i have a 20 year old sausage maker electric smoke house that will hold up to 50 lbs of sausage it was my dads it has set for years rebuilding it ..
looking for a good control unit for it . what would someone use if they were making there own
Hi there and welcome!
Well if you need a controller then you have to do a simple rewire of the smoker.
Right now the way your smoker is wired is that:
- the plug will wire into a circuit board
- the circuit board will wire into the controller unit that has the buttons/dial
- the controller will cut power off/on to the heating element via the circuit board
If the existing controller is shot and you need a new alternative then you will have to rewire the smoker so that the wiring from the plug bypasses the circuit board and splices into the wiring that connects to the heating element. So at this point the smoker will work this way:
- the plug wiring will be cut away form the circuit board
- the heating element wiring will be cut away from the circuit board
- the plug wiring will be spliced to the heating element wiring
- when you plug the cord into the outlet the heating element simply heats up with no control and if left in will burn down hahaha
So once that simple rewire is done you get a controller. The controller you get will depend on the amount of power/wattage/amperage your smoker pulls and how hot you want your smoker to now get... i think yours probably goes to a max of 225F.
A surefire approach is to use an Auber PID controller that can handle the wattage/amperage of your heating element.
The 50 pound sausage maker smokehouse unit on their site today is a 2100 watt unit so you need a real PID controller like the Auber SYL-2362 (Model 2) here:
Auber Instruments, Inc. PID Turn-key Controller for 120V/240V, TC Based, Up to 20A/4800W [WS-2000F-TC] - The WS-2000F-TC is a thermocouple based plug-n-play PID temperature controller with up to 20 Amps output capability. It can be used for a variety of applications, like powder coating oven...
www.auberins.com
The Auber SYL-2362 (Model 2) can handle up to 2400Watts so it should have no problem with a 2100Watt unit. Here are the options you would want:
Model Option: Model 2
Controller Option: SYL-2362
Sensor Socket Option: 1 x TC Socket and 1 x PT100 Standard RTD Socket
Input Power Cord: 5-20P to C19
Output Connector Option: none leave unchecked
Also if it is a 2100Watt unit that is 17.5 amps at 120v (regular socket), chances are you may have trouble running it on an outlet unless you had a breaker that was 100% dedicated to the outlet you are using.
Anyhow, this is what you are looking at. The rewire of the smoker is something a savvy person with limited electrical knowledge can do. The bigger question is if you have an outlet and breaker the smokehouse has access to which can support the amperage pull without tripping the breaker or causing other problems. Wiring that up would be something an experienced electrical person or electrician should take on.
Disclaimer: I am not an electrician so have someone who is qualified double check everything I am saying to ensure your safety. I'm sure that if they know what they are doing they will consume this information and have you set on the correct path for sure :)
