And Yet Another...Refrigerator Conversion! (Electric heat and PID Temperature Control)

[flyboytr]

...A-Maze-N Smoker is getting its first run in the grill… I have been reading all the great posts about it...got so excited that I just couldn’t stand it any longer and had to light it up.  ...as I'm typing this I'm thinking...such a waste of good smoke...just sitting in the grill...  However...,   I believe it will work great in the fridge…I’ve just got to get used to not having lots of billowing white smoke from time to time.   So far…so good on the test.

I have drilled and tapped the side of the General E for mounting my breaker box (control box).   All of the outside electrical panels, conduit, covers, etc have been painted with bronze high temp paint.

I have been in a quandary about the power cable…since I need 220 and have to have a 4 wire system (need the neutral for the PID).   Anyway…I posted a Wanted ad on Craigslist for 30’ of soft power cable.   I received a phone call a few minutes ago from a man that’s got 80’ of 10 gauge, 4 wire (stranded) flexible outdoor cable! He told me he would take $150 for it…which isn’t a bad price…   He asked what I was going to use it for.   After the description of my General E conversion…he said…”Heck…give me fifty and invite me to your first cookout with the refrigerator!”   I’m leaving shortly to pick it up!   What a deal!

The heating elements should be in tomorrow…after that it’s just finishing touches and hopefully will be ready for a seasoning run Friday afternoon…and a food smoke on Saturday.

 

[iowa josh83]

Wow that is a heck of a deal!! That's cheaper than scrap price for copper! How many Watts is your heating element going to be? 10Ga should be plenty of wire i would think! Mine only draws 12.5 (3000W element) so I just went a bought an 14Ga extension cord, cut the ends off and away we go! Nice work on finding the wire!

 

[flyboytr]

Wow that is a heck of a deal!! That's cheaper than scrap price for copper! How many Watts is your heating element going to be? 10Ga should be plenty of wire i would think! Mine only draws 12.5 (3000W element) so I just went a bought an 14Ga extension cord, cut the ends off and away we go! Nice work on finding the wire!

Josh,

I had thought about doing the same (extension cord) thing...excpet that I need 4 wires instead of just two hots and a ground.  I need the neutral for the 110 input on the PID (I have no interest in using the ground as a common/neutral...hence the fourth wire).  My other concern was that with a 14 gauge wire the amp rating is around 13.5 amps...your 12.5 amp load (per wire) is getting close to the max capacity of that gauge wire (but is doable...).  With roughly 25 amps total (between both wires) your extension cord may get a little warm. 

I will be running two 1,500 watt elements, so we both have the same total load, 3,000 watts.  Yes, you are right...the 10-4 cable I purchased today is overkill...but the price was right.  It turned out to be 90' in length! :)  ...right again...a heck of a deal!

 

[iowa josh83]

Flyboy,

Where have you been? I haven't seen anymore pics from your fridge project. At your pace I figured you'd have several Qviews posted from it.

Probably like me and got busy, I was able to work some on my fridge this weekend posted some pics on my original post.

Hope all is well and smoking!!

-Josh

 

[flyboytr]

Flyboy,

Where have you been? I haven't seen anymore pics from your fridge project. At your pace I figured you'd have several Qviews posted from it.

Probably like me and got busy, I was able to work some on my fridge this weekend posted some pics on my original post.

Hope all is well and smoking!!

-Josh

Josh,

Thanks for the reminder.  So far I have had several great smokes in the General E. I am still doing some minor tweaking...and learning.  I am going to move one of the heating elements to the front (they are currently stacked in the rear).  I am hoping that will give me more even heat.  I will try to get this thread updated with pictures and info.  My apologies for leaving you hanging!

 

 

[bert]

I like what you are doing, very talented. I just have a question about where you have the Solid State relay. Is it ok to break the path of the neutral wire for safety reasons?

Bert,

 

[flyboytr]

Bert,

220 VAC technically doesn't use the white (neutral) wire.  The solid state relay controls one leg of the 220 circuit (so basically it is switching 120 VAC).  However, I am using a neutral wire in this set-up, since the PID controller is a 120 VAC unit.  HOpe that helps!

I really need to do an update to my thread.  I've been very negligent about that.  Sorry!

 

[big casino]

looks like you got it going on over there, gonna be sweet