PID question

[btroj]

I got a very nice unit from OBIII. Have a pretty basic question.

My understanding is that over time the device "learns" and gets better at fine tuning the temp. If the unit is unplugged does that "knowledge" disappear?

[mattw]

Not that I am aware of, he would be best to answer. I built my around the same controller he uses and it seems that it works as well after being unplugged as it did before. It also remembers limits and such after being unplugged.

[RobS]

Once the unit is trained it will keep the settings even after the unit is unplugged. Have fun with the addition of your new casting tool.

[btroj]

Thanks for the info.
It does a good job of keeping temp stable right off the bat. I need to see how it does in my heat treat oven.

[Mike W1]

My observation and I've written some of those settings of P, I and D down somewhere, is that they will change when you Autotune again. When I switch the controller from the lead pot over to the lube heater I'll input the settings from a prior session for a place for it to start auto tuning from. It doesn't seem to matter what I input, autotune will invaribly find some new settings. Have done it with the original factory settings too. Doesn't seem to take any longer and it'll come up with numbers I had not seen before. They will all be in a "ballpark" area though and always keep my set temperature where I want it. Doesn't seem to matter whether the pot is full or getting low. Someplace I read the tip of the TC is where the temperature is read so level shouldn't make a difference in the way I see it. Mine's placed about 1/2" from the side of the pot and about a 1/2" off the bottom. My 2¢ worth.

[btroj]

Put it on the heat treat oven and it is holding temp like a champ. I am impressed with how close my little over thermometer agrees with the PID.
Im really liking this unit.

[Mike W1]

Put it on the heat treat oven and it is holding temp like a champ. I am impressed with how close my little over thermometer agrees with the PID.
Im really liking this unit.

What kind of TC did you use in your oven? Read where one fellow just used the same type as you'd put in the pot. Out of curiousity I'm tempted to try that with an old toaster oven I heat treated with way back. On the other hand I don't have a need anymore for HT'd bullets but it'd give me something to occupy my time.

[btroj]

It is a 150mm long thermocouple with a heck of a long cord. The threaded section to retain it is too short but it worked fine anyway. I drilled a hole towards the top of the oven that is just large enough for the probe. The temp just didn't fluctuate at all once the door was closed and the temp was to the set point. It dropped fast when door was opened but as long as the door was closed it held like a rock.

[Mike W1]

It is a 150mm long thermocouple with a heck of a long cord. The threaded section to retain it is too short but it worked fine anyway. I drilled a hole towards the top of the oven that is just large enough for the probe. The temp just didn't fluctuate at all once the door was closed and the temp was to the set point. It dropped fast when door was opened but as long as the door was closed it held like a rock.

Sounds like what that other fellow used too. Have a spare one of those with a plug and might just have to play around a bit some day.

[theperfessor]

Pid = :)

[btroj]

No, PID = http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/happy/jumping-for-joy-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)

[Jeff Maney]

I am wondering if you could write down any changes after a period of time, if you could then train a different "object" and then plug in the old numbers and have success with the original "object".

OB
Yes, easy to do. Go into the PID manual set-up and input the new numbers for parameters 'P, I & D'.

Jeff

[cbrick]

It's no secret that handloaders really like "toys" and bullet casters considerably more so. Sure is great when a new toy is also both useful and a benefit to casting at the same time.

I've got a PID on my Magma pot but my now much lesser used RCBS pot doesn't. Using the RCBS anymore almost seems like going back to using a camp fire. How quickly we get spoiled.

Rick

[btroj]

I agree Rick. I wanted to cast yesterday while heat treating some bullets but wouldn't because the PID was on the oven.

[Sticky]

Some seem to auto tune fast, not a bit deal with those, but some take a while and it's probably better as mentioned, to note and input those settings and tune from there. I have a pid on my Lee pot that has adaptive tuning, so it actually tunes continously, or at least tweaks it's settings as it's running. It works great, thinking of doing my toaster oven, but it's so cheap and with a pyrometer I can maintain whatever temp I need, so this will have to wait a while..

[Yodogsandman]

You really need a PID on all your toys!http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/happy/jumping-for-joy-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)

[RobS]

Yep another person who has found that a PID can be a nice tool for casting. Made mine for about $60 and money well spent IMO. Too many say you don't need one and where as they are right...........I cast thousands upon thousands of boolits with out one but be damned if I'll do any more of them that way. Nor would I go back to heat treating without my PID either. You may want to rewire the oven if it's a convection (straight wire the fan) so you don't burn up the fan motor.

[edctexas]

I liked the PID I built so much that I built another one in the same cabinet. When Casting #1 runs the Lee Dripomatic, while the #2 unit runs the hotplate. By noting the difference from the NOE mold probe and the PID reading I made a setting chart to set the mold temps. I took a 2in by 1in by 1in block of aluminum and attached the TC to a screw tapped into the block.

When I powder coat I have a TC bolted on to the Aluminum sheet holding the coated boolits that are being baked. I cross checked this with another thermometer to get a correllation factor for the PID reading.

I use the Auberin's controllers in my dual PID. They have a no PID setting, Autotrained, and after autotraining setting. I have tweaked the settings to reduce overshoot, and start heating on under the process setting temp. I wrote those drown so I can go back to one of the other configurations. The Oven Setting numbers are very similar to the Hot Plate Setting numbers so I don't change then now. I do find that if I use a higher pot melt temp I need to tweak my settings. I love it! Now If I only had a really permanent drip stop measure for the Lee pot! After working on it is ok for the price.

Ed C