Author Topic: Help with #2D digital controller?  (Read 1212 times)

saznaurov

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Help with #2D digital controller?
« on: April 05, 2021, 08:32:28 PM »
Hey, All

I've been playing with my #2D for a few months now, and I've noticed a pattern - when cooking with a target temp programmed into the PID controller, both the cabinet and (especially) the food temps tend to "stall out" short of their goals. I've auto-tuned the cabinet, but it's still doing the same thing. The only way I've found to get around this issue, is to program in multiple steps with ever-increasing cabinet temps, so the heating element never turns off for too long.

I ran an experiment with some trout fillets, here are the PID settings (following my recent auto-tune), and the temp data that I got:

P 118
I 938
D 234
T 2

Program: temp set to 180*F until food is at 145*F (then step 2 was just a "keep warm" at 120*F for 3 hours)

Time     Cabinet     Food     Probe3     %power     Comment
0           70            65         63            100
15         113           77        80            100         
20         157          100      105           14             
25         171          116      121           14       OK I can see why the power adjustment is happening here, it's chugging along
30         174          129      133           13
35         174          134      137           14       But what's going on here? Cabinet's not at target, and food stalls out from here
40         172          137      139           17
45         170          137      138           22
50         169          136      138           24       Here the cabinet actually dips, so the power increases, but not enough
55         169          135      137           26
60        170           135      136           30
65         171          135      137           30
70         173          135      137           30
75         176          136      138           29       At this point I gave up and set the temp to 200*F, to get the food to 145*F finally

From my uneducated perspective, it seems like it's over-correcting for the rising food temp, and neither the smoker itself gets to the set temp of 180*F, nor the food actually goes anywhere once it's reached 135*F (10 degrees shy of target). My second time using this cabinet, with some chicken breasts, I had just let it do its thing, and they got to within 20*F of target temp within maybe 40 minutes, then just sat there, for like 4 hours. By the time they finally squeaked past target temp, they were dry as could be.

Any suggestions for changes to the PID programming? Or am I doing something else wrong?
Thanks in advance!

OldeSmoker

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Re: Help with #2D digital controller?
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2021, 12:36:49 AM »
I auto tuned my 3DW and was still having similar issues. I emailed Steve and he sent me the factory settings. I haven’t had any issues since I implemented those settings.

Paul from Southwest Missouri
*Smokin-It 3D-WiFi
with Bella’s CSG and The Stephanie Cabinet
*Members Mark SS 6 Burner Gas Grill with Sear Burner, Side Burner & Rotisserie
*River Grills Wood Fired Grill and Fire Pit
W/ Rotisserie and Dutch Oven Hanger

saznaurov

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Re: Help with #2D digital controller?
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2021, 04:49:42 PM »
UPDATE: as suggested, I emailed Steve, and got the standard settings from him. Mine were way off. I'll post an update after reprogramming, but for those interested:
P 60
I 850
D 130