AUBER PID for OBS

[smokepusher]

Hello again all,

I am seriously considering an Auber PID which I am assuming is the only one I can use (Auber site has many to choose from). Can someone please give me a bit of advise on these as the description available on the site is unclear. I am assuming that the devise when properly installed can be set with desired temp and then left alone. The website says something about it letting you know when your meat is done, how does it do this (if it actually does it). I would just love someone to describe how the PID actually works, I am a bit of a research freak. Thanks everyone.

[westexasmoker]

Welcome to the forum smokepusher!

I built my PID from the plans on the receipe site.  While not absoultely a necessary add on it sure makes life alot easier!  The BS tends to have quite a temperature swing, which is not a problem typically, but for precise temp control...and I do mean precise the PID will keep the temp dead on by bypassing the temp slider on the front, I guess the best way (or simple for me  :D ) its like a digital thermostat!  Someone more knowledgeable than I will be along with a better answer!  Once again welcome aboard!

C

[Mr Walleye]

Hi SmokePusher and welcome to the forum.

Westex has you pointed in the right direction. It's an electrical temperature control devise used to provide tighter temperature regulation of the smoker and is a popular add-on to the OBS and DBS by many on the forum. It's certainly not a requirement but definitely a handy toy for sure.

I'm assuming you are interested in the Plug & Play units. You can build your own as well by buying the controller and SSR from Auber. If you are interested in building your own here is a link to a play by play...
http://susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=504#post504

If you are interested in the Plug & Play units here are a couple of links to the two different ones that are offered by Auber.

This is the Standard Unit
http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=73

This is the Programable Unit
http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=72

Also, in case you haven't been to the recipe site here's a link. Tons of great stuff there from all the fine folks here on the forum.
http://susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180

Mike

[OliverB]

Hi, I'm also new here and had the exact same question. Reading different boards it seems the Bradley smokers are somewhat a standard for home smoking if one does not want to get up every now and then at night to add wood/charcoal to a smoker - like me.

Auber also has an other model called PID Temperature Controller w/ Ramp/Soak (Relay Output) that I have seen linked to, somebody built that into the control box which looked really neat. You can see it here:
http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=5

I'm not a techie and English is my 2nd language, I don't understand everything on the Auber site. The programmable Bradley controller seems nice, but looks a bit too much like some lab equipment, I'd prefer something built in instead. Also less cables and stuff for the kids to pull around is better. Of course, I have no idea how complicated it would be to add that controller with ramp/soak (what ever that means) into the unit?

How do the controllers work, do they simply cut the power to the smoker once the desired temp is reached? Doesn't that also stop smoke production? I'm not quite clear how this is supposed to work. Or do they reduce the amount of power that gets to the smoker and thus to the heating element?

The info on the Auber site is a bit over my head...

Thanks for any additional info!

Oliver

[mjack1957]

The PID is great.  It will regulate the temp and time you set for your smoke.  The temps will always be +1/-1 degree.  Once the cooking time is elapsed, the unit will beep.  It does not monitor internal meat temps.  You'll need a Maverick for that.   But let's say you want to do a rack of ribs at 220 for 4hrs.  It's like that old informercial... just set it and forget it.  The PID controls the heating element in the main smoking chamber; not the smoke generator.  You set temp slider on the OBS to high and the PID does it's thing by controlling the temps you set.

[smokepusher]

thanks for all your answers and advise, digestion time then decision time. happy smoking, I will have more questions I know.

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Oliver and welcome to the forum.

This is a quote from Arcs & Sparks who is a member here on the forum...
"PID stands for Proportional, Integral, Derivative. It is a type of control scheme that does a bunch of math based upon the difference between what the temperature is, and where it should be. PID control schemes reach the setpoint fastest, with the least overshoot, and least error."


I built my own PID using Aubers products. At that time there really weren't any Plug & Play units available and since they have become available most choose to go that way. I have since built a large smoker mainly for sausage that I also built an Auber PID into. Most who built their own units, built them as a stand alone unit, however a number of people have built the Auber PID into their smoke generator on the Bradley. This is certainly a very clean looking installation. The only negative is if you want to cold smoke your would have to make sure your TC wire is long enough.

As far as which unit you choose to install really isn't any difference. The ramp & soak feature gives you the ability to program in things like... start at 130 degrees and run for 2 hours... then ramp the temp up to 150 degrees for 1 hour... then ramp the temp up to 170 degrees. These types of temperature ramping are useful for things like sausage or salmon.

As MJack indicated the PID only controls the tower heater and not the smoke generator. The PID is not like an on/off thermostat. It uses mathematical calculations to control the amount of power and cycle time to the element. The PIDs also have an auto tune feature to tune them.

Here's a link to my PID build...
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4735.0

Here's a link to where a member installed the PID into the smoke generator...
http://www.n9adg.com/articles/bbq/bradley-smoker-temperature-controller.html

Mike

[OliverB]

great info, thanks so much! More reading to do, but this all helped quite a bit!

Edit:
I did some more poking around on the auber site and came across their Multi Purpose Controller that looks excellent. Aside of controlling the smoker it can also be used for Sous Vide cooking, something I'm getting more and more interested in. The cost of a Sous Vide setup run around 1000k, more than I can invest in cooking toys. This controller can turn a rice cooker into a Sous Vide cooker, which sounds pretty neat! Saussagemaker sells a good looking vacuum packing machine that should be better than the food saver and sure is cheaper than a commercial vac packer. Might be onto something here...


Oliver

[drano]

smokepusher and  OliverB,
Welcome!
I purchased the Auber Programable model last month and used it 5 times over Christmas.  Works Great!
Here is thread on this page showing an owners manual photo on hooking up the PID. 
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8866.0
As others said, your smoke generator is still plugged into the wall outlet.  The PID is plugged into the wall outlet also, and the cooking chamber heat element is plugged into the PID.  The Auber beeps when the time you set it for expires--which may or may not mean the meat is done. 
Others explained how a PID works, w/out going into gory detail.  I'll add that the PID uses its math to turn on and off power to the heat element in short spurts when approaching and maintaining temp.  When my smoker reaches its set temp, the light showing power is going to the heating element flashes on and off every 5-15 seconds. 
Oliver, email Auber and ask how easy it is to switch a PID from the smoker to Sous Vide cooking.  A PID learns the heat up/cool down characteristics of the cooking unit via Autotune (or preset values by Auber for the specific use the PID was made for, such as a Bradley smoker).  So if the PID values are set to optimize the smoker, they may not hold as constant a temp for Sous Vide.  Once you know the PID values for the smoker and the  Sous Vide (they are in a table in the owners manual), you could set the programmed values when you switch from one to the other. 
get smokin
drano

[NePaSmoKer]

I built my own PID like Mike did. Used it a few times and it was just not for me. Sold it to a forum member and bought a BBQ Guru/Raptor combo. Works great but kinda pricey $$ Only use it on my OBS.



nepas

[OliverB]

thanks for all this outstanding information, very helpful!

Oliver

[Patience]

I've built two controlling units with the Auber products.  I like describing the PID as a computer  When its hooked up, you run a calibration type program that learns how fast/slow the unit heats/cools depending on how much juice the PID is letting the element have.  It will learn when to turn the element on and off in order to hit the set temperature as fast as it can without overshooting.  They throw bells and whistles giving you the option to program the "computer" to gradually raise a temp over time, hold it, raise it more, drop it, etc.  The alarm outputs can be used for anthing you would like, perhaps a circulation fan or even the smoke generator itself.  Its really a neat add on for a smoker.  Sure you can buy plug and plays, but if you build your own with the resources from this site, you will learn a lot more about them and how they work and know exactly how to use them for your cooks.  I knew nothing before searching this site.  A lot of good minds willing to share!