PID Built-In

[don45]

Encouraged and educated by Cranium and others on Sticky: PID on Lee Pro, after more than 50 years of casting, I decided to add a PID to my setup. I ordered the parts from http://www.auberins.com/index.php?ma...products_id=14 per the sticky, including their case. I almost sent the case back as I concluded no way will things fit. After some study I decided to go for it. Very shoe-horned it but it fits nicely. The 110 electrical connections is via a 14-3 cable to external wall outlet boxes. I decided not to add any buzzers since the PID itself shows all the alarm and status information I need and I can't hear the buzzer anyway. I have one remaining addition, a 1.75" sq heatsink which will attach to the rear of the cabinet, over the SSR. It will thermally couple through the back panel via heat sink compound. Hopefully that, together with the case itself and the rangehood will keep it cool enough. After the heat sink, I'll wire it into the smaller electrical box, build some kind of probe support, and I'm off and running.

[mattw]

Nice bit of work... I went with a larger case, better airflow and easier to wire!

[Yodogsandman]

Wow! That is a small case! My fat fingers could never get wires connected in there. Good job making your new PID! You'll absolutely love it after casting your first pot.

BTW: I used an old metal file card box about 8"x 6"x11" and had a hard time with the connections.

[dikman]

That is what I'd call a snug fit!

[LenH]

Don,
After 35+ years of casting I built one and was very surprised how well the thing worked, I wish I had known about these 10 years ago. The case I used is 3" tall & 5" wide
& 6" deep, my fat fingers and arthritis just about thought that wasn't big enough but I got it all in there.

After seeing several setups for probe support I settled on using some plumbers pipe strap, it is perforated fairly thin and with some tinkering I doubled it over and attached it
to one of the screws on the rim if my pot. it works like a champ.

The 3 or 4 times I have used the unit I didn't notice any measurable heat to the box.

I hope this helps
Len H.

[don45]

The case is small but the L-shaped sides come off, one or both, to allow easy access to make connections. The SSR connections are close to the side panel so great care must be taken to keep 110AC away. I carefully trimmed the 14 Ga stranded wire and tinned it and then installed so bare wire was fully inserted and heavy wire insulation in place. In addition, after all SSR wires were in place I wrapped electrical tape around the entire SSR and also 'lined' the inside with electrical tape around the SSR area.
I considered a larger case but most I saw were too big and I wanted a nice small unit to fit on top of the range hood. So far so good. I brought the pot up to temp as a test but will wait to cast until I get the heat sink installed and probe holder built.

[Beagle333]

After seeing several setups for probe support I settled on using some plumbers pipe strap, it is perforated fairly thin and with some tinkering I doubled it over and attached it
to one of the screws on the rim if my pot. it works like a champ.

That works great for me on my pots.

[dikman]

You got it, Beagle, that's all it needs.

[Sticky]

Nice work! That IS a tight squeeze... lol

[EdS]

Don 45: That is a nice build. My TC holder is similar to Beagles. It's as if RCBS made the bolts external just so we could add thermometer or TC holders. Your last sentence: "After the heat sink, I'll wire it into the smaller electrical box, build some kind of probe support, and I'm off and running." makes me wonder what "smaller electrical box" you are planning to wire it into? Thanks, Ed

[don45]

I'm refering to the smaller of the two wall-mount electrical boxes,,the one with the orange plug. This one is the existing 20 AMP source. Above it is a double box which handles all the AC from the PID, less the SSR which is in the box with the PID. The double electrical box contains a switch and lamp, and a double AC outlet. One of the outlets is always live, the other is switched by SSR. The switch controls power to PID and SSR, as well as the lamp to show PID is on (not necessary since PID lights up when on). This box connects to PID box via a 14-3 stranded round power cord. Currently the double wall mount box connects to power in the smaller box via a small temporary cord plugged into the outlet below. When all is done I will connect this in directly. This is the box I was refering to. This is simply to make removal easy since I still have to attach heat sink to back of PID unit. Whee! Some things are hard to explain.

[EdS]

Don: Thanks, now that I understand what the "small box" is, I'd like to make a suggestion. If you wire your PID-controlled AC power through a wall mounted electric outlet, you will be tied to that location for all of your casting. Maybe that's fine in your current situation, but you may want to move your entire set-up some day. Why not accept that the enclosure you bought with the PID is too small, and move all of the components to a larger "project box" available from Radio Shack, eBay or elsewhere? They run in the $10 range. Just a thought... -EdS

[don45]

Just finished up my built-in PID. Added a heat-sink salvaged from an old PC, added a 1/4 A fuse to the PID AC line. Also added a 10 A fuse inside the switch box. This fuses the power to both the PID and to the SSR, i.e. the lead pot. Used a drop of crazy glue to hold the tie wraps at the corners so that the front mount will stay compressed to hold PID in the opening. Tidied up the wiring a little with some internal tie wraps as well. Installation is now complete. I'm glad I stayed with the small case. The mounting feet tabs are perfect for my installation.

[Sticky]

Very nice! I agree, the small box makes a very nice package.

You shouldn't need ties behind the mounting ring for the controller, normally (and I have used them for years by the hundreds) the locking device will hold the pid in fine as long as you fully insert it from the outside, be sure the locking 'ring' is oriented so the locking tabs engage the little teeth on the housing (some have to be a particular orientation as they only have 'teeth' on two sides, not all four) and push it in a little against the back of the mounting plate to apply tension to the two little legs on either side. This should hold it tight.

[don45]

The last task is the probe holder. I found an aluminum electrical mount block in the electrical department at HomeDepot which works great. I drilled it out a little so the probe slips thru, held in place by the provided set-screw. I removed the original mounting bolt and replaced it with a longer one which allows the angle iron to mount at the proper height. Actual height of probe can be adjusted by loosening the set-screw and sliding the probe up or down. The distance from the edge of the pot can be adjusted by swinging the probe. I'm not sure where the probe needs to be, how far from the sides and how far from the bottom of the pot? Just about ready to find out with a couple of new Accurate and NOE molds.

Thanks to everyone on the several threads here with discussed the PIDs. I never heard of one before reading all this, and now I have a very great addition to my casting operation with not too much cost and just a little (a lot of figuring things out) of work.

[hpdrifter]

Just built one meself. I got a little wider case and installed an outlet and a TC connector into the case. The PID and SSR control the outlet.

I can plug any utensil I have into the outlet and connect a TC from that utensil........bingo. One controller with unlimited devices.