PID question and advice

[Edward176]

I'm just throwing it out to everyone, hopefully someone has the answer that'll help. I just purchased an Auber WSD-1200-GPH PID controller for my 6 rack Bradley Digital Smoker. I did the second 500 watt element mod earlier this year and now want to connect and use my PID. I followed the instructions that came with the PID, and have tried to follow several earlier post with instructions on set up, but am having difficulty with the initial set up and usage of it. I guess I'm asking for some guidance and advice. Do I have to Auto Tune my PID since I have the dual 500 watt elements? What is the best method to connecting the PID, etc? I tried running it today but the temperature kept shooting over the set temp on my PID. I understood that I set my Bradley at say 280°F and leave it there and just control the temperature from my PID. I set it at 150°F and the temp kept climbing. My temperature probe (Probe 1) is clipped inside to one of my rack (actually the second rack from the bottom).

So any help would be appreciated. I'm taking a break and will reread my 14 page instructions again.

Thank You

Ed.

[TedEbear]

On some of the old threads around here they say if you add a second element and you're using an Auber PID to change the "P" value from 7 to 13 and that's the only change you need to do.

[cathouse willy]

Ed, I'll offer my 2 cents here.First off to make things easy lets get the terminology down.I'll call the food box the oven,the smoke gen/digital controller the smoke gen and of course the pid is just the pid. Connections are...the pid plugs into the wall socket,the oven plugs into the pid, the smoke gen plugs into the wall socket and the sense (thin)cable plugs into the smoke gen and the oven.The physical conns are done. set the smoke gen for any temp you want as it now controls the smoke function only. Now do an auto tune on the pid and you're good to go. Hope this helps.

[Edward176]

Thanks guys for the tips, I'll give it a try.
TedEbear, you say to change the P value from 7 to 13? Not to question your knowledge, but wouldn't it be 14? changing the element wattage from 500 to 1000 doubles the draw so? Just wondering out loud.

Also, wondering when doing the Auto tune if it should be done empty, or with something in the smoker to act as a heat sink?

[TedEbear]

There were a few discussions on some of those old threads about whether to change it to 13 or 14.  13 worked for some, while 14 worked in other cases.  No one did an autotune, just changed the P value, and they said it worked well.

[Edward176]

Thank You. I connected my cables as per cathouse willy's instructions and changed the P value to 14, set the temperature to 150°F and fired up my empty smoker. Once the PID temperature reached 150°F the little light on the right side went out and the temperature climbed to 155°F. Mind you the smoker was empty so nothing was being heated. I figured once its loaded the temperature will be closer to the set temp.
I'm not sure if the P valve set at 14 is correct, or if 13 would be more accurate? Either way I'll leave it at 14 and see how it works. Your comments would be appreciated?

Once again TedEbear thank you, and cathouse, for your assistance. Looks like smoked salmon and Kielbasa is on the menu this week :)

[GusRobin]

You may make it more accurate by doing an auto tune

[Edward176]

When you auto tune do you do it empty or have something in the smoker, like meat, tray of water, a brick, etc?

[Edward176]

Just finished playing with my PID and I have to admit it I love it. Once the cabinet gets to temperature the temp stays constant to within 1°.
So thank You to everyone who chimed in with suggestions and advice. :)

Now lets get smoking!!!!

[GusRobin]

I do it with meat in there.

[TwistedSanity]

I have the same PID unit for my 4 rack digital and have also done a duel 500watt element upgrade.

One thing from your post that made me wonder is why are you turning on the Bradley's temperature at all.  The PID now controls the temp for the over so there is no need to turn on the Bradley's temperature control. The only part of the original Bradley that you should need to turn on is the smoke generator section.

The PID should be autotuned with the smoker set up for actually use so that it can set its internal settings based on your actually cooking conditions for the day.  Things like Wind, outside temp, humidity, and the meat load will all effect the parameters needed in the PID. So wait until you actually have it loaded with what you are cooking for that day before you set the autotune.  I routinely switch from snack sticks to ribs to pork shoulders.  Every time I load the Bradley with something different from the last run I autotune the PID.

Something to expect when autotuning the PID.   It is going to leave the heat element on full blast until it reaches your set temp,  then shut it off completely until it drops below your set temp then turn it on full blast until you hit set temp, etc.  it will run this cycle 3-4 times before it will shut off auto tune and use the pulsing heat to maintain the low temp swings.

Something else to note that if you are using a step progression setting with the PID  when you start the auto tune process it will auto tune based on your first temp setting.  It may also restart the timer back to the beginning once it is done.  So be mindful of this. If using temp step progress always autotune on the first temp

my autotuning process is this.

1) Start Bradley up to allow for warm up.
2) Prepare meat and load into smoker
3) Wait until smoker is about +-10 degrees of set temp
4) Start auto tune process.
5) once auto tune is finished check time and adjust remaining time to next step as required
6) Pour cold beer and relax.

Hope this helps.

Feel free to reply if you need clarification.

Happy smoking.