Hot Plate Question

[Mike W1]

Was just fooling around with the hot plate and heater housing and noticed that the light on the hot plate was cycling on and off even while the PID showed it was applying power to it. Have the PID set to 400° F and this was down in the 340° area before getting up to temp. Know it'll eventually get there but it'd have to do it a lot faster if it got power all the time before the PID starts to control it. Plate is set wide open.

Thinking of taking the hot plate apart and bypassing whatever they have in there to control the heat. Is this feasible? Never had one apart before. Did it with my Lee pots without a problem.

[JASON4X4]

I have never had one apart but I'm sure you could bypass the control just make sure you never run it without the pid because something could melt or start a fire

[edctexas]

Most of the UL listed devices that provide heating have a backup thermal switch. I have not seen any resettable ones, but if you bypass the thermostat, you show leave this in the circuit for safety. They look like a thin tube or "silver bullet" with a lead out each end. It is usually clamped to the plate near the heating element. If it is Chinese made, it might be a resettable switch which would give you the extra cycling. The thermostat should not do this if set at max.

Ed C

[Beagle333]

Mine has never given me any problems, unless I forget to set the hotplate high enough and the PID can't get up to temp even if it is trying as hard as it can. I didn't bypass the control because I didn't want it to go thermonuclear if me or anybody else ever forgot and plugged it into the wall instead of the PID.