What is a PID ?

[WyrTwister]

Please forgive my ignorance .

God bless
Wyr

[JoeG52]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller

[WyrTwister]

Hi Wyr,
The simple answer is it's an electronic thermostat for lead pots. Turn your lead pot on, plug it into the PID, and the temperature of your lead is determined by the PID itself in conjunction with the thermometer (thermocouple or TC). Set the temperature of the PID to whatever you want, i.e. 600 degrees F, 625 degrees F, 658 degrees F, and so on. Drastically reduces any time spent waiting for temperature to stabilize after removing or adding lead. PID's can also be used to control different types of equipment, such as a toaster oven, electric smoker, or in home-brewing setup's. Set and forget.

OB

Thanks ,
Wyr

[RobS]

Yep a PID takes the guess work out of pot temperature and the temperatures swings associated. The more consistent the pot temp is the more consistent your mold temp can be, that is if your casting technique has consistent rhythm and cadence. All this translates to boolits that have less variance especially from the start to the end of a pot.

[jmorris]

They are more than just an ON/OFF thermostat in that they can be programmed to "see" the rate of change and make more or less drastic changes. This allows them to maintain temps far more accurately than conventional thermostats.

For example I have a wood burning smoker controled by one that maintains temp within 5 degrees normally and if winds are calm and fire is mostly coals I have seen it maintain within tenths of a degree.

No household oven comes close to this, that also use a normal thermostat.

[Beagle333]

'Works great for my lubesizer heater as well. I can keep the lube at the perfect temp to flow easily but not leak out around the dies and pressure nut.

[bbqncigars]

Bottom line is that it is a smart thermostat when controlling temperature. Better temp control all around.