My PID controller pictures.

[Cloudwraith]

Built before I cast my first boolits, my PID controller was intended to remove the hassle of temp control from my long list of things to worry about during my first casts. Being a novice I wanted to concentrate on pour technique and not get so lost in trying to maintain pot temps. Being a computer nerd I had plenty of old power supplies lying around including this one which had a switch, input AND output already wired. In the end the only wiring I kept was the ground. The rest I redid.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid1.jpg

We keep it a bit cool in the house, heh. I also lost my grip on the dremel a few times...may just spray paint the thing. Then again I may not even bother.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid2.jpg

The 12VDC fan is dusty but I have a 120v fan on order. Probably not needed but hey, why not? Also, easier to wire in the 120v than to fit a transformer in there for the 12VDC.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid3.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid4.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid5.jpg

The screws I used to hold down the SSR and the wiring block made the box not sit level so I added some LRF's.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid6.jpg

I used some thermal compound and attached the SSR right to the bottom of the box. Never got warm although, then again, I was casting in 30 degree temps.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid7.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid9.jpg

My one design flaw was attaching the PID controller to the top part of the power supply box. Had to make the wires long enough that I could remove the top and keep everything attached. I didn't have room in the sides connected to the lower portion though with the fans already there.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid10.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid11.jpg

[Cloudwraith]

Wired based on this diagram I found here.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/pid.jpg

And I use this as an adapter to power the pot.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1264960/pics/cb/power1.jpg

[ph4570]

Good idea to use a PS box.

[dikman]

Those PS boxes are certainly useful, plus they have plenty of room inside for this particular project. As for mounting the PID on the lid it won't really matter as once it's finished and working you're unlikely to be opening it up much.

[Marcduper]

Really nice and clean setup. Do the SSR's get hot enough to warrent a cooling fan? Or are you using what is available on the PS box? Not much experience with PID's. Thanks
Marc

[6bg6ga]

My first one was a computer power supply box also. Their easy to work with.

[6bg6ga]

Really nice and clean setup. Do the SSR's get hot enough to warrent a cooling fan? Or are you using what is available on the PS box? Not much experience with PID's. Thanks
Marc


The don't get very warm with a 400 watt or so load. If you increase the load the SSR temp seems to rise.

[Marcduper]

"The don't get very warm with a 400 watt or so load. If you increase the load the SSR temp seems to rise. "

Got it. Thanks for the come back.

Marc

[Cloudwraith]

Do the SSR's get hot enough to warrent a cooling fan? From what I've read on here if you go with the 25amp SSR then no probably not. A 10amp may require some extra cooling. I basically left the 12VDC fan on there so as not to have the big hole on the side. I figured if I'm going to have a fan why not make it functional and so I'm waiting on my 120v one. I may also just get another fan guard like on the other side and use that to cover the hole if the temps don't require active cooling.

[Walter Laich]

What's a good way to cut the square hole? I went with an Auber box just to keep from having to cut out the hole

[Cloudwraith]

What's a good way to cut the square hole?

I just used a dremel with a cutting wheel then buffed it with a grinder attachment.

[w0fms]

The SSR's don't get warm (I use the 40A because with SSR's bigger is better and the price difference is like $3 on e-bay).. but you DO need to put grease between the base of the SSR and whatever your sink is or effectively there is little to no thermal contact between the SSR and sink and you probably will burn up the SSR. But in actual use the correctly mounted heat sink shouldn't get that warm, if at all..

[dikman]

Walter, I used a (manual) nibbling tool I happen to have (used for electronic projects etc), but it still required quite a bit of filing to get the opening the right size - as in not too big!! I could have used a cut-off wheel in a Dremel, or the old standby, drill lots of holes and then file it. The main thing is to figure out how to clamp it so that the metal has some support when filing.

As for the SSR getting hot, I have a 25 amp operating a Pro-Melt (230v/800W) and the SSR barely gets warm. In fact the PID feels just as warm.

[6bg6ga]

When I cut the holes in mine I used a scribe to mark it and then followed up with tin snips and it worked fine.

[kbstenberg]

I am electrically challenged. So please bare with me.
Was the box you used much larger like the size of a full (old) computer tower? An you just cut the tower to size using what openings it had that you needed?
For any parts you didn't have on hand that were needed for the build. Did you get them off of Ebay? Being electrically challenged Could you list the internal parts that are compatible with each other.
I did build a PID years ago with Frozone's help. Now I would like to downsize the size of the box I made, and build another totally new pid. Kevin

[Cloudwraith]

Kevin,

Here is the link on eBay that I purchased the PID and SSR from:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110880595387?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Here is the link on eBay that I purchased the K type thermocouple from:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191049656510?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Here is the link on Amazon that I purchased the wiring blocks from:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G9IDTDM/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The power supply was just a standard ATX style power supply. I pulled all the guts out except for the switch, electrical plugs, and the exterior fan. I can get you the dimensions when I get home.

The wire is 18ga for everything except the + and - control wires from the PID to the SSR which are 22ga. It is what I had lying around along with all the crimp connectors. The wires to the outlets and switch are soldered.

[RobS]

Cloudwraith: Nice work!!! I also used a power supply box as well and used a heat sink with a 25 amp SSR and things never get hot in mine. I don't know if not using a heat sink though but if using a fan things should be ok I think. The opening where the fan was I found a piece of plastic to fit in and cut the square out for the controller. Everything together including the MyPin controller, 25 SSR, Thermal Probe and odds and ends I had around $60 in mine.
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt206/RobS01/PIDLeePot_zps0c870ab4.jpg (http://s612.photobucket.com/user/RobS01/media/PIDLeePot_zps0c870ab4.jpg.html)

[RobS]

I am electrically challenged. So please bare with me.
Was the box you used much larger like the size of a full (old) computer tower? An you just cut the tower to size using what openings it had that you needed?


A typical ATX computer power supply is around 5 1/2" X 6" X 3 1/4" give or take an 1/8" or so.

[popper]

SSR is the only part that will get hot. You need to sand off the paint & use H.S. grease under it. My 25 amp unit gets hot when it's 100F outside. Most use a cheap opticoupler for isolation - they don't work right at high temp. Most of the internal parts are only rated to 125F.

[Mal Paso]

Amazon has a 25A SSR with an aluminum heatsink attached for $12. MYPIN PID and thermocouple $28

SSR produces about 1.3 Watts of heat per Amp controlled. About 8 Watts for a Lee 4-20.

I used a Bosch Jigsaw/Metal Blade for the square hole.

[Cloudwraith]

RobS: What an elegant solution, mounting the PID in a plastic piece and mounting in the fan hole. I may replicate that setup in the future.

[RobS]

Cloudwraith:
It does look pretty nice and I also had better tools for working with a plastic plate. The plate is a blank for the front of an electric box which can be found at just about any hardware store.