Possible kiln idea

[AmaxB]

Oh Yeah getting into the meat of these things can be a lot to wrap your head around..............
Use in manual mode / set up over shoot +-
If you have it select TC type
Set temperature

 

[Fisherman]

This will help on PID controlling for the Auber units [SYL-2353]

http://ssprockets.com/glass/auberprogramming notes.pdf

 

[Fisherman]

Ok. I got a basic understanding on the PID temp controller

I have set up the following ramp schedule:

STEP	CO= SET POINT	T= MINUTES	HOURS
1	90	60	1
2	91	120	2
3	95	240	4
4	98	480	8
5	99	480	8
6	100	480	8
7	100	480	8
8	101	480	8
9	110	240	4
10	115	240	4
11	120	240	4
12	120	480	8
13	120	480	8
14	135	480	8
15	135	960	16
16	149	960	16
17	149	480	8
18	165	480	8
19	165	480	8
20	165	0	0

This gives me the sought after and reccomended hours for curing. I havent really looked if the right hours are devoted to each phase tho so this chart is for sure not complete and will be changed. I am going to watch the soak phases to make sure they are set up and the PID doesn't skip them............

Submitting it now just shows that my PID is working as it is told finally.

ALSO I have the new humidifier element installed. It is working somewhat slower than I had thought and makes me rethink just how hard that lil crock pot is actually working !

It brought humidity from 55% to 78% in 20 minutes.

Is taking longer than I am thinking as I can actually see the water vapor rising as compared to the hot plate.

I am thinking that I may have to tape up the holes in my air flow plate so that more air comes to the bottom to carry it upwards. Is possible that it is now being held down somewhat away from sensor.

I think the ultrasonic humidifier is a good idea tho especially in my case where hot plate caused to much temp to get to the desired RH for yellowing.

Also my little fan may be inadaquate for good circulation tho it seems to spread heat good without any leaves in it so far.

 

[Fisherman]

Has been an hour and humidity has not climbed past 83%

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/molecular-mass-air-d_679.html

states that dry air is more dense thus more heavy than moist air so my thought on the holes in difusser plate causing a suppression in the rise of the humid air to the sensors might be accurate.

Will ducktape them up and see what happens. Also added PID probe and controller . Neither manual or PID sensors have been calibrated or checked for accuracy. Also need to rig up the Amax wet bulb system and check. I will bet the Amax ones are most accurate.

 

[Fisherman]

Ok ............. I taped the holes in the difusser plate and will see if the probes will get past their previous tops of 83% and 80%.....

 

[AmaxB]

Mr Fisherman you go as you wish but honestly you can keep it simple.
I am not using my ramp or PC control, my pid is doing nothing more than controlling heat box. I am using the PID in manual mode.
You are going to get your ramps and all that set only to find that your tobacco is not going to work with you. It will all change with each load.
Your PID will say OK it has been 2 hours time to bump it up and do that but the tobacco was ready an hour ago or may need 4 hours more at
that temperature. The chamber will take time just to reach the set point temp.

It is better to use the wet/dry bulb and raise temp as needed by the look of the tobacco and bulb readings. This is why I have posted 2 - 3 times that
A PID with ramping is not needed.

You will not need to add humidity until you have finished stem drying, than you will need it to bring the leaves to order.
You are going to find that when loaded with tobacco the chamber will be a different animal.

I know it would be grand to set the controls and walk away. I want that (it would be a big Oh Yeah) but after running 4 loads I am seeing that unless,
all is the same every time you must be hands on to a degree...

 

[Fisherman]

You will not need to add humidity until you have finished stem drying, than you will need it to bring the leaves to order.
You are going to find that when loaded with tobacco the chamber will be a different animal.

I know it would be grand to set the controls and walk away. I want that (it would be a big Oh Yeah) but after running 4 loads I am seeing that unless,
all is the same every time you must be hands on to a degree...

Thanks, Is good to know that about when to add humidity. I was thinking that early on in yellowing cycle that there would be added humidity from leaves. I haven't added a vent yet but will asap.
Yes you don't need the PID as a simple thermostat would suffice. But in my case where I may not get home but a few minutes every 12 hours or so , it will come in handy.

Also in my understanding and research of my PID unit. finding how to manually step to another step was a great find. All I have to do is call up next step or change temps on that paticular one. The code for hold seems to be to set the "t" code to "0".
For those who wanted to have only 3 or 4 steps they could set them up and use the hold code also.

Taping the air holes added 5% to readout almost instant as well. Tho the electrical tape i used almost immediately went to chit
I also lowered fan blade a little as it was creating back pressure and blowing out a little thru intake area.

 

[Fisherman]

Next step will be to make 5 gallon outside fog generator:



Meanwhile using a larger pan which also is shallower allowing generated fog to spread out raised RH to 85-88%.

This setup will introduce cool air to system but I think will not effect anything for sure during yellowing phase and wont matter later as I will add the hot plate to inside after unit is ramped for late leaf drying and stem drying as unit struggles to hold over 145 deg F when empty. The hot plate should make the last leg of ramp easier.

Can also add pot on hot plate as well.
Will see when time comes

 

[Fisherman]

Ok... Have unit roughed in and will give results in a few minutes.

Here is video of the output from the 3 head mister and small computor fans attached and 2" pvc pipe:

In less than 10 minutes RH went to 85-87%

You can see mist all the way to the top of unit. I can't figure why the RH isnt 100% yet tho???????????????????

Ok. humidity supply problem solved.

Now on to tobacco hanging rack dealy thingie.

 

[Knucklehead]

Will this be a multi use chamber, flue curing and kilning? Are the misters for kilning?

 

[Fisherman]

Stepped up unit for a few minutes to see what RH will be at 115 deg F.

Video above did not load or process. Here is new link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iovjh8SIfw&feature=youtu.be

Fog dissappeared that was visible at 100 deg F..............................

RH fell to 70% on PID and 84% on manual on bottom. I think I need to cut another opening in back wall behind diffuser plate to relieve back pressure I seem to have now at air intake going to heater.

.Made larger holes behind difuser plate and RH went to 77% and 79% RH.

 

[Fisherman]

Will this be a multi use chamber, flue curing and kilning? Are the misters for kilning?

Set up like it is it can be used for curing or kilning as it is all outside of unit and not subject to heat from unit.

My unit has a top temp of 149 or so but would be easy to add a different lelment or in this case add the hot plate which can supplement the RH and the heat to get unit comfortably to 165 tho I dont think I will take it that far .

 

[DGBAMA]

Stepped up unit for a few minutes to see what RH will be at 115 deg F.

Video above did not load or process. Here is new link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iovjh8SIfw&feature=youtu.be


.Made larger holes behind difuser plate and RH went to 77% and 79% RH


Fog dissappeared that was visible at 100 deg F..............................

RH fell to 70% on PID and 84% on manual on bottom. I think I need to cut another opening in back wall behind diffuser plate to relieve back pressure I seem to have now at air intake going to heater..

I added a "downdraft chimney" to my box. Back wall with air intake at the top and PC fan at the bottom. It "sucks" the hot/humid air at the top of the chamber and moves it to the bottom. Stabilized my temps a lot and no more random drying leaves in the corners.

 

[Fisherman]

That is how my air flow is also but it picks up the humidity at the bottom as well. Dam I can not figure how to wire in the dam controller now. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

By top above I meant that is top temp it will go. Normal operating temps from top to bottom are pretty close/

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110V-Digita...772?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4174b6b364

 

[Fisherman]

Ok the dam thing has leaves in it and is holding 100 deg F and 92% humidity.....................

Found how to wire my controller:



Info was in a site that cures meat

WIll fix in the morning and see if the leaf I have in there is ready to dry. It was almost all yellow already.

 

[Fisherman]

Ok the dam thing has leaves in it and is holding 100 deg F and 92% humidity.....................

Found how to wire my controller:

View attachment 7663

Info was in a site that cures meat

WIll fix in the morning and see if the leaf I have in there is ready to dry. It was almost all yellow already.

The following paragraph details instructions for setting the WH8040, you can skip this unless you are actively setting the device right now: Press and hold the SET key for 3 seconds to enter the setting mode. The first value is HC, which tells the unit whether to dehumidify, or humidify. Press the SET key again, and use the up or down arrows to set this value to H (humidify). Then press the SET key again to save the value and return to SET mode. Press the UP key to move to the next value, D, which is “Hysteresis.” Leave this at its default setting. Press the UP key again to move to the next value, LS, which is the lowest humidity range you want to keep. Press the SET button and adjust this setting to 55%, or whatever the lowest humidity is acceptable for you. Then press the SET button again. Use the UP arrow to move to the next value, HS, which is the maximum humidity. Click SET and use the arrows to set this limit to 65%. The remaining settings can be left at their defaults unless you need to modify them later. CA is humidity calibration…if your unit isn’t measuring the humidity correctly, you can override the settings by plus or minus 5%. PT is the delay time between turning your humidifier on and off, and the default is set at 1 minute. Press the RST key to leave the set mode

 

[AmaxB]

This is very interesting what you are doing...
No sensor?
I've got an Altech that wires up like that but mine is meant to work with an SSR

 

[Fisherman]

PID has humidity and temp sensor but they were easy to figure where to add so I guess the maker of the chart didn't add them.

Unit is working fine so far with no vent.
Leaf is yellowing but is mixed string of a few varieties and stages of yellow. Includes some recent broke off leafs from wind.
Ramping good too but somewhere between 115 and 200 deg. , it lost 15% humidity. Which puts it pretty much on track but makes me wonder will it work at the end temps????
Does'nt matter as I am going to add hot plate anyway to boost temps and take strain off the unit's element.

 

[Fisherman]

went to 127 deg F and humidity topped out at 49%

I think the ultrasonic unit was matched perfectly for my unit

Will see if it can maintain till unit tops out then will add hot plate and pan of water if not.

May not need a vent after all. But will need drain on floor early on tho. Had a little puddling until 110 deg.

 

[Fisherman]

Quote correction from above:
Ramping good too but somewhere between 115 and 200 deg. , it lost 15% humidity.

SHOULD READ:
Ramping good too but somewhere between 115 and 120 deg. , it lost 15% humidity.
=======================================================

Well at 140 deg F I had to add hotplate. I did not add water pan to it to see what my 3 head mister could handle. At 136 deg F the mister could only muster 23% and at 146 deg F it could only produce 19%.

Will see what happens tommorow when temps ramp higher. I have on 2 deg per hour ramp into stem drying. I am wondering what would happen if I stopped process at 150 deg F instead of going to 165?????

Instead of hot plate and fear of exposed wire in unit at hot temps. I may add stove element or dryer element in back wall where air is directed down thru and add another 3 head mister.

Meanwhile the leaf I have in there is drying in the stem tho color is not all that good. Some are gold some brown and a few green. Was to be expected tho as they were a mixed batch of picked and broken accident leaves anyway.

Cant smell anything unless I open the door tho.