Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
Tossing a few mudlugs rather than sacrifice good leaf into the kiln to experiment and get an idea how leaf reacts to the heat and humidity .
Smokin Harley Kiln leaf curing
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Smokin Harley
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color cured and dry.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
http://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00611...RR36224H&dpSrc=sims&dpST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_
Anyone have this ?? Wondering if that hanging fob looking sensor part of it would be able to handle the constant 125*F ...
Anyone have this ?? Wondering if that hanging fob looking sensor part of it would be able to handle the constant 125*F ...
For model number 00611A3:
Temperature Range: -40 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit; -40 to 70 degrees Celsius
http://www.acurite.com/replacement-sensor-609txc.html
Bob
Temperature Range: -40 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit; -40 to 70 degrees Celsius
http://www.acurite.com/replacement-sensor-609txc.html
Bob
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
Doing a little experiment this morning, probably take a couple days to see the results...
This morning (3 weeks since I started the first kiln batch) I checked the kiln (crockpot) for water , empty. I am trying to better control the moisture/humidity so I found an all metal coffee can ( Chock Full o Nuts,yellow can, great coffee when you can find it) and it fits perfectly in the crockpot with a 1/2 inch gap around the sides.
What I'm thinking is like an indirect type of situation, the heat is below the water ,maybe I can have my heat level stay constant but have less of the humidity I had so it is just enough to keep the kiln less humid than if the water was in direct contact with the crockpot.
My other experiment if this doesn't work will be just to keep the crockpot on and maintain the 125*F empty and place the coffee can of water on the wire shelf above the crockpot and just let natural evaporation take care of the humidity .
This morning (3 weeks since I started the first kiln batch) I checked the kiln (crockpot) for water , empty. I am trying to better control the moisture/humidity so I found an all metal coffee can ( Chock Full o Nuts,yellow can, great coffee when you can find it) and it fits perfectly in the crockpot with a 1/2 inch gap around the sides.
What I'm thinking is like an indirect type of situation, the heat is below the water ,maybe I can have my heat level stay constant but have less of the humidity I had so it is just enough to keep the kiln less humid than if the water was in direct contact with the crockpot.
My other experiment if this doesn't work will be just to keep the crockpot on and maintain the 125*F empty and place the coffee can of water on the wire shelf above the crockpot and just let natural evaporation take care of the humidity .
What has your humidity been running? How many days will the filled crock pot run before becoming empty?
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
well, since I have no gauge to look at (still looking for one) ,I don't know but I do know when I have opened it up its been a sauna in there .Its been about a 4 day refill schedule. I probably went a day or maybe two over when I should have refilled it. Kinda got busy with the anniversary . I'm thinking that with this method , I wont need to shut off the crockpot and just fill the vessel ,close the kiln and get back to it.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
Checked the kiln leaf just now. I think my experiment is doing just fine... at 22 hours since I started , the kiln came up to and maintained temps much quicker than with water directly in the crockpot ,even when the water had been preheated . The humidity isn't nearly as much as direct crockpot water heating. BUT, when I pulled a couple wired loops worth of Vuelta out to flatten the leaf , it was in about medium low case. not a bit soggy or moist, but very pliable. Almost perfect for wrapper application .
Water in the can is only about half to 2/3 quarts down from full. So , the water use appears less and probably about close(closer anyway) to optimal.
Will report back about same time tomorrow .
I think if this continues as is, I can rehydrate the color cured dry leaf ,flatten , stack neatly and bag to kiln long term.
Water in the can is only about half to 2/3 quarts down from full. So , the water use appears less and probably about close(closer anyway) to optimal.
Will report back about same time tomorrow .
I think if this continues as is, I can rehydrate the color cured dry leaf ,flatten , stack neatly and bag to kiln long term.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
The coffee can of water inside the crockpot idea seems to be working very well. Without a gauge, I think it has just enough humidity to do the job.
Only I think I may do something slightly different...Add sand to the bottom of the crockpot and then the can of water then add more sand around the can...like an insulation jacket.
I just had this idea yesterday ...I think the sand will act somewhat as insulation/ heat sink or buffering agent so the heat to the can of water is more even and the temperature swings aren't or shouldnt be so dramatic.
Only I think I may do something slightly different...Add sand to the bottom of the crockpot and then the can of water then add more sand around the can...like an insulation jacket.
I just had this idea yesterday ...I think the sand will act somewhat as insulation/ heat sink or buffering agent so the heat to the can of water is more even and the temperature swings aren't or shouldnt be so dramatic.
That sounds interesting. Necessity is the mother of invention. I'm curious to know how that works.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
I peeked at my last wire string of Little Dutch that I color cured in the kiln, nice and brown and the water had run out sometime yesterday so the stems were also dry and brittle. Time to do my sand jacket experiment, refill the can with water ,put the lid on the can , load up the kiln with a lot of leaf and reset the temperature to hold at 125*F. I didn't stack, just hung the wires up so they are stretched out width wise inside .
Mostly Little Dutch , Black Mammoth ,VA Gold and a couple small wires of Pa Red to fill up available space. I'll check it Saturday morning for rehydration and maybe bundle/sort the workable leaf into smoothed organized hands and rehang for the duration. Counting down one month and see how it looks ,smells, etc.
Checked the barn leaf and most is color cured , just waiting on a handful of leaf that is still a bit yellow side of green . Some stems of the late harvest are still plump so they can hang until the kiln is available for another load. Color cured leaf is low case ,medium to dark brown,leathery and pliable. Nose checked the Dutch VA Gold and Pa Red ....
Barn smells great and temp/rH this morning is a perfect 70*/70%.
Mostly Little Dutch , Black Mammoth ,VA Gold and a couple small wires of Pa Red to fill up available space. I'll check it Saturday morning for rehydration and maybe bundle/sort the workable leaf into smoothed organized hands and rehang for the duration. Counting down one month and see how it looks ,smells, etc.
Checked the barn leaf and most is color cured , just waiting on a handful of leaf that is still a bit yellow side of green . Some stems of the late harvest are still plump so they can hang until the kiln is available for another load. Color cured leaf is low case ,medium to dark brown,leathery and pliable. Nose checked the Dutch VA Gold and Pa Red ....
Barn smells great and temp/rH this morning is a perfect 70*/70%.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
The crockpot sand bottom and water can liner sand "jacket" experiment is going very well. Its been in since noon on the 24th (72 hours ago). I checked the kiln briefly an hour ago.
Temp is toggling a tight 123-127*F range. Humidity must be near optimal (still no gauge of any kind but still searching) because the leaf is in what I would call medium case , no visual moisture but very loose and workable. Leaf is hanging from the wire shelving on their drying wires.
I think my addition of the sand "jacket" added the heat sink properties I was aiming for. I think it adds the insulative and buffering qualities as well as keeps the temperature level much more stabile .
I lost a computer fan in there, so I'm down to 3 working . Next load I will add another one or two and may go to fans constant on as well.
Temp is toggling a tight 123-127*F range. Humidity must be near optimal (still no gauge of any kind but still searching) because the leaf is in what I would call medium case , no visual moisture but very loose and workable. Leaf is hanging from the wire shelving on their drying wires.
I think my addition of the sand "jacket" added the heat sink properties I was aiming for. I think it adds the insulative and buffering qualities as well as keeps the temperature level much more stabile .
I lost a computer fan in there, so I'm down to 3 working . Next load I will add another one or two and may go to fans constant on as well.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
Oct 1st. The kiln load has been rolling along nicely since Sept 24th,only opened it on 26th for a few minutes to make sure no mold was growing. I just checked in on it a few minutes ago . The water had been gone enough to allow the leaf to dry crisp , so I refilled the can to the top. I'll have to check it a few days earlier. Maybe a 5 or 6 day check-in instead of 7.
But, the aroma of the leaf after one week with the sand jacketed can inside the crock going has definitely changed. Its not grassy at all like the first batch that had a widely fluctuating temp and humidity. I think I'm onto something here. Will check back and report on the next water refill.
1 week down ,3 to go.
But, the aroma of the leaf after one week with the sand jacketed can inside the crock going has definitely changed. Its not grassy at all like the first batch that had a widely fluctuating temp and humidity. I think I'm onto something here. Will check back and report on the next water refill.
1 week down ,3 to go.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
Can someone help me figure out whats going on with my kiln....two days ago it was doing fine when I refilled the water can and closed it up. This morning when I got home from work the controller readout was reading much lower than it had been ...like 20 degrees lower. I haven't touched a thing setting-wise. Its having hard time recovering to return to the operating range. I'm wondering with all the constant humidity on the switch if my crockpot is going out already.
Your setup is quite different from any other kiln I'm aware of. The always dry ceramic pot may be creating issues with the thermal sensor within the Crockpot. You don't really know how hot that thing gets, before the controller switches off the current.
I have run a Crockpot inside a kiln for 3+ years, without it ever being unplugged. The plastic parts (like the cord) do become brittle. Although I'm sure the switches in them are cheap, I haven't experienced problems with them.
Bob
I have run a Crockpot inside a kiln for 3+ years, without it ever being unplugged. The plastic parts (like the cord) do become brittle. Although I'm sure the switches in them are cheap, I haven't experienced problems with them.
Bob
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
hmm, interesting view of it but you've been doing this way more times than me. The sand jacket (dry crock liner) with the water can inside was rolling along for a few days without issue (perfectly is more like it),so I'm not sure how the crockpots sensor "knows" if it is dry or wet since it was still full of sand which acts as a heat sink mass and the thermocouple probe of the digital controller (as I see it anyway)hanging 2 ft over it, over-rides the crockpots sensor for on/off. But, I'm spitballing here.
Just for shits and giggles I went to my favorite thrift store earlier and found a 6 quart, 275 watt crockpot ($12) to replace the 3 quart 200 watt crockpot in question. I spread sand on the bottom ,placed the water can again and put more sand around it to the top of the crock rim. Same amount of water, twice the heat sink mass. I put the new crockpot on high just to make sure the temp gets where it needs to be and rule out the digital controller doing or not doing its thing.
I also shoved the leaf aside that was already in the kiln for 2 weeks (which looks awesome,nice color) and made room for more leaf, this time I loaded up some crispy Vuelta Abajo . About the time the can is ready for water, that leaf should get the right amount of case ,I will move that aside and load it up some more. In 2 or 3 weeks I hope to remove the leaf that should be finished and rotate in a new batch. I'll be kilning all the way until Christmas the way I'm going. Since I've been working nights , this is the opportune time to set it and forget it.
Just for shits and giggles I went to my favorite thrift store earlier and found a 6 quart, 275 watt crockpot ($12) to replace the 3 quart 200 watt crockpot in question. I spread sand on the bottom ,placed the water can again and put more sand around it to the top of the crock rim. Same amount of water, twice the heat sink mass. I put the new crockpot on high just to make sure the temp gets where it needs to be and rule out the digital controller doing or not doing its thing.
I also shoved the leaf aside that was already in the kiln for 2 weeks (which looks awesome,nice color) and made room for more leaf, this time I loaded up some crispy Vuelta Abajo . About the time the can is ready for water, that leaf should get the right amount of case ,I will move that aside and load it up some more. In 2 or 3 weeks I hope to remove the leaf that should be finished and rotate in a new batch. I'll be kilning all the way until Christmas the way I'm going. Since I've been working nights , this is the opportune time to set it and forget it.
AmaxB
Well-Known Member
Interesting thread I'm going to bookmark it and tag along. How's that sand crock doing now?
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
AmaxB, I've had it going since I got home an hour ago and put it all in service. Now, I think its not the crockpot but something to do with the digital controller, since it shuts off at a lower temp. I've been fiddling with it and the power light shows it is in heat mode but I'm watching the temp hoping it gets back up to optimal range. It keeps shutting the heat (light) off around 102*F . Not sure whats going on . The directions aren't exactly written correctly ,I think it has some really bad Chinese to English translation as well. Some of the wording makes little sense but I'm trying to decipher it.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
I must have done something ...its up to 113 and still heating...sure wish I knew what I did .
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