Help with fitting HeaterMeter to a Large Big Green Egg


 
J

JeffLa

TVWBB Member
I am a Large BGE owner and I am the process of taking the plunge on HeaterMeter. I ordered the 4.3 kit with Thermocouple and fan from the HeaterMeter store. I ordered a WIFI adapter from the recommended list and will soon order the Maverick temperature probes (even though the reviews aren't great). I have a 3D printer so I will print the case from source files.

The one aspect of the design I am still unsure about is the connection to a fan that goes into the BGE bottom vent. I was assuming there would be some standard adapter for the fan that fits nicely into that port, but I have not found one yet. while reading posts I see info about Dampers and fans that blow air in vs fans that pull air out etc. but I'm not even sue if that is the right name for the what I am looking for.

Can someone help me to understand what I need to get or print in order to connect the blower to the BGE and close the loop?

Thanks,

Jeff
 
Thanks for the help! I will order it. Can you elaborate on the Fan/Damper game comment? what is a damper Is is a way of controlling to exhaust side of the Egg?

Jeff

Phillip P said:
If you want to go the super-easy route, get a BBQ Guru adapter and Pit Viper (on sale now) for your grill here:

https://bbqguru.com/storenav?CategoryId=2

You are probably going to want to get into the fan / damper game at some point and most of the *Damper projects on here have variants that fit that adapter.
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JeffLa said:
Thanks for the help! I will order it. Can you elaborate on the Fan/Damper game comment? what is a damper Is is a way of controlling to exhaust side of the Egg?

Jeff
Click to expand...

Sure.

When Bryan started the project, it was fan-only. A little while later, I believe it was Ralph Trimble who started down the dark path, some folks started thinking about controlling the intake air with a servo-controlled damper for a slightly more "natural" airflow. Just having the Heatermeter open and close a intake-air valve. Then the two ideas were merged to become one unit. The basic idea is that you use the fan whenever you want to, you can use the damper whenever you want to, or you can use them together.

My use of them are: using the fan to get the cooker to temp, let the damper-only take over controlling the pit and the fan only comes on again when the temperature dips below a certain threshold.

There are a few branches to the damper tree, but the major players you will frequently find discussed (and stickied) are:

RotoDamper
Adapt-a-Damper
MicroDamper

Most of them trace their lineage to Ralph's design in some form, but that can get very politically charged around here pretty quickly. I have used all three and they all work great.

I should have mentioned in the previous post that you will have to modify a CAT5 cable to work with the PitViper. Or, if you have a CAT crimper, cut off the end of the PitViper and crimp a new end on in the appropriate slots.
 
Jeff,

As long as you have a 3D printer, I would highly recommend going with the damper/fan route to begin with. You'll find there are plenty of advantages to this versus just running a fan, especially on a Kamado style grill such as the BGE.

I run mine in damper only once it gets up to temp with the fan, then have the fan only when required if the damper can't keep up. It runs very well this way, as it operates the smoker with natural draft, the way they're designed to run. The fan is more useful with smokers that aren't as efficient as insulated smokers.

As Philip mentioned, any of the above mentioned fan/damper designs he listed will do the job.

There are other designs on the forum as well, to include two designs by Tom Kole (Barrel Servo and Offset Rotary) and a flat damper design.

Good luck
 
Hey guys - Great information! I understand the concept now. Is there already software available to manage the Fan/damper combination or is it somehow managed independently by the Damper design? I do have a CAT5 tool so I can make a custom cable as needed. Just need the wiring picture. Thanks very much for the info and pointers. Everything is on order now; just a bunch of work to be done to get it all assembled. I'm an Electrical engineer, but my soldering skills are about 25 years stale. Should be fun and frustrating.

Jeff
 
JeffLa said:
Hey guys - Great information! I understand the concept now. Is there already software available to manage the Fan/damper combination or is it somehow managed independently by the Damper design? I do have a CAT5 tool so I can make a custom cable as needed. Just need the wiring picture. Thanks very much for the info and pointers. Everything is on order now; just a bunch of work to be done to get it all assembled. I'm an Electrical engineer, but my soldering skills are about 25 years stale. Should be fun and frustrating.

Jeff
Click to expand...

The settings, both fan and damper, are all well managed within the Heatermeter Configuration, which makes it quite simple to alter settings on the fly. I believe it's the only controller in existence that has the ability to control a fan AND damper. You will not be disappointed.
 
I have a Kamado Big Joe and I had a vent door fabricated to hook my RD3 blower up to it. The blower can be easily slipped on and off so I can switch it between my WSM and the Kamado. I have a copper cap to close it off when not using the blower.

blower5.jpg


blower6.jpg
 
I also use a RD3 on a ceramic kamado style grill. I have mine setup to start with the damper fully closed at 0 and slowly ramp up until the damper is fully open around 90%. From 90% to 100%, the Heatermeter will turn on the fan and ramp up the fan speed.

A ceramic grill is too efficient to work well with just the fan at lower temps. Even with the fan off, too much air leaks by. The servo controlled damper can really lock down the air flow to hold steady temps at 200 degrees or below all the way up to over 400. When trying to ramp up fast or run super hot the fan helps force more air in to stoke the fire.

The one minor issue is that you still need to get the top damper in the right ballpark for it to work it's best. If I want to run at 225, the top damper is closed down. If I want to run at 450, it needs to be opened more.
 
Thanks guys for all your information. It is very helpful. I was away for 2 weeks for work, so this weekend I built the PCBs. I am reading up to figure out next steps. I have a ways to go still. Haven't applied power yet and I'm still trying to figure out how to fit the boards into the case :). I did purchase the pit viper from BBQ Guru, so I'm starting off with no damper, but I will get there for sure. I have basic questions about next steps so I will start a separate thread.

Jeff
 
Nathan FA said:
I have a Kamado Big Joe and I had a vent door fabricated to hook my RD3 blower up to it. The blower can be easily slipped on and off so I can switch it between my WSM and the Kamado. I have a copper cap to close it off when not using the blower.
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Did you use your original part or did you have one made? looks nice and I will probably want to go with one exactly the same... where can I get one like it?
 
James Ryan said:
Did you use your original part or did you have one made? looks nice and I will probably want to go with one exactly the same... where can I get one like it?
Click to expand...

I had it made, they could have simply used the original part and it might have been a bit cheaper but I figured I might want to have the original just in case.

I just searched google for a metal fabricator in my area and called around until I found someone who could do it. The company I used was En-Hanced in Westerville, Ohio. It was not real cheap, I think I paid a bit over 100 bucks. I don't remember the exact price. I don't think materials cost all that much I basically paid for their time.
 
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