Nice job! I’m working on this same mod this week with my MES and just ordered the same inkbird kit w/o the box. When you decide to not go back to the original controller there is a very clean rewire (done at the board underneath the smoker) which incorporates the original hi temp rollover relay which is good for safety reasons. I am contemplating where to mount the little K type tc that comes with it. Thanks for posting this.
Hi Larry, thanks for the tip. I'm still contemplating the same thing with the thermocouple. I used my smoker last night (31 degrees) and it took nearly an hour to get up to temp. I framed the unit with insulation but still it took a long time. The controller kept the temp within a five to six degree range. I'm thinking of another mod for the unit. By adding another heating element (250 watts) that stays on all the time might help the unit to heat up faster and buffer the on / off swings of the controller. Good luck with your project! Jeff
Good idea, you can't go wrong with a PID controller if it's set up right. There is one thing that a layman might not consider. The Temp' probe has a huge influence on the operation of the PID. Think about this. The PID uses feed back to make it's decisions. The feed back comes from the temp' sensor you use. No matter what sensor you use once the PID is operating everything will look good. That's because the PID will match the input sensors' temp. If the sensor says, HEY I'm at 250 deg F and the PID is set at 250 deg F, the PID says all is good. But you might not actually be at 250 deg F in your smoker. So here's the fine detail. Your temp sensor should be at least 4 inches long or more. This is to keep it from sinking off heat to the wall of the smoker, or vise versa. The size / diameter should be as small as possible and the location of the sensor should give the best possible average of the entire smoker temp. The best type of temp sensor to use in an electric smoker is a PT100 that is a minimum of 4 to 5 inches long and 1/8" in diameter. A PT100 eliminates issues with thermocouple cold junctions and is way more accurate and repeatable.
I do have also a Masterbuilt smoker, but they have discontinued the right controller for my equipment. Was never very accurate, I do not want to dispose my smoker, on the other hand I would like to turn it great . I think is just a matter of adapt a PID controller into it, what I am doing right now is identifying all the wiring that goes from the controller to the unit, I have identified most of them . I believe that once you do this , it will be easier to install the PID . I have never done this , but with your help I probably make a success project. I already wrote to George , but I do not have any response yet. . I am not an electronic guy, far from that. I just want to be able to set up an internal temperature in the smoker for a period of time, also be able to identify the internal temperature of the meat, and program to terminate the desire time at the smoker . I assuming I can achieve all this features with the PID controller... Just need help on the wiring.
Before you wait on a response from George, TH-cam "Barley and Hops" and he has all of the information you will need in layman's terms. I use a separate temperature sensor (made by NutriChef) to monitor the meat temperature. Most people smoke by meat temperature rather than straight time. I can not tell you how to add a timer to the unit other than plugging it into a socket timer (like used for a lamp). Just be sure that the timer can handle the wattage being used. Best of Luck and thanks for watching.
Hey Robert, I was wanting to see if you had an opinion on my planned setup. I want to build my PID controller almost exactly the same as yours. The smoker is an older 30 INCH MES. I have already bypassed the controls so when it is plugged in element is on. I was going to install a split receptacle, one always hot, the other being the PID Output. I was thinking that for initial warmup I could plug the smoker into the hot side of the receptacle, then switch it to the PID controlled side of receptacle. Especially during cold temps here in Ontario. I will install a separate switch for the PID side of the receptacle. Basically like Barley and Hops setup. Have you had any problems with heat inside your control box, or is heatsink and a couple vent holes good enough? Or should I install a mini fan? I was maybe going to switch to the ITC- 100VH but 6 degrees is swing is just fine with me and I'd like the fahrenheit. Thanks Robert
I'm not sure I understand the reason for a split receptacle. The heat element will stay on full power until the desired temperature is reached. I also like to smoke meat in cold temperatures. Here is what I did. I added a second heat element (200 watts for a Little Chef smoker) that I can manually control separate of the PID. If it is really cold, I can leave it on and the PID controls the high end temperature. As far as the heat in the box, I do not have any additional holes or fans in it and it has never cut out on me, even on hot summer days. I hope this answers your question. Jeff
@@jeffhydroshots0073 Thanks very much for the reply. I don't know much about PID controllers and for some reason I was under the impression that it was limiting power during warmup due to PWM. But it sounds like your problem was just due to cold weather. DOH! The reason I want the split receptacle is to have a hot plug for the slow smoker attachment which will run constantly during lower smoke temps. I find the smoke inconsistent in certain situations like hot temps and lower smoker temps. Thanks again !
One of the reasons that PID controllers are used for heating is because they can get up to the setpoint quickly without a huge overshoot. If programmed correctly, the PID will supply 100 % power until it starts getting close to the setpoint. As it gets closer, it'll start dropping the power output so that it doesn't overshoot the setpoint. Not all PID controllers use the same method for output. Some of the ones that I've used with the SSR output don't use PWM the way other things do. They have set on time pulses and vary the off time width. In short, you don't need to add or modify anything if using a PID controller. It will get to temp as fast as it can. Click on my name if you want to see some PID controllers doing their job.
Was there any settings within the PID you changed to get the small 6 degree swing? I watched George’s videos and he has you change some settings and I wasn’t aware if those changes were for distilling or smoking or both.
Nice video. I am doing the same thing with my smoker. When you said that you wired the original wires that went to the element. Did actually connect the wires or just put them together and wrap them with electrical tape? Thanks
I used solderless terminals and connected them directly to the terminals as you can see in the video. The wires that have tape are the wires from the manufacturers controller.
Nice job! I’m working on this same mod this week with my MES and just ordered the same inkbird kit w/o the box. When you decide to not go back to the original controller there is a very clean rewire (done at the board underneath the smoker) which incorporates the original hi temp rollover relay which is good for safety reasons. I am contemplating where to mount the little K type tc that comes with it. Thanks for posting this.
Hi Larry, thanks for the tip. I'm still contemplating the same thing with the thermocouple. I used my smoker last night (31 degrees) and it took nearly an hour to get up to temp. I framed the unit with insulation but still it took a long time. The controller kept the temp within a five to six degree range. I'm thinking of another mod for the unit. By adding another heating element (250 watts) that stays on all the time might help the unit to heat up faster and buffer the on / off swings of the controller. Good luck with your project! Jeff
Good idea, you can't go wrong with a PID controller if it's set up right. There is one thing that a layman might not consider. The Temp' probe has a huge influence on the operation of the PID. Think about this. The PID uses feed back to make it's decisions. The feed back comes from the temp' sensor you use. No matter what sensor you use once the PID is operating everything will look good. That's because the PID will match the input sensors' temp. If the sensor says, HEY I'm at 250 deg F and the PID is set at 250 deg F, the PID says all is good. But you might not actually be at 250 deg F in your smoker. So here's the fine detail. Your temp sensor should be at least 4 inches long or more. This is to keep it from sinking off heat to the wall of the smoker, or vise versa. The size / diameter should be as small as possible and the location of the sensor should give the best possible average of the entire smoker temp. The best type of temp sensor to use in an electric smoker is a PT100 that is a minimum of 4 to 5 inches long and 1/8" in diameter. A PT100 eliminates issues with thermocouple cold junctions and is way more accurate and repeatable.
I do have also a Masterbuilt smoker, but they have discontinued the right controller for my equipment. Was never very accurate, I do not want to dispose my smoker, on the other hand I would like to turn it great . I think is just a matter of adapt a PID controller into it, what I am doing right now is identifying all the wiring that goes from the controller to the unit, I have identified most of them . I believe that once you do this , it will be easier to install the PID . I have never done this , but with your help I probably make a success project. I already wrote to George , but I do not have any response yet. . I am not an electronic guy, far from that. I just want to be able to set up an internal temperature in the smoker for a period of time, also be able to identify the internal temperature of the meat, and program to terminate the desire time at the smoker . I assuming I can achieve all this features with the PID controller... Just need help on the wiring.
Before you wait on a response from George, TH-cam "Barley and Hops" and he has all of the information you will need in layman's terms. I use a separate temperature sensor (made by NutriChef) to monitor the meat temperature. Most people smoke by meat temperature rather than straight time. I can not tell you how to add a timer to the unit other than plugging it into a socket timer (like used for a lamp). Just be sure that the timer can handle the wattage being used. Best of Luck and thanks for watching.
Hey Robert, I was wanting to see if you had an opinion on my planned setup. I want to build my PID controller almost exactly the same as yours. The smoker is an older 30 INCH MES. I have already bypassed the controls so when it is plugged in element is on. I was going to install a split receptacle, one always hot, the other being the PID Output. I was thinking that for initial warmup I could plug the smoker into the hot side of the receptacle, then switch it to the PID controlled side of receptacle. Especially during cold temps here in Ontario. I will install a separate switch for the PID side of the receptacle. Basically like Barley and Hops setup. Have you had any problems with heat inside your control box, or is heatsink and a couple vent holes good enough? Or should I install a mini fan? I was maybe going to switch to the ITC- 100VH but 6 degrees is swing is just fine with me and I'd like the fahrenheit. Thanks Robert
P.S. the original controller is shot and new is unavailable.
I'm not sure I understand the reason for a split receptacle. The heat element will stay on full power until the desired temperature is reached. I also like to smoke meat in cold temperatures. Here is what I did. I added a second heat element (200 watts for a Little Chef smoker) that I can manually control separate of the PID. If it is really cold, I can leave it on and the PID controls the high end temperature. As far as the heat in the box, I do not have any additional holes or fans in it and it has never cut out on me, even on hot summer days. I hope this answers your question. Jeff
@@jeffhydroshots0073 Thanks very much for the reply. I don't know much about PID controllers and for some reason I was under the impression that it was limiting power during warmup due to PWM. But it sounds like your problem was just due to cold weather. DOH! The reason I want the split receptacle is to have a hot plug for the slow smoker attachment which will run constantly during lower smoke temps. I find the smoke inconsistent in certain situations like hot temps and lower smoker temps. Thanks again !
One of the reasons that PID controllers are used for heating is because they can get up to the setpoint quickly without a huge overshoot.
If programmed correctly, the PID will supply 100 % power until it starts getting close to the setpoint. As it gets closer, it'll start dropping the power output so that it doesn't overshoot the setpoint.
Not all PID controllers use the same method for output. Some of the ones that I've used with the SSR output don't use PWM the way other things do. They have set on time pulses and vary the off time width.
In short, you don't need to add or modify anything if using a PID controller. It will get to temp as fast as it can. Click on my name if you want to see some PID controllers doing their job.
Was there any settings within the PID you changed to get the small 6 degree swing? I watched George’s videos and he has you change some settings and I wasn’t aware if those changes were for distilling or smoking or both.
Nice video. I am doing the same thing with my smoker. When you said that you wired the original wires that went to the element. Did actually connect the wires or just put them together and wrap them with electrical tape? Thanks
I used solderless terminals and connected them directly to the terminals as you can see in the video. The wires that have tape are the wires from the manufacturers controller.
I saw that. I was asking if the wires that are taped together, are they connected or just taped?
i am so disappointed in my masterbuilt smoker, does any know of a electric smoker that works in the 400 dollar range
Where did you put your temperature sensor when using the smoker?
I hang it from the bottom of the top rack, right in the center. Good luck
What were your pid settings??
Click the "more" button on my description to see the PID settings. Thanks for the inquiry.