Brand New Damper Design - "The Micro Damper"


 
Phillip P said:
What do your fan and servo settings look like?
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Servo full open at 100%, min fan 5%, max fan 60%. The fan settings are fairly loose, I accidentally left it on max fan 100% and it still gave a good cook (just not a picturesque graph).
 
Click here for the mouser female jack. The male jacks you can source from ebay, mouser doesn't even carry them. Be sure to get one that looks like the photo in the first post. Try searching ebay with terms: trrs solder
 
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Just a bit of unsolicited feedback on the microdamper for anyone who cares. I've owned it for about 3 months and I've done approximately 6 cooks with it. It is my first HeaterMeter and my only use of temperature control on my smoker, other than sitting next to my 18"WSM and drinking beer while monitoring the temps and moving the vents. I attached the microdamper with a 1" stainless coupling, threading it directly into a hole drilled in the WSM near one of the vents.

I have been seriously impressed with the HM in general and specifically the microdamper. On my setup, I have the damper set as 100% open at 1%, fan on at 1% and fan max at 50%. The PID settings are stock.

I've done short cooks (4+ hours) for baby backs, and 15 hour longer cooks, and the graph is rock steady within 3 degrees either way. When I open the pit to check temps or to spray with apple juice, the pit recovers quickly and accurately. Without temp control, I used to get wild swings when I would open the pit and start spraying every 30 minutes. I really enjoy my smoker these days and am trying to find every excuse to cook on it. The only downside is that using the HeaterMeter feels a bit like cheating because it is so easy now to control temps and make great food.

I couldn't be happier with the setup. YMMV.
 
Mark, I'm glad youre happy with the HeaterMeter and the MicroDamper! Yes it is a bit like cheating, I have that problem as well! I plan on solving that problem soon with either building or buying a stick burner. No cheating with those pits. Enjoy your delicious bbq!

Edit: do you mind sharing your pid settings for other users?
 
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Drill a hole using a step drill bit. On thin metal like that cooker or a UDS there is a "magical" spot where a 1" NPT pipe nipple will thread right on. The MicroDamper has a 1" NPT thread, so then just screw it right on.
 
Steve, Perhaps I should have clarified. I was planning on using 1" NPT, just wasn't sure where the best place to drill would be? I was thinking bottom center. Trying to avoid blowing ash into the cooking chamber. The cooker has a drilled tuning damper installed in the cooking chamber, guessing that will help minimize the amount of ash making it to the food?
 
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Gotchya. Yeah, I'm not intimately familiar with that pit. Sounds like you've already got an idea of where to put it. Obviously you want to minimize blowing ash into the cooking chamber, like you said though.
 
Mitch, i dont have the microdamper (yet), but I'm currently using a 1-1/2" x close nipple attached to a dog bowl with electrical locoknuts, to which i connect pvc. Then duct tape the stock HM blower which is attached to a cardboard flap valve. When i build the microdamper, I'm just going to do 1-1/2" x close nipple to 1-1/2" x 1" reducer coupling and attach to that.

Dogbowl is attached to firebox with 3 sheet metal screws with high temp RTV as a gasket. The right size dog bowl will fit iver the inlet daisy damper.

would love to hear about your performance on the chargriller.
 
Any pictures of how you mounted it to the green egg ?

D


KennyDado said:
I finally cobbled together a HM on the breadboard with a Micro Damper and fired up the cooker last night to test the whole thing out.

* Micro Damper servo only, fan not even installed
* On a Large Big Green Egg, top damper slider closed all the way and the daisy wheel all the way open
* Attached to the BGE with a 1" npt nipple -> 1" npt 45deg fitting -> 1" npt nipple -> Micro Damper
* P, I, D = 4, 0.003, 5 per SteveCK's own settings
* Fan off, blower from 0% to 100%

It works great!

I ran the grill for about 4 hours, started at 225F, stepped to 275F for a short time, stepped back down to 250 for the rest of the test (my smoking temp range). It performed well, responding to step changes very quickly and stabilizing quickly, with negligible overshoot in either direction. (I'm not particularly picker about overshoot or oscillation as long as I'm +-10F of setpoint... I stayed within +- a few degrees most of the time)

So for the purpose of using it as damper only control, for low & slow cooks, on a ~18" komado style grill, it looks like this Micro Damper will work great!

I still need to test how hot of a cook I can maintain with this little guy without a fan.

I'm smoking a brisket tomorrow evening, I'll report how it did on an actual cook. Maybe I'll remember to screenshot the graph too.

Thanks again, SteveCK, for the Micro Damper. And Bryan and everyone else involved in the HM project.
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Just an FYI to those who are looking to order a MicroDamper in the next week... I'm quite proud that I typically provide same day shipping, however due to me getting married this weekend and moving to the midwest from the east coast this following week I may be a day or two slow on getting a package into the mail. I have printed quite a few MicroDampers early on, so hopefully I won't run out. I should be up and running with my printer again the first week of July just in case though. And as always I appreciate all the compliments yall send me through email! -Steve
 
I'm receiving my Primo Oval XL Saturday and am hot on the trail of a controller (I don't know why I never did it on my WSM). Will this provide enough air, particularly for hot cooks (500-700 range)? Also any particular guidance on an adapter plate?
 
I've had my Primo XL for 3 years or so and have only used a HeaterMeter for a couple of months, but I'd never use the controller for cooks above 350°. For high heat cooks, open up the vents and let the primo rip. The HeaterMeter excels at adjusting the airflow to keep things low and slow but I wouldn't use it for grilling temps.
 
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