mods

[big pattern]

I have the 6 rack digital am thinking of an upgrade to a bigger element. if I go with just a 900 watt element and discontinue the 500 watt that came with it do I need an pid.

[Toker]

From the moment you change the wattage, you need a pid.

[TedEbear]

There's also the dual 500W element mod but you'll still need a PID controller. That's the one I did and mostly followed the how-to guide below.

Additional Heating Element Modification

Auber Plug & Play PIDs - Single/Dual Probes

PID Controller

[tskeeter]

Big, a 900 watt element and the 125 watt puck burner will consume about 8.5 amps.  It has been reported that the fuse on the power supply to the smoker (located in the smoke generator) is a 10 amp fuse.  The normal recommendation is to not exceed 80 percent of the rated capacity of an electrical circuit.  In this case, 80 percent of the 10 amp fuse would be 8 amps.  So, the 8.5 amps required by your proposed element configuration would exceed the recommended load by a little bit.  So, you could probably run your proposed configuration without a PID, but it would exceed recommended load limits.

Another thing to consider is what you are smoking.  Since a PID is used primarily to improve temperature control, if you are smoking products that would benefit from improved temperature control, such as sausage, fish, or cheese, you might want to invest in a PID anyway.

[big pattern]

thanks for all the help.  I think I will go with a plug and play pid . and the daul element.  As of right now I mainly smoke pork beef fish poultry and game but with this new hobby and the help of the people on this fourm it seams to be endless