using DBS oven timer to turn on / off PID

[mainframe]

I have a Digital Bradley Smoker ( DBS ). My wife bought me a PID (I wanted an Auber with the built-in timers but that wasn't what she bought) that does not have a built in timer. I bought the parts listed on the dual burner mod (SSR, 2nd element, etc) and have everything working. I had the idea that I could plug my PID into the power out of the Smoke Generator (that drives the heating element) and use the oven timer to turn my pid on / off. I assumed that the power out to the heating element would be off when the oven was off, and on when the oven was on (except when the oven had reached temp when it would also shut off). However .... when I plug my volt ohm meter into the output power plug connection (that goes to the oven) on the back of the smoke generator it shows 120 volts. Always. The second I plug the smoke generator in, I see 120 volts. I left it plugged in for 10 minutes ( with the oven and smoke generator off) and the heating element did not get hot (which is good). I am totally confused. I suppose it's possible the circuit board in the smoke generator is limiting the amperage such that the element doesn't get hot, but have no idea why it would be designed this way as there are no electronics in the main smoke box that need low amp 120. I'm not an electronics guy. Does anyone have any ideas how I could make this work? I can obviously use an external timer and plug my PID into that, but thought it would be easier to use the DBS oven timer. My gut is I'm out of luck. And out of curiousity if anyone knows why the heating element plug is energized to 120 as soon as I plug the unit in I would love to hear it. thanks!
2012-06-17 8:53AM (CDT) update:
I decided to try and power the PID from the smoke generator heating element plug with the oven turned off. The PID did NOT come on! Yeah! Just to make sure I wasn't crazy I checked the voltage again (oven still off) and it still shows 120V. It looks like there's a tiny 120 current leak that is enough to register on my VOM but not enough to power the PID. I think this is going to work. I turned the oven on and the PID came on. Since I'm disconnecting the Bradley temp sensor (i installed a resister to mimic room temp) the Oven power should stay on constantly and power my PID until the oven timer shuts off. We'll see what happens. I'm still curious why the 120V 'phantom' voltage...


mainframe

[mikecorn.1]

???  I'm totally lost on what you are saying ;D. Maybe case I just woke up.  :o ;)
Is this what you have

It will control the on and off cycle of the heat element. The smoke generator, Is plugged independently to a wall outlet. Therefore it does not use the timers to do anything other then to shut off the SG when you are done with the smoke cycle or you can leave it on to gain extra heat.
You set the PID with the timers for the cook/smoke. Either by time or temp.
Don't know if this is what you where talking about. :)


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[muebe]

Mike he is talking about the PID like TedEbear has. That does not have a timing function. He would need to power the PID by a lamp timer for example to set the amount of hours the PID has power.

[mikecorn.1]

Mike he is talking about the PID like TedEbear has. That does not have a timing function. He would need to power the PID by a lamp timer for example to set the amount of hours the PID has power.

Oh, my bad. The reading was killing me on the iPhone. I think I was even skipping while sentences. Literally I rolled over, got on and saw the post. ;D


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[mainframe]

Mike,
that's a picture of what I wanted to get (Auber PID), but the wife tried to surprise me for my birthday so I ended up with JUST a PID with no timer function. I thought it would be nice if I could use the Oven timer on the Bradley to turn the pid on / off without having to use an external timer. I know I'm limited to 9hrs 4o minutes or so but most of what I cook falls in that range.
I had a friend check his DBS after my post this morning to see if he saw the 120V on the power out with the oven off. He DID! So, I have to assume that it's a small 120V current leak inherent in the design. Not enough to heat up the element or even drive my PID, so I should be able to use the oven timer.
I'll post my results when I get it all set up.
Appreciate your interest!
mainframe

[mikecorn.1]

Mike,
that's a picture of what I wanted to get (Auber PID), but the wife tried to surprise me for my birthday so I ended up with JUST a PID with no timer function. I thought it would be nice if I could use the Oven timer on the Bradley to turn the pid on / off without having to use an external timer. I know I'm limited to 9hrs 4o minutes or so but most of what I cook falls in that range.
I had a friend check his DBS after my post this morning to see if he saw the 120V on the power out with the oven off. He DID! So, I have to assume that it's a small 120V current leak inherent in the design. Not enough to heat up the element or even drive my PID, so I should be able to use the oven timer.
I'll post my results when I get it all set up.
Appreciate your interest!
mainframe

She surprised you alright!! With the wrong one. :). Hey at least she tried. More than mine would have ever done. At least with something like that.


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