Hey smc51! good to hear from you again! How do you like the new rig?smc51 wrote:Good Morning,
Does anyone have experience with Temperature controllers for a Reverse Flow Smoker (Pid Controller)???
I am wanting to take my Meadow Creek TS120P (reverse flow smoker) to the next level with Temp. control[/color][/size][/b]
I'll keep beating this horse - I don't like the on/off of the Guru at all - I like a nice constant stream of air which is why I built my rig to allow me to bypass the guru and run the fan directly. I am no physics major, but you are essentially pressurizing one box to feed hot air into another that is pulling that air through the stack. So when the Guru starts blowing the firebox reaches a a certain pressure and pushes that air into the cooking chamber. The cooking chamber is pulling that air up through the stack. Now, when the Guru pauses as the desired temp is reached that pressure drops suddenly, then rises as the Guru starts up again. This creates a situation where you are burning your fuel quickly and creating dirtier smoke in the process. What I do now is run all four of my fans until I am up to temp and then cut one or two of them off so their is just a nice trickle of air, constant pressure, and consistent draft, resulting in a thin blue smoke out of the stacks if any at all. My firebox is undersize and the fans help account for that. My goal is rebuild that dog one of these days and get it up to proper size and hopefully quit relying on electricity to cook altogether.Frank_Cox wrote:I would say that is correct Rick. In my honest opinion, reverse flows if properly tuned will operate best without a guru or other stoker. once the dampers are set for the correct drafts and the fire is the correct size keeping the fire consistent and maintained is the ticket.
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That said, if you want to try what Rick is suggesting I can certainly help to get you up an running with very little $$$ out of pocket.Rick wrote:Just thinking out loud here but could you rig a 12 volt power supply to a cheap computer fan(s) and put a pickle switch on them and run it manually for a little while to get a feel for it?
A LOT cheaper and you might learn something about it's tendencies before you spend the $$$ ... jm2cw ...
I think you are on to something there alleyrat.alleyrat58 wrote:What I do now is run all four of my fans until I am up to temp and then cut one or two of them off so their is just a nice trickle of air, constant pressure, and consistent draft, resulting in a thin blue smoke out of the stacks if any at all. My firebox is undersize and the fans help account for that. My goal is rebuild that dog one of these days and get it up to proper size and hopefully quit relying on electricity to cook altogether.
alleyrat58 wrote:I'll keep beating this horse - I don't like the on/off of the Guru at all - I like a nice constant stream of air which is why I built my rig to allow me to bypass the guru and run the fan directly. I am no physics major, but you are essentially pressurizing one box to feed hot air into another that is pulling that air through the stack. So when the Guru starts blowing the firebox reaches a a certain pressure and pushes that air into the cooking chamber. The cooking chamber is pulling that air up through the stack. Now, when the Guru pauses as the desired temp is reached that pressure drops suddenly, then rises as the Guru starts up again. This creates a situation where you are burning your fuel quickly and creating dirtier smoke in the process. What I do now is run all four of my fans until I am up to temp and then cut one or two of them off so their is just a nice trickle of air, constant pressure, and consistent draft, resulting in a thin blue smoke out of the stacks if any at all. My firebox is undersize and the fans help account for that. My goal is rebuild that dog one of these days and get it up to proper size and hopefully quit relying on electricity to cook altogether.Frank_Cox wrote:I would say that is correct Rick. In my honest opinion, reverse flows if properly tuned will operate best without a guru or other stoker. once the dampers are set for the correct drafts and the fire is the correct size keeping the fire consistent and maintained is the ticket.
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My system is 12 volt.....a rotary dimmer switch that you would buy for your living room will work to control your fan speed.onesquin wrote:There is a guy 40 miles south of me with a variable speed squirrel cage fan he uses to control air flow to the firebox. I want to check out his setup and get pics. I think he just has a knob to dial in the speed. Supposedly he can load up the wood and set the speed and walk away for several hours at a time.
X3Frank_Cox wrote: i forgot....
Chadta wrote:Nothing like reviving a 6 year old thread.
Has anybody got a PID and fan working correctly ?
Im going to give it a try, my set up worked well on my COS, I recently completed building a reverse flow, 20 diameter, 36 long CC.
I have my temp probe in the end plate, right at the end of the baffle plate, measuring air temp as it turns and heads towards the stack, my temp guages are at baffle plate end on the bottom rack, and chimney end on the top rack.
I have 2 fans, blower style 38 cfm, 10V, I have one running off 5v hooked up to the alarm of the PID, which is set for 175, it is on during warm up, and then again gives me a blast if temp starts to drop, Im going to add a buzzer and a toggle switch so I can shut the alarm off. The other fan is currently 5V on a SSR off the pid, which is tuned for my COS, im assuming ill have to pay with that a little. Im going to put a dimmer on that and run it, with the plan of getting it to basically run non stop.
Gonna run it this weekend and see how it goes, Ill report back my findings