Author Topic: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY  (Read 60320 times)

TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2015, 12:35:11 AM »
Well, tonight I bought 2 racks of baby back ribs and a packer brisket. I prepped the ribs for smoking in about 12-13 hours from now. Packer brisket will be a project for later in the week or next weekend I think...


This is going to be the inaugural run of my HeaterMeter PID controlling my modified SI #2. The HM don't have an autotune feature built into it yet so I've taken a quick stab at some PID parameters and will watch things tomorrow to see how good or bad these parameters turn out to be. The HM will be live at http://bbq.tonylyne.com tomorrow from about 12-5pm CST. I won't have a probe in the meat since these are ribs but this should at least show the performance of my thermocouple permanent install as well as PID operations which should show setpoint stability rather than the oscillations which were obvious in my analog control test run:
Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

DivotMaker

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2015, 02:33:21 PM »
The "live view" is cool!  What's your set temperature?  I see it's hovering around 233.
Tony from NW Arkansas
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bigbassnutt

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2015, 03:03:32 PM »
The set temp is on the upper right hand corner, 235. Looks like it is working good.
Mike in Indiana
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Libohunden

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2015, 03:41:26 PM »
That is pretty sweet and it does look like it's working pretty darned good. How much did it cost to build again?  I really like the wifi and website deal. You can check your temps even when you are out fishing or riding the motorcycle. 

Now time to give it a real test and throw in a butt or brisket!!!

Great job!
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Libohunden

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #19 on: March 01, 2015, 03:56:10 PM »
Can you program steps into it?  Like if you want to turn the heat down to 140 when the meat hits your desired temp?
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TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2015, 09:07:48 PM »
Here's the results of the inaugural run. PID controls worked good for adhoc choice of PID values. I'm currently using HM PID values of B=0, P=10, I =0.007, D=20. I opened the box around 1pm because I forgot to add the water/cider container. Opened again around 5:10pm to check. Finally took off 5:50pm. PID did a great job holding at 235 degrees. I may do some more number playing in the future but these values look pretty darn good.



Libo-
I can do steps manually or scripted. I might do that when I do a brisket. Here's a page with some example "alarm" scripts:
https://github.com/CapnBry/HeaterMeter/wiki/Alarm-Script-Recipes


And yes you can check temps when you are fishing. This is EXACTLY what I did today. I threw the ribs in the BBQ and went ice fishing with my father in law. For ribs I didn't need to watch while fishing but it was fun to do anyway. The other REALLY cool feature I like about this is that I can set low and high alarms. These alarms will trigger a piezo buzzer in the HM making lots of noise if I tell it to. Additionally, I have any alarms directly routed to my phone using a service called push bullet. It's basically the same as instant messaging me if anything I have programmed leaves a threshold. With that I can manually log into the HM for manual control updates or I can run home and handle the "situation" should that ever happen.


Divot-
The current setpoint is in the upper right corner and also is the red line on the graph. With the graph you can see set point changes over time. For example, if I used a ramping feature you would have seen that in the red line and PID control reactions.


I have a brisket in the fridge I intend to do in a few days (gotta start the brining and injecting process soon). If I remember I'll try to plan a ramping profile on that to show setpoint changes through some alarm scripts I can program into it. I'll also try a ramp down profile for when the brisket reaches near final temp.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2015, 09:09:42 PM by TmanEater »
Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2015, 09:45:08 PM »
Tony,

I looked at the programming scripts link...yikes! :o   Serious flashbacks to the old days of DOS, Fortran and Cobol!  I'm pretty techy, and computer-savvy, but that is way beyond anything I would want to deal with to smoke a butt.  Are you figuring-out a way to simplify that process, like the Auber?  If the "steps" are not easy to set, with a few button presses, you will not be able to market this to anyone but serious nerds, imo.  Looks like a very promising unit; you just need to figure a way to easily program it, for the non-tech person.
Tony from NW Arkansas
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Smokin-It Model 1, 2D conversion, and 3D
Auber PID, NexGrill 896 6-burner, CharBroil Big Easy, Anova Precision Cooker w/WiFi
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TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2015, 10:48:49 PM »
Tony (DM)-

Scripts are more difficult but that's why we have support forums.  ;) There are easier methods of controls for the HM as well. For example, here's the alarms page where I can set an alarm and/or change the setpoint when a threshold is hit. For example, I could enable the Probe1 threshold to 190 degrees (i.e. internal temp of food it's probed into) and then have it change the setpoint to 140 degrees for holding. This HeaterMeter is awesome for both power users and novices. If you don't want to play with webpage settings you can also use the black four way switch on the actual box to change settings as well (such as setpoint). I did this to "start" my smoke today since I was at the smoker I used the box to set the setpoint then I went to the webpage and started watching.  :-)
Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

Libohunden

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #23 on: March 01, 2015, 10:57:21 PM »
Tman,

I'm liking this thing more and more.  Is it waterproof too????

I'll be watching your Brisket smoke later this week!
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The Woodlands, Texas

TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #24 on: March 01, 2015, 11:05:07 PM »
Libohunden-


I think I have about $235-$250 invested in this. That don't include my time though. I have a rough parts and price breakdown at the base of this thread. I think it's pretty close to Auber prices but gives more features and capability. I enjoyed the project though. Wasn't sure how to make it happen but everything came together smoothly for me. I have a background in computers and engineering though. Something like this may not be for anyone. I don't think it was very difficult though since there are lots of step by step instructions available and many support resources available.
Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #25 on: March 01, 2015, 11:07:55 PM »
Tman,

I'm liking this thing more and more.  Is it waterproof too????

I'll be watching your Brisket smoke later this week!

No... That's on my soon to address list. I think I'm going to just make a tupperware container with some cuts in the side for cables to use when there is any chance of rain or bad weather. I may think about a cleaner/better way of waterproofing too. I might bring this topic up on the heatermeter forums as a good discussion point. I don't think it would take much to make it waterproof. The biggest concern areas would be the LCD and the switch opening.
Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #26 on: March 01, 2015, 11:12:26 PM »
FYI-

I also have a second one of these built up and almost ready to go. I'm likely selling it. If you don't like messing around with soldering, ordering parts, and building the thing you can private message me about negotiating a deal for a complete unit. On my second unit I haven't bought the thermocouple, probes, or electric smoker modification components because there are choices and options which not everyone would want to keep the same.
Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

TmanEater

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #27 on: March 01, 2015, 11:28:51 PM »
Another cool feature the HM has (sorry if I'm sounding like a broken record - I just love playing with this thing) is database stashing/archiving. So, I can save each of my smokes in the HM device itself and then I can name and date them. So if you found a perfect smoke or perfect profile you can recall it later and review it for repeat-ability in the future. See examples below:






Smokin Newbie starting Dec. 2014... Learning Lazy-Q As Fast as I can!
Smokin-It 2, HeaterMeter PID
Monitor my live smokes at http://bbq.tonylyne.com

Tony from Marion, IA

BedouinBob

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #28 on: March 02, 2015, 12:41:57 PM »
Man Tony, that is one cool box.
Bob - Colorado Springs
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Barrel99

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Re: Building HeaterMeter PID - DIY
« Reply #29 on: March 02, 2015, 04:25:25 PM »
Tony, I have to say you are producing an amazing box. The true inventive spirit and I really enjoy watching the development.
Arnie near Fort Lauderdale, Florida

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