Hi Bubbagump, thanks for the informative perspective. I started on this good to better effort because the slide on my stock BS rheostat had a 140-250 degree range in the last ¼” of its right sided excursion. BS very kindly sent me a replacement, but before I had a chance to install it, I fell into the Accessory Forum’s fun filled technical can of worms. The last time I heard PID was the acronym for pelvic inflammatory disease and SSR was Social Security Recipient. I had so much fun putting together the Pakstat P & P controller I’ve decided to do the same with a Coldfusion PID and a
SSR in the box. About the BS slide, because of its nonlinear temperature scaling and not knowing whether or not it would hold a steady temp at its max setting, I was thinking about jumping the switching legs to the rheostat and completely eliminating the rheostat variability by taking it out of the loop. Shouldn’t using a PID give me all the control needed? FYI there is a new PID being offered on eBay as Buy it Now for $32.99http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Digital-PID-Temperature-Control-Controller_W0QQitemZ7557779705QQcategoryZ50926QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. It doesn’t come with a sensor but it has many programmable options like being able to specify C/F, sensor type, etc., and it’s $10-15 cheaper than the Coldfusion controller. Also, I think a hardware store purchased 9’ air conditioner extension cord, cut in half, makes an easy I/O cord set for a P&P box.