Brand New Damper Design - "The Micro Damper"


 
Yeah you had it printed in that fancy metal based filament through Shapeways. Not sure what the printing temperature of that stuff would be. But typical 3D printing plastic is printed around 200 degrees Celsius and for the most part I think these plastics will start distorting around 140 degrees Celsius? I remember Bryan had done some testing on 3D printed cases he had done in black and tested them in the sunlight late last summer. I'd try searching for it now but I'm posting from my phone...not the easiest to do that type of work on.
 
SteveCK said:
Yeah you had it printed in that fancy metal based filament through Shapeways. Not sure what the printing temperature of that stuff would be. But typical 3D printing plastic is printed around 200 degrees Celsius and for the most part I think these plastics will start distorting around 140 degrees Celsius? I remember Bryan had done some testing on 3D printed cases he had done in black and tested them in the sunlight late last summer. I'd try searching for it now but I'm posting from my phone...not the easiest to do that type of work on.
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Right, I realize that regular plastic is a lower melt point. I was more confirming your "It's probably lower than 200" statement.

I looked up the datasheet of Alumide. "Melting point EN ISO 11357-1 172 – 180 °C " So I dunno. Maybe slightly more stable than PLA and ABS and whatever? Alumide is actually just a mix of polyamide powder and fine aluminum particles.
 
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SteveCK said:
There are quite a few MicroDampers in the UK, hopefully someone will chime in because I've never been asked about this - I've always assumed people have been able to source it somewhere because nobody has ever asked. If you want I can send you some parts to get it done, shoot me an email
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Very kind of you thanks, but I'll see if I can find a way without troubling you. How do people normally go about mounting the universal version? What diameter is the opening on that? Perhaps I can epoxy some tubing into that and put a connector on the end.
 
PeteW said:
Very kind of you thanks, but I'll see if I can find a way without troubling you. How do people normally go about mounting the universal version? What diameter is the opening on that? Perhaps I can epoxy some tubing into that and put a connector on the end.
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It's not too much trouble if you want me to help out. As far as the "universal" version. You tell me what you can get, and you tell me the diameter you need. It takes very little effort on my part to change that part of the model, so perhaps that'd be the best way to procede. How about you shoot me an email and we can collaborate on what will work for you. email: microdamper@gmail.com
 
As a FYI to everyone. I am going to be out of town for work for a few days, with that said I'm going to be shutting down the shop while I'm away. I'll post back up when it's available again. I apologize for any inconvenience but my job takes me away from home occasionally.
 
Wondering if you guys have any suggestions for dialing in the settings for my Pit Barrel Cooker with the Microdamper and the HeaterMeter 4.3. I'm using the recommended SG90 servo and Delta EFB0412VHD fan. Connected to the PBC with 1" black pipe and stainless steel locknuts. Painted exterior with high heat spray paint for aesthetics.

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I'm testing it out with the cooker empty (rods are in, but no food or anything). Temperature started out pretty stable, but then started oscillating. About 12:30 I discovered I was still running the default PID settings, so I entered the UDS settings I've seen here (7, .01, 4), but doesn't seem to have helped much. The dropout around 1:15pm was the web page reporting the serial connection had dropped and I power cycled the controller.

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Any thoughts? I could live with the oscillation I suppose (this is way better than I could ever achieve manually), but seems like I should be able to dial this out.
 
Im not an expert when it comes to PID tuning, but you definitely need less P. My settings are as follows for a damper only, no fan design on a PBC.

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I find the PBC runs very well with no fan required. I can usually hold +/- 2*F when I have my wind shield around it. (Just 4 pieces of plywood in a square, with another on top)

Since the microdamper is a little different, and you're using a dan you may need to tweak some. But this should be a better starting point I think. the UDS settings recommended I think are for 55gallon drums, and the PBC is a 30.

Good luck!
 
Thanks, those settings worked perfectly! Did a 7 hour cook with some spare ribs and a pork roast. Temperature stayed flat and it recovered well from opening the lid.
 
Anyone else have issues getting servo numbers correct? Mine seems to spin in full 360's no matter how close I have the two numbers? I was working on a cook this weekend and couldn't get the damper to function correctly.
 
Hey Steve, would you be able to upload a 3/4 threaded version? I can modify the .stl if I have to but I figure if you have the model you could do it pretty quick. Thanks in advance!
 
Sorry I haven't been around much guys! I've been crazy crazy busy with work - in and out of town constantly - the free time I did have I spent with my wife which was fairly minimum. Work is now dying down and I should be at home for the foreseeable future which means I will be printing MicroDampers again. Hopefully nothing on my printer breaks and everything goes well for a while! Stay tuned to http://www.microdamper.com since I should have things up for sale in the next couple days. For those who have emailed me directly inquiring about a timeline when I'll be printing again, I apologize because I really thought I'd be back to it much much sooner!
 
Steve,

Was having issues with the fan being too close the servo base. The wires kept falling down into the fan blades.....even when I taped them back. Just a bit tight in there. So I took your STL file and put it thru meshmixer and stretched it vertically. Now there is plenty of room for the wires to move around and it doesn't seem to affect the performance so far. Anyway....thought I might share with everyone. I put it as a remix attached to your MicroDamper Model on Thingiverse.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2517228

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Appreciate the MicroDamper.....is working fantastic with my ESP8266 Akorn Controller....!!
 
Hi Steve,

Trying to decide which damper design to go with. I really like your Micro Damper but I have a question about the CFMs you get using the recommended fan. I have the 18" WSM and currently have the dog bowl with a 6.3 CFM blower hooked up. Sometimes I like to crank the temp up for some quick roasted Buffalo wings and like to get the cooker up to around 400 degrees but it is hard with the blower I currently have. Wich fan would you rcommend paired with the Micro Damper that will allow me to get around 400 when needed?

Thanks,
Troy
 
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I have tried to make one of these a few times, tight, OMG, so tight... but once i get it all wired up, it works, ish, but the HM just flashes, blinks, goes nuts, the microdamper turns on, fan blows, servo moves, but the HM is ****ed, any ideas?
 
JHalasz said:
I have tried to make one of these a few times, tight, OMG, so tight... but once i get it all wired up, it works, ish, but the HM just flashes, blinks, goes nuts, the microdamper turns on, fan blows, servo moves, but the HM is ****ed, any ideas?
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sounds like a short in the md wiring. does it happen if you remove the Ethernet cable from the hm?
 
Either that or the servo is jammed up and takes so much 5V power turn the damper that it browns out the HeaterMeater / Pi. Try it without the top damper disc (just the servo gear sticking up) on and see if you get the same thing. If you do, then you almost certainly have a fault in your wiring. If it works without the disc then it needs too much torque to turn and is killing the power.
 
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