INTRODUCING: the "Roto Damper"


 
David V said:
Hey all, I ordered the RD3 from Ralph a few days ago and am working on putting it together, but I feel stumped here. How the heck does one get the RJ45 jack into the control box. I know it's supposed to snap into it but that just ain't happening. Can someone assist with letting me know how it's oriented into the box, or tips on how best to snap it in. I don't think it matters, but I'm just using the basic setup. No RDTC board or anything.

I have yet to get to the wiring stage, but that'll come later.
Click to expand...

Have same issue. I got from friend, and not put togeter. He bout some other controller. Sorry for english. lan will not go in. Al so, not can get the adapt peice to go on. too tite. OK to knive some plastic off to fit?
Still puting heatermeter togehter. Any way to test with out having heatermeter?
 
Use the control box that has three holes, not the one with two holes and a rectangle (that is for RDTC). Make sure you have this cat5 jack, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-Category-5e-Jack-Light-Almond-5025-LA/206427964 . Best to test fit the jack from the outside first, if it doesn't fit or is too tight then lightly scrape the opening until it fits with a file, knife etc. The plastic is easily worked with hand tools. Don't open it up too wide, you want the parts to fit tight to keep water out.
After you have a good fit from the outside then insert the jack from the inside with the locking tab facing up. When you slide the wiring box on the body choose the orientation where the CAT5 jack will point downward when the RD3 is on your grill (to keep water out).
 
Looking for thoughts before I put heat to this smoker. Here is a pic of how I mounted my RD3 to my Offset Smoker. Anyone try something similar and have problems with heat conducting through mounting plate and pipe and melting RD3?

view


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CjanlrMXLq4Lm5HLRrqIHrOEbO5EzJjy/view?usp=sharing

Direct URL to image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CjanlrMXLq4Lm5HLRrqIHrOEbO5EzJjy/view?usp=sharing

Hmmm.... trying to get image link to work... no luck.
 
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How far into the fire pit does that pipe extend? If it doesnt go too far in you should be ok, temps drop rapidly over a couple inches. but if you've got a bunch of pipe in the fire heating up you may still have trouble.
 
Thanks Ralph! Pipe is pretty much flush with the inside of that fabricated plate, extends only about 1/4” into the firebox. Thanks for your input, makes me feel better about firing it up.
 
If anything melts just shoot me an email and I will set you up with more parts, but I suspect you'll be fine...
BTW, Nice looking adapter there!
 
I found an elegant solution to this problem some years ago. A machinist friend made a blower to grill tube adapter in the same configuration as the one that came with my RD3, but made it from a graphite rod. It has very low thermal conductivity and does not oxidize until something like 1200F. https://www.dropbox.com/s/mmoi3lq71suzkyz/IMG_3022.JPG?dl=0
(I hope this dropbox link works...)
 
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Hey ralph, where can i source the switch that goes on the heatermeter? you included one when i got a printed box from you, i think my is going out. I would like to replace it.
 
Anyone have an opinion on this PSU? I built my meter and damper. Didn’t get the psu direct from heater meter cause the us one is out of stock. Seems to have the right specs.

Power Adapter,12v Power Supply 2A AC DC Adapter,Switching Power Supply 12VDC Led Power Supply LED Driver for LED Strip Light 24W Max US Plug, UL Listed AC 100-240V to DC 12V Power Adapter Transformer https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0711SZCMQ/
 
I cannot attest to the quality of this particular PSU or the fitment of the connector (though it LOOKs like the connector will fit the HM), but you do have the right specs. I recommend a 12V 2A PSU if you plan to run a blower and a damper with your HM.
 
Yeah the plug is the right size 5.5x2.1mm, but there's no telling what the quality is. It's probably fine though because it seems Signcomplex is not just a no-name company.
 
Hey guys. Just got my HM in the mail and I'm excited to get it all put together. I've got the files for the RD3 as well and looking to get those printed up in the short term. In the top post it's mentioned that you can hand wire this together, but I don't see any info about how to do that. Is the info somewhere in this thread? I saw one post and it looked like it might as as simple as punching wires to the cat5 jack. A guide or diagram would be great though. Thanks!
 
Yup all you need to do is just punch down the wires into the ethernet keystone. It just needs to match what's on the other end coming out of the HeaterMeter.
  • Pin 3 - Servo 5V (middle wire in servo connector) - Green/White in regular ethernet cables
  • Pin 4 - Blower ground (black) and Servo ground (brown or black usually) - Blue in regular ethernet cables
  • Pin 5 - Blower 12V (red) - Blue/White in regular ethernet cables
  • Pin 6 - Servo Signal (orange or yellow usually) - Green in regular ethernet cables

What I like to do is punch down all the wires into the jack, then plug in the ethernet cable between it and the HeaterMeter. With the power off, test continuity from the labeled pins on the HeaterMeter, to where you've punched into the jack. Make sure 5V connects to the servo's 5V, GND connects to where the servo and blower GND wires go in, etc. Once all the wires check out, you can power it up for a test. Using manual mode is an easy way to sweep through 0%-100% and test. I've tested so many I can zip through the menus lickedy split and test all the buttons, LEDs, blower and servo operation. Right -> Right -> Up -> Left -> Hold Up until I hit 100% -> Right -> Right -> Down -> Left and then Left one more time to test Lid Mode.
 
Thanks Bryan! I wasn't sure that HM was controlling the servo by default or not. Sounds like it is. So now I need to get a servo and print out this bad boy. Thanks for the help!
 
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