New HeaterMeter 4.0 user


 
S

Seth R C

TVWBB Fan
Hey everybody,

Finally have my HM 4.0 ready for cooking.. had a few questions, though. I (thought I) searched quite a bit and still could not find answers, so, my apologies if I just suck at the Internet..

Trying to find plans for lmremote board / wireless probes - not able to do so. I went ahead and put on the RFM12B, just would like to use it.

I have some work to do on figuring out coefficients for some temperature probes I had around so I can use them.. should be fun. Also have to dig around for the lifecam I have laying around and try that camera addon.

Thanks in advance... and thank you for all of the advice and help on this forum. Awesome!

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Just checked your site, have you really made all those smokers? That's a LOT of smokers, looks like you got your PID tuning work cut out for you....
I really enjoyed some of your pics! :eek:
 
RalphTrimble said:
Just checked your site, have you really made all those smokers? That's a LOT of smokers, looks like you got your PID tuning work cut out for you....
I really enjoyed some of your pics! :eek:
Click to expand...


Well, I didn't really MAKE the chargriller.. just did the modifications to it to make it more reliable.. Forget where I originally saw all the ideas, probably somewhere on thesmokering a long time ago.

The UDS, yeah, I assembled it, but, can't take credit for it. So many threads on the net on UDS that it was easy. Ever since making the UDS, I've never fired up the CG as a smoker. Considering taking the side firebox off it, as I only use it for rotisserie nowadays.

PID tuning should be fun. There is one thread on here with UDS PID tuning that I will add to, once I get some values. My existing PIDs have auto-learn, so, I may steal the settings from them and try to use them in the HM.

I fired up the HM earlier - I had a bunch of probes laying around, and the one that was accurate at room temperature which I thought would work with the et-73 coeffs was definitely NOT even close at high temperature ! So .. HM use is on hold until I get a good probe, that I can use to tune the other ones I have around. I used the unknown probe mode and it worked great, so, just have to do it again once I have a good one.

Right now, I just soldered in an external power jack that goes straight to the fan on my one PID, so that the HM can power that fan. Maybe I'll make a dedicated fan for the UDS, maybe not... who knows.


The UDS makes nice bbq :)
 
IDK if you have seen my post about adding a CAT5 conntector to my HM, but that seems like something that might benefit you. It will connect both the servo and blower to the HM with one standard network cable. If you end up building different fans/servos on your smokers this would be a nice way to connect the HM to whichever smoker you are using at the moment. I guess this is more useful with a servo setup (since there isn't a connector on the HM for the servo but there is one for the fan). It seems like the trend is to move toward the servo damper, either with or without the blower, depending on the type of smoker you are using it on, so I figure you might arrive at this point sooner or later....
 
RalphTrimble said:
IDK if you have seen my post about adding a CAT5 conntector to my HM, but that seems like something that might benefit you. It will connect both the servo and blower to the HM with one standard network cable. If you end up building different fans/servos on your smokers this would be a nice way to connect the HM to whichever smoker you are using at the moment. I guess this is more useful with a servo setup (since there isn't a connector on the HM for the servo but there is one for the fan). It seems like the trend is to move toward the servo damper, either with or without the blower, depending on the type of smoker you are using it on, so I figure you might arrive at this point sooner or later....
Click to expand...


I definitely have - I'm not planning on using a damper, ever, so didn't go that route.
 
Don't be so firm on that, the servo damper ROCKS! I like the way it works much better than the blower for a pit that holds heat well.... I guess the CAT5 plug doesn't offer much benefit for just the blower operation though....
 
RalphTrimble said:
Don't be so firm on that, the servo damper ROCKS! I like the way it works much better than the blower for a pit that holds heat well.... I guess the CAT5 plug doesn't offer much benefit for just the blower operation though....
Click to expand...

Maybe I'll be talked into it, eventually :) The PID + UDS setup satisfied the geek and cook in me well, I am sure adding the HM will take it to the next level :) I'm not afraid of making more HM's or modifying down the road.. it was soothing to take a little bit if quiet soldering time to myself. All of the work Bryan has done to make this easy to build really paid off
 
There's not much information on them because there's next to nobody using them because I've never published much information on them. It's sort of a custom-built sort of thing, unless you just want Ambient temperatures from an LaCrosse IT+ 915MHz weather station. I had some test PCBs made last month to try out some ideas but they were flawed so I never assembled them. The code is sort of in flux as the output support was being built into it so I wanted to wait until that was done before I gave it another go.

If one were looking to build an lmremote (transmit-only version) the quickest way right now is to use a JeeNode and attach a probe to it.
 
Just running through a test run with the HM now on the UDS. The Maverick probes are reading about 20 degrees high compared to the thermocouple I have on there. Is it normal for them not to react to temperature drops quickly? Opened the lid to let a rush of air in to see how much chaos I can cause and how long it takes to re stabilize. Patiently waiting a few hours to let it go and observe.

Bryan Mayland said:
There's not much information on them because there's next to nobody using them because I've never published much information on them. It's sort of a custom-built sort of thing, unless you just want Ambient temperatures from an LaCrosse IT+ 915MHz weather station. I had some test PCBs made last month to try out some ideas but they were flawed so I never assembled them. The code is sort of in flux as the output support was being built into it so I wanted to wait until that was done before I gave it another go.

If one were looking to build an lmremote (transmit-only version) the quickest way right now is to use a JeeNode and attach a probe to it.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bryan. I'll check it out. And, appreciate the explanation. I'm free to guinea pig stuff if you want.
 
They're probably almost definitely slower than a thermocouple but if I open my lid, the temperature drops for about 10-15 seconds before the lid detect kicks in. After I close the lid and it takes less than 10 minutes for everything to be back to normal. If it goes high after opening the lid and takes an hour to come back down to temp, you're most likely getting too much natural airflow. If it goes low and takes an hour to come back up, it's not getting enough air. The question on that is if the fan isn't big enough, or everything is sealed up too tightly, or the PID parameters are so far off that it takes an hour for the blower to ramp up (doubtful on that one).
 
No airflow issues, the other PID maintains temp fine.

Haven't fired up the UDS in a while (shame on me), made typical mistake of IT guy working from home and having to rush back to the computer.. didn't let the fire come up to temp enough and turned on the HM early, so, the fan blasting at 100% overshot it to inferno levels. Undid my brain lapse, holding steady around 225 now. Looking forward to letting 'er rip for the next few hours.. have some butts to do for football tailgate :) thanks again.

Currently using the PID values that another member posted in their thread. The other PID auto learns, technically I could steal values out of that.. but let me see where I am now.
 
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