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ambitious project - build my own guru?

Canugghead
Canugghead Posts: 13,983
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
managed to get one of these 'discarded' controllers:

http://www.globalcontrols.ca/gc/product_detail.asp?mfid=2&catalogid=6&sectionid=30&productid=132

Picture063.jpg

questions to any eggers who are also experts in electronics, any chance i can build a primitive guru clone using this as the 'brain'?
canuckland
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Comments

  • mikeb6109
    mikeb6109 Posts: 2,067
    why not just buy a digiq?

    email me buddy at mikeb6109@msn.com chances are making one would kinda work but the technologie that is behind the digi is going to be impossible to achive.
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  • dhuffjr
    dhuffjr Posts: 3,182
    You could start with this.

    http://www.circuitcellar.com/library/print/0503/moyer154/index.htm

    I downloaded the plans long ago with the intent to make it.........never got to it.
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    thanks, i've bookmarked it.
    canuckland
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    i'm stubborn and refuse to buy things that i can build or fix, within reasonable limits of course. just ask my significant other ;)
    but seriously, i enjoy tinkering or building stuff, it's more fun...
    canuckland
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Canugghead,

    I couldn't open the link but it looks like you have a PID controller there. Probably from an extruder or zone heater. If that is the case you have everything you need. You will probably have to set for the type of thermocouples you use but that should be about it.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    hate to sound like a wisearse... but if you have to ask whether or not you can do a do-it-yerself project, you probably can't.

    i mean, a person who could program the thing with the logic it needs, and who knew what it would take to put the thing together probably wouldn't ask the "is it possible" question, right?

    not trying to be a dinkus, but there's not going to be a set of instructions, which means you'll need to figure it out yourself. ...and so.... well. if you haven't figured it out, i'm thinking it might be better to just by a guru.

    what's your time worth? you'll save money and aggravation just buying on, i gotta think.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    woohoo, thanks for the moral support steve. yes indeed, it's a PID controller.
    canuckland
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    PID controllers aren't complicated and don't take any logic to run. You just have to know how to set up the P, I and D parameters if it's not an auto-tune model.

    The question is what kind of output his controller has. If it's a relay output, then he's in business...it's just a matter of setting up the duty cycle and wiring it to turn his fan on and off. If it's got an analog output (like 4-20ma), then he's going to need a variable-speed drive for his fan that takes that signal type...and that won't be cheap.
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    I found the manual for this model online (PDF)

    http://www.globalcontrols.ca/gc/product_pdf/PD58Vt-10-e.pdf

    I can help you wire and configure it, if you'd like. I'm a electrical engineer by trade, specializing in control systems. This is a pretty simple little box, but it will do the job.
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    thanks brad, i'm getting more optimistic because the specs says autotune and output is relay type.

    actually i haven't spent any time doing real 'figuring out' yet, just glanced over the instruction sheet which looks promising, so i thought i'll seek any help i can get from the experts in this friendly forum.

    i'll have the time to toy with this while doing a lo-n-slo ;)
    if it works it's a bonus, if i fail i'd have learned a thing or two about PID controller and know that at least i tried. i have low expectation, hence the 'ambitious' in my thread title.

    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky
    canuckland
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    Yes, I saw that it has an autotune feature. That will help, as will the relay output. Do you know what kind of fan you'll be using yet?
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    Brad, I have the same specs sheet, the link in my OP also has a PDF link to it.I'll keep you posted with my progress. Thanks again.
    -Gary
    canuckland
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    Thanks, I'd like that. Geek that I am, I've thought about putting together a full-blown control system for my Egg, complete with PLC, I/O and operator interface. I'm afraid of what I'd become :blink:
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    Haven't thought about the fan yet. Like I said, I'm still in the blue-skying stage. May be a fan from an old PC power supply box?
    canuckland
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    took a quick look, this is way too advanced for me, it's building the control mechanism from scratch.

    without trying to over-simplify it, the PID controller i have is almost like plug-n-play.

    as you can see below, steve and brad are very helpful and knowledgeable, i look forward to having fun with the project!
    canuckland
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    That might work, though it's probably a 12VDC unit if it came out of a PC...you'd need the PC's power supply, too, or a small 12V power supply to power the fan.
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    hey mike, hypothetically if i want to buy one, do you know a good source? last saturday Ontario Gas BBQ told me they plan to get it in in time for the Dec 13 BGE demo... the estimated price for the whole system will be close to $400 ($340+taxes).
    canuckland
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  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,983
    your BGE will become a Big Green Shuttle :)
    canuckland
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    Uh oh...considering what's happened to a couple of them, I ain't so sure that's a good thing! :ermm:

    Off to bed...keep us abreast of your project.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    it's not difficult to do what i do either, unless you haven't done it before.

    hahaha
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    Are you saying they aren't teaching the Ziegler-Nichols PID tuning method in gradeschool anymore? :P
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