential either above or below the setpoint). It also has a touchpad lock, and the manual states you can go up to 400' with the sensor.

Less expensive than the mechanical honeywell it replaced, with a little more versatility.

Both units sound nice.

cheers

the ranco well is different from the honeywell.

I am also trying to decide on a controller. What determines if a person should use 120v or 24v?

that all depends on what your doing.

Vince said:

Thanks for the info guys. The Ranco sounds like the one I'm going to buy. I noticed prices are all over the board on these controllers. Can I mount the Ranco sensor in the well where the Honeywell is currently mounted? Or do I need to buy a different well? I don't see any sensor wells listed by any of the places selling the Rancos.

Click to expand...

The Ranco thermo-couple will be smaller than the bulb for a honeywell... shouldn't be a problem. There are little spring tabs you can get that fit inside of the well that push the thermocouple (or bulb) to one side making sure that it is in contact with the wall of the well. You can make your own if you like too out of a piece of spring steel or even aluminum. The thermocouple reacts a little slower when it's not in a tight fitting well, but it still works. The thermocouple on the Ranco can also be strapped to a pipe. I like to make a little aluminum holder out of flashing material that wraps tightly around the thermocouple, and holds it tight to the pipe.

cheers

We use the Ranco at work on coolers that have to keep the product at a 1 degree diff they work great and we have very little trouble with them. I installed one at home when I put the garn in to control my DHW pump works great . I bought the 24 volt one for this since 24 volt was handy to power it up.