Has anyone tried this Temp Controller

[bartsmoker]

Has any one used this temperature controller before? It is from control products and it says it is good for 300 degrees. and has a 30A, 120V relay for the load side. It is only $57.00 dollers at amazon with temperature sensor. You can also get a 6" Temp Sensor with compresion fitting.
[h1]Control Products TC-9102S-HV Single Stage High Voltage Digital Temperature Controller[/h1]

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• bartsmoker
• Jan 24, 2013

 

[dward51]

First time I've seen that one.  Actually looks intersting, but it has a mechanical relay to control the output.  If your differential is set too tight to the set point, it will be switching a lot and eventually wear out.  That's why you see high precision units with SSR relays instead of mechanical relays.

I looked at the manual and you can change the differential setting so it may work fine, and it also has a "short cycle delay time" setting.  This was designed for cooling to keep a compressor from short cycling, but it would work great to keep a pit element from doing the same and help extend the life of the mechanical relay.  This is a good feature if you are using mechanical relays. 

http://www.controlproductsonline.com/documents/TC-9102 Manual 42420054A.pdf

They also have a 120v wiring diagram in PDF format at this link:

http://www.protectedhome.com/documents/HV Wiring Diagram.pdf

The more I read the more I like this $60 unit. (yep, I get $60.55 when I pull it up so I'm not sure what happened to the $57 price at Amazon). Oddly enough the dual relay model is showing a lower price at $58.35 for me at Amazon.  The customer reviews indicate this is a USA company and the products are USA made also.  Both models have good reviews and appear to be liked by the beer brewing community.

 

[bartsmoker]

The only other thing I dont like about it is the temp sensor that comes with it is rather short and of coarse you can not have the wires in side the smoker. Also there is no way to mount it. I still might give it a try. I have a smokin it #2 model smoker and the temp. when set at 250 degrees goes from 190 to 270 in side the smoker. When I am smokin turkey I dont like it sitting at 190 degrees for to long.