Advice needed.....Mr. Walleye???....My new project

[smokeitall]

Here is a couple pictures of my new project.  I am going to pick up a couple of sheets of thin aluminum and some insulation for the sides. 

My main quetion is would you change anything that you did with your project?  Does your cabinet keep a constant temperature, or close, from top to bottom?  Do you think that if you put the intake on the top and then ran that air through the heater and put the return on the bottom it would keep a better cabinet temp? 







Thank you for any suggestions, I can't wait to get this up and running.

Scott

[Mr Walleye]

Hey Scott, looks like a fun project.

Mine maintains the temps pretty good. I had thought about drawing the intake air off the upper part of the cabinet as well which seems like it would be a good idea for circulation although I don't have any problem with my setup.

I would try to insulate the unit as good as you can. Mine is insulated fairly well and this will help with maintaining temps. I wouldn't go any smaller on the heating elements I used (2 x 1100 watt finned strip heaters). Not that they don't work well, it's just I wouldn't go any smaller. 

Keep us posted...

Mike

[beefmann]

smoke,

looks like a great design so far... love it ,

how ever  the device in the bottom ... is it  going to  remain there? if  so is it  designed to handle the  heat?

i would take  walleyes advice and draw in the  air  from the  top and run it to  the bottom.. fairley  easy enough  with a blower , duct  and  defisers like  what  would be  used in a  heating system.. you  can  install the  heaters  right infront  of the  top heaters and  make  use  of the  updraft

along  with all of your  controll circuirty

and  insulate well

beef

[smokeitall]

That unit in the bottom does not work, at least the big heater in it.  The small 500 watt ring heater (used for water in that pan and mounted on the underside) works and I plan on keeping it, but probably not using it in this design.  Was thinking maybe I could figure a way to use it in my OBS to help with recover time.  That whole unit also slides right out, its not really mounted in there at all.

Since Mike doesn't have problems sucking air off the bottom and returning it on the bottom I will probably copy his design, but not sure yet.  I think a baffle in the bottom so that the hot air coming back in doesn't get sucked right back in also.

I am going to check my electrical in the garage and see if a 5000 watt 220 volt for $60 is possible.  But one of my buddies had a good point.  If I made it 110 volt I could make it portable and when we all go on a hunting trip the smoker can be making our dinner while we are hunting  ;D .  Maybe even make a batch of summer suasage and snack sticks for everybody to take home with them...

I have been searching for insulation, Mike where did you order / get yours from?

Scott

[Mr Walleye]

Scott

Regarding the intake, I had planned to put a deflector inbetween the intake & exhaust as well but so far I haven't convinced myself I need it but time will tell. Not a big deal to add it later.

As far as insulation goes I would use Roxul mineral wool. It is very similar in price to firerglass insulation, at least it is here in Canada. You should be able to pick it up at most building centres. It is real easy to cut, even the thickness of it with an standard electric knife. It is very similar to fireglass batts , except a little more ridget. Here is a link to their web site.

http://www.roxul.com/sw10395.asp

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

Also....

If you build it 120 volts, in order to get enough power (watts) you will probably have to supply 2 separate power sources which is what I did.

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

That unit in the bottom does not work, at least the big heater in it.  The small 500 watt ring heater (used for water in that pan and mounted on the underside) works and I plan on keeping it, but probably not using it in this design.  Was thinking maybe I could figure a way to use it in my OBS to help with recover time. 

500 watts will probably be too big as an additional heater for the OBS unless you are going to control it with a PID. I've been working in a simple plan for an additional heater for the Bradley that could be easily added. Probably in the 200 to 250 watts so you could leave it running all the time even if you have your main heater controlled with a PID. You would have to re-run the Auto Tune but that's about it. I'll post it once I have built it and tested it.

Mike

[beefmann]

FYI the typical 120 volt circuit has a capisity of  2400 watts... with no other  load on it.. I would  recomend 1500 watt  heat max with a fan / blower .. it you  want  good heat through out 2000 to 2500 and run it on a  30 amp circuit..

good  luck

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

120 volt branch circuits are typically 15 amps (1800 watts)....

Arcs_n_Sparks

[smokeitall]

I have one step up from the PID.  I have a PLC with a Thermocouple input and a 6 inch touchscreen.  I have enough I/O left to add a lot more.  I will have my set up control either the big smoker or the OBS.  Thanks for the suggestions, I think my next step is to get the heater and high temp fan and then have my buddies fabricate a frame to mount on the box and start cutting.

On the 500 watt ring heater I have I was thinking of wiring in a simple dimmer switch to reduce the amount of voltage going to the heater if I found it was too much wattage.  Do you think that will work?

Also Mike if you have time would you take a close up of your smoke generator and the heating unit?  Did you mount them right next to each other?  And one more thing, do you have a separate circulation fax in your box or does just the one high temp fan do the job?  I assume you leaving it run all of the time and just turn the heater on and off...

Scott

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

On the 500 watt ring heater I have I was thinking of wiring in a simple dimmer switch to reduce the amount of voltage going to the heater if I found it was too much wattage.  Do you think that will work?

Should work well, just make sure the dimmer is rated for > 500 watts.

Arcs_n_Sparks

[smokeitall]

Thanks Arcs...I was going to do the same thing with the fan I put in the OBS but full speed seems to be working very well...

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Thanks Arcs...I was going to do the same thing with the fan I put in the OBS but full speed seems to be working very well...

Fans are very different than the resistive load that a heater presents. Depending upon the fan motor type, speed control (if possible) is an entirely different animal than the phase control that dimmers employ for lights (and heaters).

Arcs_n_Sparks

[Mr Walleye]

I have one step up from the PID.  I have a PLC with a Thermocouple input and a 6 inch touchscreen.  I have enough I/O left to add a lot more.  I will have my set up control either the big smoker or the OBS.  Thanks for the suggestions, I think my next step is to get the heater and high temp fan and then have my buddies fabricate a frame to mount on the box and start cutting.

On the 500 watt ring heater I have I was thinking of wiring in a simple dimmer switch to reduce the amount of voltage going to the heater if I found it was too much wattage.  Do you think that will work?

Also Mike if you have time would you take a close up of your smoke generator and the heating unit?  Did you mount them right next to each other?  And one more thing, do you have a separate circulation fax in your box or does just the one high temp fan do the job?  I assume you leaving it run all of the time and just turn the heater on and off...

Scott

Scott

I agree with Arcs, the dimmer switch will work fine for the heater but I know the high temp blower I used couldn't be used with a dimmer switch/control. The plan I have for a heat booster for the OBS/DBS will be a little more compact but designed to run full time. I gotta get some time to follow through with it and see how it works out.


In this first photo you can see that I used a standard OBS smoke generator that I picked up from Bryan at Yard and Pool. I bought the smoke generator adaptor from Bradley, I think the generator was $89 and the adaptor was $30 if I remember correctly.

Click to enlarge...



In this photo your should be able to see that I did mount the heaters and the smoke generator right next to each other.

Click to enlarge...



I didn't use any other type of circulation fan other than the high temp blower that circulated the air over the heaters. You are correct, my high temp blower runs full time with the PID controlling the heating elements.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Mike

[beefmann]

smoke.

on the heater you  can  use a  resitive dimmer that  is big  enough ti handle the max wattage  of the  heater,

as for the  blower you  will  need a magnetic dimmer  because of the magnetics of  the motor.. you would  have to goto   your  local  electrical wholesale  house  or  try graingers