hello all,

due to a slave driven wife i have been deep in renovation for the past month or so and have not be able to increase my production but i have been trying to figure out a simple way to control temp for the WBD:

has anyone use the thermal switch much like the ones use for controlling the temp on glow plug heaters to maintain proper temp on wvo driven cars.

the way i see it we need to temp: 54C'sh for the reaction and 76C'sh for the demeth. the sensors are small (dime size) and can be secured with "JB weld" on the critical areas such as the middle of the barrel on the reactor and on the head of the distiller for the demeth. a simple LED light can be connected to know when the heater is getting power or not etc...

if a simpler method/kit has been designed and selling can someone please forward a link.

Evan

quote:

due to a slave driven wife i have been deep in renovation for the past month or so and have not be able to increase my production

I hear ya brother!
Save yourself some grief and get a PID. Here is a dirt cheap deal complete with PID, 40Amp SSR and thermocouple, HERE.

I would highly recommend you avoid JB welding your stat to anything. If it becomes detached what will shut down the heater? Never use any type of adhesive for such an important component.
Jon

John Heron

I noticed that this PID has a range of 32 to 120 F. Can't remember lower number, but the upper limit confuses me. Is this uppre limit the limit it can read and control or the upper limit it can work at? I have no experience with pid's but would definitely be interested in one at that price.

Lew Ward
What your reading there is the operating temp of the unit itself ie the box of tricks-the temperature measuring range is :-300 F to +2300 F

Jon Heron
Nice link Jon-just ordered one-Thanks

yep, i'll be ordering one too.

I am not sure how your hotwater systems work over there .. but here the electric element is controlled by an "upper/lower thermostat". These are adjustable, some have a set range which can be raised or lowered others are just adjustable. the 1st one the range is usually about 10 deg C so you can adjust say on at 50 off at 60, on at 55 off at 65 ect. The other is usually pre set to on at about 45 and you can adjust through say 60-65-70 for off ect. These are 240 volt (same as we use here) and are set to do the job for hot water systems but as it happens is just what we need for BD processing. The good news is at most hotwater supply places these are FREE! element and matching thermostat from systems that have been replaced due to leeking tanks ect.
I use this system exclusively and ususally have at least 4/5 spares (to date havent needed to replace either the element or the thermostat). I agree you should never glue these controllers, in my case I have a simple clamp system just welded to the barrel that holds the sensors hard to the barrel.
Regards Kev

Hi Kev
Yes I use a similar heating system to you in the processor-but I am building a low wattage (low heat )bath/tank to melt my glyc for pretreat,and want a pid controller to keep the temp 35c-40c(saves just leaving it free running).
I wish we could get heaters and stats free in the UK!

Yep, ya just cant beat that price! I am all for buying local and am somewhat militant about it for certain things but when the price is less then 1/3 of what I can get from any of my suppliers... wucha ya gunna do??
Jon

ditto Jon's answer..

get a PID..new used..doesn't matter..
use an SSR and a thermal couple..

gee why?

My water heater processor..2 PIDs and 2 thermal couples..doubles as a methanol recovery setup with auto shutdown..

other 2 plastic tanks..yep PID controlled heating..elements hang in the oil..IE elements not mounted to the tanks..

all now using SSR's before I was using HVAC relays..NOT THE BEST CHOICE!!..USE SSR's..

-dkenny

up here in communist canada that kit cost close to $300 so i purchased one asap.

i guess this will become a future thread but i will ask it just the same: are these fairly straight forward to setup?

dummy proof...

did the fellows who purchased the pid kit get instructions, if so, can someone dummy down the main points for and the future readers of this thread.... dont want to look like i am the only monkey making BD

evan

Hi Evan,
NOTHING electrical is dummy proof! It can kill you!
They are very strait forward if you understand electrical...
Just remember it is just a thermostat, it will monitor the temperature and cycle the SSR (switch) on and off which in turn will cycle the heater on and off to maintain your target temperature.
Dont hesitate to ask once you receive it and have questions!
Jon

Also the TC that comes with that kit is only 3' long, if your control panel is more then 3' from your reactor (which it should be) you should get him to throw in the 10' TC for an extra 5 bucks...
Jon