Smoker Project

Mick · December 16, 2008, 10:37:33 AM

OK, I'm gonna start.
I have my cabinet approx 36" wide. 18" deep, and 72" in height.
For heat I am going to either use 220 v stove burners or an oven element, I am going to install a fan for air circulation.
So I imagine I should order the 220v smoke generator?
What PID would be best suited.

Smoking Duck · December 16, 2008, 02:48:34 PM

Any PID would work well. I use the Auber but there are others who you other types. I'm not electronically advanced, so I'll leave that to the others who are. Just wanted to wish you luck and post pics if you get a chance.

SD

Mick · December 16, 2008, 05:56:23 PM

The Auber site has 2 pid's. a) is a temp controller with SSR relay output @ $45 b) is a temp controller with SSR relay output, with ramp/soak @ $90. Since I intend to use it to control the heating elements will a) do the job?

Smoking Duck · December 16, 2008, 06:03:17 PM

I think a would work ok Mick but if I could afford B, it would be nice to have the ability to set it up to ramp. I'm kinda like Tim Taylor..more options is always better. Again, once some of the real experts get on here, they'll be better able to help. I value their opinions on these things more than I do my own. Usually Mr. Walleye is lurking around here and he's got a real good grasp. If Iceman gets on, he's the mac-daddy of building smokers and he'll be able to help. There are others as well who will give you some real good ideas.

SD

Mr Walleye · December 16, 2008, 06:22:32 PM

Yup, SD is right and either one will work. You just want to make sure you size Your SSR properly based on the size of your elements. Here is Suyi Liu's email address, [email protected]
He runs Auber and is great guy to deal with. I would shoot him an email with the details of your plan just to run it by him and see if he has any recommendations.

Keep us posted on your project, I'm always interested.

Mike

Mick · December 17, 2008, 10:39:18 AM

Thanks. i will put the plan together then run it by Suyi Liu.

pensrock · December 17, 2008, 01:37:41 PM

The only differance between A & B is the ramp/soak feature. What that is you can set the controller to ramp up to a set temperature and after getting to temp, soak for a set time. So if you want to smoke at 210 the smoker would ramp up to 210 at whatever ramp rate you set, then sit at 210 for say four hours, then ramp back down to whatever you set.

outlander · January 01, 2009, 05:54:30 PM

the ramp /soak will also be usefull if you want to control the smoke generator.( to turn on and off at certian times in your smoking session). but if only for temp control the "A" option will work well.

and hi to all others, just poped in to roam the borad a bit. :)
outlander

Habanero Smoker · January 02, 2009, 02:03:33 AM

Outlander;

If I understand correctly, are you plugging the generator into the PID so that it turns the generator on and off. I have the Rapture Guru combinations, and I accidentally hooked up the generator to the temperature control devise. I just want to mention to be careful doing that. What happened to me, was that the power was turned of in the middle of the cycle and caused the bisquettes to jam up. It took me awhile to unjam the system and get things working again.

outlander · January 03, 2009, 07:08:28 PM

hi habanero,
yes i ran a set of wires to the smoke generator,useing banna plugs to plug in. i hooked up the wires on the down stream side of the on/off switch.still had to plug in the generator to a outlet, but had one of the alarms for the pid controler to use as the on / off switch. that way you could have preheat or a presmoke time frame by useing the ramp as a timer.IE: 2 hours cold somke then ramp temp up to cook temp/ or preheat for 1.5 hours / turn on smoke for 3 hours/ turn off smoke and hold temp for remainder of cook time. its however you want to program any of the 30 steps that you have with the ramp/soak pid. can even have 3 or 4 seasions programed into it and just have to select which program to run. ie: 1-9 bacon 10-17 pastarmi 18-20 cold smoke fish and so on.

side note: had to use a relay switch to control the smoke generator as well as the ssr for the smoker heat element

chris

Patience · January 04, 2009, 02:25:55 PM

outlander, I also hooked up my smoke gen. through the alarm of the Auber PID, but that has its own relay switch. Is yours hooked up different to where you need a seperate relay switch?

The max output of the 2 alarms combined is 3amps at 110v according to Auber. The smoke generator hotplate and puck advance when activated comes to under the 3amp max even thought Bradleys website notes a conservative 5amp rating. I do not know if the lesser $$ Auber has the alarm function, or perhaps not as many alarm options. The first alarm I used for the smoke generator, the second alarm I have set for a low deviation temp. When the temp. drops below the set temp by a noted amount, the alarm closes the circulation fan circuit. Between the elements being on and the fan circulating, it heats the entire box quicker and more even. I have a 2amp fuse between the feed and the alarms, and with both alarms active and puck advance button pushed, its not enough to blow the fuse, so I'm still under the 3amp. max. I had more fun building my smoker than using it.

All I do now is load it and turn it on. The 3 color lights and the Auber display let me know at a glance from sleepy eyes through the bedroom window if the SG is on/off, if the fan is on/off (indicating any potential heating problem) and what the temps are. Coupled with a wireless Maverick two-prober, I'm a lazy sack! I can even call from work and my 6 year old tells me what lights are on and what the numbers are.

Patience

Mick · January 04, 2009, 05:52:09 PM

So Patience.....
My pid is the Auber SYL-2352P, with the ramp/soak.
Alarm 1 would be terminals #1 and #13?
Did you wire those two terminals to the smoke generator?
And if I understand you did not use a SSR for the generator but outlander did?

Patience · January 05, 2009, 05:05:43 PM

Mick, yes I have the same PID as you. I didn't mention above, but yes, I have a 40amp SSR controlling two 2000W heating elements. I have a 4 wire 30amp dryer plug (black, red, white, green) running the works. The SSR controls only 1 leg of the 220V and this is safe, and effective, for this set up. Make sure you heat sink the SSR in case of heat buildup on the SSR. Auber sells those as well.

I have a hot wire coming off the other leg to the 13 terminal. This is always hot and delivers the power to both 1 and 14 terminals (alarm 1 and alarm 2). You complete the circuit by running the white neutral to the alarm loads and in this case, its the smoke generator neutral and the circulation fan neutral. The PID only controls when terminals 1 and 14 get the 110V of power. You can progam the smoke generator and fan to turn on using the high/low temp alarms or an alarm command in the program itself or a combination. When the temp is being held at 165 for the final cook, you can program the fan to turn on for 1 minute every ten minutes as a constant cycle. For the extra money, the programmable PID was worth it.

Patience

outlander · January 11, 2009, 08:14:01 AM

@Patience,, was not aware at the time that the pid controler has a built in relay switch. was advised by an electrician at work to use the extra relay to actavate the smoke generator. i belive this was due to running 240 for the element and 120 for the generator , but am not 100% certain at this time. will have to look back into it, might change it up some to upgrade the smoker to include a circulation fan for the heavy jerky/bacon loads.