santa

[ldrus]

I think Santa is bringing me a PID for my mes can't wait! Lol

 

[deltadude]

That is a very teckie Santa. 

Please do a complete writeup, wiring diagram, pics, parts lists of how you make your PID mod.

 

[smoken11b]

Sorry for the newb questions but what exactly is a pid and what is it used for?

 

[deltadude]

Smoke11b, do a site search you can find lots of info here at SMF on PID,  PID from wiki.  The wiki description is very complicated.  Basically it is a digital controller that can maintain a very very accurate set temp.  It accomplishes that by sampling and with a logic circuit that can anticipate how long it needs to stay on once set point is achieved and cycles at the correct rate to maintain that set point +/- 2º.    PID controllers are common to Sous-vide method of cooking which requires constant temp for very long periods of time.

The cool thing, is you can replace your MES digital controller with a PID and a few other components and end up with a very precise cooking instrument.   Since typical BBQ/Smoking is very forgiving due to low & slow method, why is such precision needed?  It isn't, a system that is +/- 15º works just fine and that is what the MES digital controller does, but if you can get +/- 2º for almost the same price, why not?  In addition one over looked thing about precision is that is allows you to have repeatable consistent results, which is something most good cooks want, and spend extra money for.