Recommendation for PID components

minmax

minmax

Active Member
I have been thinking of jumping on board with the PID crew.
Looking for solid information on what to purchase.
I have been thinking of getting everything from Auburn's
Or with Chinese, but not sure what to order.
I have a Lyman bottom pour, and a 20# Lee. I would like to get a hot plate and an oven for heat treatng plus powder coating someday. I figured that I could play around with the bottom pour units
unil I'm sure of what I want. Then I could move the first PID to the hot plte and oven.
 
yodogsandman

yodogsandman

Well-Known Member
You're also going to need spade type connectors, 18 gauge stranded wire, a 14 gauge outdoor extension cord and box connector to power it. I used cut pieces of the 14 gauge extension cord for the internal PID wiring. Optional items might be indicator lamps and heatsink compound grease. These are cheaper and easier to get locally.

I cut my extension cord to 12 feet long so I didn't need another extension cord to get to my outlet in the barn.
 
yodogsandman

yodogsandman

Well-Known Member
Oh, you'll need some type of box or enclosure to put all this stuff in. I used an old file card metal box 6"x8"x5 1/2". This could be the most expensive part and the hardest to find. Originally, I was going to use a military ammo box. Good to look in yard sales for something appropriate.
 
minmax

minmax

Active Member
Yodogsandman,
Thank for the many replies.
Time is not at all that important, and well economics always plays apart. Thanks for the link to the Aubern's conectors I did know about that.
What about all the ones on E-bay that seem to include the PID, thermcupler and ssr w/heatsink
My cousin works on highend gaming computers so a far as enclosure and miscellaneous items I should be well taken care of.
thanks again for thr links as a picture is worth a thousand words.
Oh which PID are in F°? I don't mind having a conversion table, but why?
 
minmax

minmax

Active Member
Aubern's has PID with a built in 2amp load SSR (soild state relay) is this enough? or do I need to go with the 25amp?
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Man, that was about as complete a response as a guy could want.
Me? I bought one complete. I'm not electrically inclined and don't have the desire to become so.
 
minmax

minmax

Active Member
Brad,
I think the wiring will the hardest part, but everyone says onece you do it. It is not hard at all. I'm just nervous of putting everything together and spending $50-$60
And hear a pop buzz and a puff of smoke.
 
yodogsandman

yodogsandman

Well-Known Member
I'd say no go on the 2A SSR, the pot will draw 6A-7A, a convection toaster oven could draw up to 15A. The smaller the SSR amperage, the more heat build up. I used a 40A SSR just because of that. It was over kill. Please understand that I am NOT an electrician, I've just put one together after a lot of study, much like you're doing.

Don't be too scared of the wiring. It's just one wire at a time, from point A to point B. It's really that easy. There's some good wiring sketches over on the CB site. Check out the top sticky, under "casting equipment", post#1 for a good one.

The MyPin TA4 is in *F, no conversion chart is needed if you're schooled to think that way. There is a way to change it over to *C, if you want to. Personally, I'd never want one that I had to convert all the time. There's a lot more site help with the MyPin, if you have any problems, too. If you don't mind bidding, the same company above has sold me two of these for just $10.99 each.

The eBay kits with the PID, SSR and probe are sometimes not matched to work together, the probes are too short for a lead pot most times and they are way too expensive for me. Have you seen any cheaper, with the right components, than what I've quoted above? If you do, grab it!
 
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minmax

minmax

Active Member
Thank you so much for allof your input Yodogsandman!
Since I would like to try to get everything from one vendor.
Is the $38.00 Auberins worth the price difference compared to the Mypin?
 
yodogsandman

yodogsandman

Well-Known Member
I'm not too familiar with the Auberin's but, the extra $$$ puts it closer to the cost of just buying a finished PID unit. Auberins is well known for their great customer service, though. Both units do the same thing and I would consider them as equivalents quality wise.

I believe that on eBay, you can put items in your "cart" and pay for them all together.

Auberins could be the only choice for the one vender route. Compare that cost with a finished PID unit.

The other controller you mentioned was called a Rex C100 PID controller and will only read in *C.
 
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