Toaster oven pid install

[Ballz71]

I wired a inkbird pid controller into this toaster oven. I watched a video on youtube and was told to wire the heating elements in series rather than parallel like they were. The unit is working but the highest temp I can get out of it is 350 degrees f and it takes a long time to get it up to that temp. Has anyone else had this issue. The oven was getting over 400 before.

[popper]

elements in series rather than parallel
change them back!

[Petander]

When the elements are in series, they are working on half the intended power.

[45_Colt]

Yes to putting the elements back into parallel. The PID controller will take care of the increased power.

> When the elements are in series, they are working on half the intended power.

It is even worse then this, the two in series will be 1/4 power of the same two in parallel. The voltage is divided between the two elements (to about 60 V each). But the current is also halved as the resistance is double.

[Petander]

Yes my wording was wrong,I should have said half the "voltage", not "power".

With two elements,series resistance goes to 4x, compared to the same two in parallel. A huge power loss.

[Ballz71]

Changed it back. It's working now thanks.

[rsrocket1]

Why are you doing this? Is your powder coating THAT sensitive to temperature? I've been successfully baking PC boolits with just a $5 dial thermometer oven with a dial timer from Goodwill. After moving, I got a couple of $20 Walmart toaster ovens and they also work fine.

The powder coating shouldn't be temperature or time sensitive as long as you meet the minimum bake temperature for the minimum bake time. For me, anything around 350-400 is hot enough and any time above 20 minutes is long enough. I've baked around 70k boolits this way and haven't had any problems with HF red, Sherwin Williams, or Prismatic powders.

I do have a PID on my Lee 4-20 but that is to balance enough heat to prevent lead from freezing in the nozzle and not so high as to cause excessive oxidation at the high end.

[Smoke4320]

Probably because some ovens have a terrible temp swings.
I have seem some as much as 75 degrees. Add that to what could be a readout that are 50 to 75 degrees off and you have a mess .
YMMV

[popper]

Naw, resistance just doubles and since P=e^2/R or P=I^2xR P is indeed much lower. PID will help in eliminating lead puddles or non-cured PC.

[bangerjim]

Common sense...............series is 1/2 power from the elements!

Wire them in parallel like they should be.

NEVER trust anything from youtube (the place where idiots like to hear & watch themselves talk).

[Petander]

One more time:

If you wire two 1 ohm resistors in parallel, their combined resistance goes in half, being 0.5 ohm.

When those two are wired in series they add up to make 2 ohms. 2 ohms is four times 0.5 ohms.

So series connection is 1/4 power, not half.

[HATCH]

The master caster has a heating band with two sets of elements.
On 120v they put them in parallel. On 240v they put them in series.

Regardless of what configuration you have them the heat output is the same.
The amp draw is different. 240v isn't have the draw as 120v

[Petander]

The master caster has a heating band with two sets of elements.
On 120v they put them in parallel. On 240v they put them in series.

Regardless of what configuration you have them the heat output is the same.
The amp draw is different. 240v isn't have the draw as 120v

Exactly. That 110/220 V option may be on purpose in OP: s oven as well.

My one ohm parallel resistors example above , when connected to ONE volt,resistors produce two watts of heat. When in series and connected to TWO volts, they again produce two watts.

[Ballz71]

Why are you doing this? Is your powder coating THAT sensitive to temperature? I've been successfully baking PC boolits with just a $5 dial thermometer oven with a dial timer from Goodwill. After moving, I got a couple of $20 Walmart toaster ovens and they also work fine.

The powder coating shouldn't be temperature or time sensitive as long as you meet the minimum bake temperature for the minimum bake time. For me, anything around 350-400 is hot enough and any time above 20 minutes is long enough. I've baked around 70k boolits this way and haven't had any problems with HF red, Sherwin Williams, or Prismatic powders.

I do have a PID on my Lee 4-20 but that is to balance enough heat to prevent lead from freezing in the nozzle and not so high as to cause excessive oxidation at the high end.

I just had to get a new oven and i set it at 400 and it would swing over 500 degrees and the temp would not stay constant.

[Dragonheart]

I just had to get a new oven and i set it at 400 and it would swing over 500 degrees and the temp would not stay constant.

This is the reason I always recommend checking your oven first! Many of these ovens won't reach 400° to begin with and then if they do have wild temperature swings. never trust an oven dial for accurate temperature.
Dial thermometers are a poor choice they are notoriously inaccurate or get that way with use and slow to react to temperature change. You best choice is a glass mercury thermometer, but a Taylor Oven-guide works well and is inexpensive.
I can understand installing a PID to salvage a bad oven, but a PID is only measuring the oven air temperature and not the bullet temperature, so the gain is temperature control.
In lieu of a PID starting out with an accurate Hamilton Beach Countertop Convection Oven will save a lot of headaches.