I am not inclined when it comes to electronics so my verbiage may be lacking. But what I'm looking at on my PID temp probe is:
- Getting a longer line so I don't have to disconnect the probe every time I clean up after a run
or
- putting an in-line disconnect in the line so I can leave the probe in and disconnect from the PID unit.
Any suggestions will be accepted
Below are pictures of my PID (you can see how short the probe is) and set up.
*** My set up is in the kitchen and to keep wifey happy, I have to clean up the island when done***
The wise man has something to say. The fool has to say something.
Remove it and plug the hole, then run watching the output stream. You should do yourself a favor and delete any links you have to people who advise you to control still temperature with a PID. They haven't done their homework and aren't as knowledgeable as they pretend they are.
A PID is a much better tool for looking after ferment temperature than for running a still.
+ 1 on NZChris. use your PID to mash your beers. manage boil rate and vapour speed for stilling. to do that you need to manage ensrgy input not temprature. BUT feel free to continue.
Listen to the Council of others, I know it might seem "frustrating", but the PID is not really the tool suitable for distillation despite some videos they say it is. In distillation we need the need to control the heating power, not the temperature (instead useful in the mash for example). There are good readings here on the forum.
Simple... Just search on eBay for a longer cable of the same type as the one you have..
PID are not the tools for stilling with..
Mars
" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "
As opposed to just telling you not to use a PID (which I agree you shouldn't, but I also understand that it stings to be told you spent money you didn't need to), I'll ask you: what are you trying to accomplish with a PID? Your setup looks like a pot still and thumper. If you understand what a PID will do to it and how it will affect your distillation, and you still think you should use one, by all means go ahead.
If you don't understand what it will do and how this will affect your distillation, then you should at least be able to come up with a good reason why you should use one (and 'because George told me to' is not a good reason, he's in the business of selling PIDs). If you don't have a good reason don't use it.
Thank you all for your replies and input, but I posted this deliberately in the electronics forum to try to get away from the lectures.
My question is strictly in regards to temp probe. I would like to make it longer or detachable. Comments like "Simple, just look on ebay" insults my intelligence and just proves the point of my signature. In the O/P I said that I am not mechanically inclined in electronics so I am looking for guidance, not opinions.
The wise man has something to say. The fool has to say something.
Auber Instruments has temperature probe jacks that can be wired into you control box that will allow for a removable probe. You might be interested in P2CON-XS12-CBL or XLRCON-M @auberins.com
SpeakEasy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:45 am
My question is strictly in regards to temp probe. I would like to make it longer or detachable. Comments like "Simple, just look on ebay" insults my intelligence and just proves the point of my signature. In the O/P I said that I am not mechanically inclined in electronics so I am looking for guidance, not opinions.
It insults your intelligence when provided with the eases route out of your problem, buying a longer cable on eBay is insulting..
Give me a break..
Mars
" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "
hypnopooper wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:08 am
Auber Instruments has temperature probe jacks that can be wired into you control box that will allow for a removable probe. You might be interested in P2CON-XS12-CBL or XLRCON-M @auberins.com
Thank you. That is what I was looking.
The wise man has something to say. The fool has to say something.
PID and pot stilling in the same sentence is enough to be an insult (it's not really) to anyone in the community that knows better and is trying to help an individual discard a method that is less than optimal.
Making vapor intermittently is not distilling for our purposes. It is less than optimal by a long shot.
You didn't want to here this says you? Oh.
Target temps are impossible to achieve because alcohol continues to flow, thus constantly changing the boiling point of the constituents within the kettle.
SpeakEasy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:45 am
Thank you all for your replies and input, but I posted this deliberately in the electronics forum to try to get away from the lectures.
My question is strictly in regards to temp probe. I would like to make it longer or detachable. Comments like "Simple, just look on ebay" insults my intelligence and just proves the point of my signature. In the O/P I said that I am not mechanically inclined in electronics so I am looking for guidance, not opinions.
There are only two wires in the cable.
Cut it and add in whatever style of plugs and sockets and cable your local electronics store sells that will do the job. If you can't do that yourself, ask a friend, or the proprietor of the store, to do it for you.
That said, you won't get much help for making known mistakes from contributors to forums like this one.
LWTCS wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:00 pm
Target temps are impossible to achieve because alcohol continues to flow, thus constantly changing the boiling point of the constituents within the kettle.
The logic of this answer (to those who are able to embrace it) falls squarely within the realm of physics, not bias or opinion. For our purposes, the process of distillation follows a linear path, and as LWTCS points out, a PID fails to match the momentum of this evaporation, robbing the distiller of consistent control via a clumsy, ill-fitted tool.
Despite this community’s efforts to bring these fundamental principles to bear, some distillers admit their confusion and move on and some don't. The true insult comes from the latter distiller who chooses to ignore the principles, discounting his mentors' assertions as lectures.
The knowledgeable folks of Home Distiller will never advocate sub-standard distilling processes that are either unsafe, create unnecessary difficulty or result in an inferior product.
“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”
LWTCS wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:00 pm
Target temps are impossible to achieve because alcohol continues to flow, thus constantly changing the boiling point of the constituents within the kettle.
The logic of this answer (to those who are able to embrace it) falls squarely within the realm of physics, not bias or opinion. For our purposes, the process of distillation follows a linear path, and as LWTCS points out, a PID fails to match the momentum of this evaporation, robbing the distiller of consistent control via a clumsy, ill-fitted tool.
Despite this community’s efforts to bring these fundamental principles to bear, some distillers admit their confusion and move on and some don't. The true insult comes from the latter distiller who chooses to ignore the principles, discounting his mentors' assertions as lectures.
The knowledgeable folks of Home Distiller will never advocate sub-standard distilling processes that are either unsafe, create unnecessary difficulty or result in an inferior product.
Yeah, I mean not all stills are equal. Every operator should strive to run what ever equipment they do have as optimally as possible. And so it's not about the still really. It's about understanding the still that you have.
Even if you are running a dinky little stove top rig with a litty bitty pee pee product condenser and spend most of the run being an ice jockey. The still is not the real focal point. The focal point is understanding how to make what you do have behave as optimally ( and safely) as possible based on one's available resources.
