Pre built pid temperature controller

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They do. They've got an auto tuning cycle you can run and it's better running it near to the set point


Sounds like they have the problem fully cracked. It's kind of the nature of electronics these days, it's just not worth building anything yourself unless you want to do it as a learning exercise or just for the hell of it. If you can buy something commercially it will almost always be cheaper than any home built version and offer some quite sophisticated features that would be fairly difficult to design in. plus in my experience if it comes from China it will have been developed at a quarter of the price and four times as fast as in the UK. Scary!

... at least the Chinese can't export home brew! :-)
 
Im thinking of this for a project. Not bad at £10 delivered from china
http://s.aliexpress.com/eQBVbmyI?fromSns=
Get a PT100 while you're at it. I bought a load of the really cheap ones, 2 for 59p, and they differed from each other and the reliable ones that came with my Inkbirds. That doesn't mean they're useless but it means you've got to calibrate them for the temperature you're trying to hit with a reliable thermometer.

There are three wire jobs for £2.50 with screw fittings - just get what you think you'll need.
 
Get a PT100 while you're at it. I bought a load of the really cheap ones, 2 for 59p, and they differed from each other and the reliable ones that came with my Inkbirds. That doesn't mean they're useless but it means you've got to calibrate them for the temperature you're trying to hit with a reliable thermometer.

There are three wire jobs for £2.50 with screw fittings - just get what you think you'll need.
Like this

http://s.aliexpress.com/6NRJvMR7?fromSns=
 
This is the thing, there are quite a few ready built PID options for around the $100 mark in the US, not a single one here in the UK though. Could well be our safety regs are a barrier though, which is why I would never offer to build one for somebody too (sorry about that). IF something goes wrong with mains voltage, well it's not pretty... You build it yourself, it's your own risk. You build for somebody else, you need good insurance and qualifications, and certification.... Before you know it, you need to charge upwards of £300 to make any profit, and nobody wants to pay enough for you to even break even on the costs (as evidenced by that guy from JBK).
 
I got this from America,works flawlessly,electrician put it in for me I run 5500kw element with it,if you want to run 2 elements you can get the dual controller.
Cost me £250
 
I agree, and this is why so many people get confused when they want accurate temperature control.

Having done a bit of a look around there does seem to be distinct lack of “pre built” PID control units suitable for small scale home brew setups.

However I have noticed that inkbird do this http://www.ink-bird.com/products-PID-controller-ipb16.html called an IPB-16.

This looks bang on for what you are looking for. However I can’t find anywhere in the uk (even though they show uk sellers) where you can get it.

If @chippy_tea or one of the mods can loop in inkbird maybe they might be able to advise how you and others can get their hands on one in the uk. If not just order from the us and pay the import duty if it gets checked.

Either way looks nailed on for non experienced people to be able to buy a genuine PID controller in a box.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you @Chippy_Tea for reminding me.
@Hoddy Thanks for your interest in IPB-16. I am very sorry this model does not have UK plug version currently. Maybe you could buy US plug version, then use with changeover plug. IPB-16 can accept AC 100-240V Power Supply Voltage, Max output current: OUT: 15A for 120V AC, 12A for 220V AC.
Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073LV5MX2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Please note that it is sent from China.
Or ITC-100VH PID temperature controller kit may meet your need? ITC-100VH: Power Supply Voltage: AC 100-240V ±10% 50/60Hz, Main Output: Voltage Pulses Output (ITC-100V): DC 12V, 30mA; Alarm 1 AC250V 3A (Resistive load) ON/NC. The functions are same with IPB-16, price is cheaper, but it is not pre-wired.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N2XZ4HV/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
If there have any questions, please feel free to PM me.
Sincerely.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
20180826_165117.jpg
 
Can the blue go any way round then?
Yes both blues are identical.

Bit hard to tell from that photo but the pic of terminals 8,9 and the one below it look like the probe connection.

R (t) with the rectangular box represents the sensor element. Which would make terminal 8 red, 9 blue and the one under 9 the other blue.

The other terminal blocks look like mains in and various output switches.
 
Hi man i got this pt100
http://s.aliexpress.com/NJv6JVFb?fromSns=

How do you work out what wire goes where as there is 2 blue and 1 red

The two colours that are the same “can be used” if you are using the pt100 in 3 wire mode with your controller. Three wire mode give greater accuracy. You can usually select this (2 or 3 wire) on your controller. But most people at this level just use 2 wire mode.

So basically you can just join the two reds together and then connect the red/blue. Should matter which way round they are as there normally isn’t any polarity when measuring resistance.
 
Just read through this thread, new here and I'm not familiar with the kit folks are using but it sounds like accurate control of the heating element wattage would be far more useful, to be able to turn the element up just enough to cut out occasionally rather than cutting in and out continuously?

Industrial controls are my background too and the cheap SCR chopper output control boxes some folks are using seem absolutely perfect for the job, kind of surprised they're not standard kit as they would also do a lot to reduce sugars burning on heating elements.
 
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