Temperature control with PID

I watched these 3 great videos from Johnny’s Reloading Bench and decided to make one.

MYPIN PID Temperature Controller – Demo and Parts List

MYPIN PID Temperature Controller – Building and Wiring the Controller

MYPIN PID Temperature Controller – Initial Programming, Testing, Auto-Tuning

There are more great videos, but for this I am only concerned with the above.

I used a panel mount outlet in mine instead of piping the cord out the back. Everything else is the same. All parts he lists fit.

PID Controller Inside View
PID Controller Inside View

Front with lid and high speed test light:

PID Controller Front View
PID Controller Front View

Back and Side shots:

PID Controller Back View
PID Controller Back View
PID Controller Side View
PID Controller Side View

As always, If you want me to print you one let me know in the comments.

You can download it from Thingiverse

Questions? Reach out on the Contact page

Parts Washer

Got me a Harbor Freight parts washer and moving thing to put it on. There are a ton of videos on modifications and how to put it together on the internet. Not going to put you through all that. Just going to show what I did.

I will not be using this for heavily soiled auto parts or farm equipment. Mostly weapons and parts, and to ‘finish’ clean other items.

Harbor Freight parts washer mounted on a moving dolly

I purchased the Oriflo With Hose (OR101H) Flow-Thru Parts Washer Brush and Immersion Water Heater from Amazon. The rest of the items I had laying around.

I did not realize the heater came with a timer, the price was the same as the ones with the timer. I removed it and put a standard plug in it place.

Timer removed from the immersion water heater and replaced with a standard plug

Before I put the plug back on, I drilled a hole above the full line for the cord and put a grommet in.

Grommet installed in a hole drilled above the fill line for the heater cord

Ran the cable and put the plug on:

Heater cord routed through the grommet with the plug attached

I dont want the big metal sprayer thing. I took it off and put a fitting in its place:

Metal sprayer removed from the parts washer and replaced with a hose fitting

I cut the end off the brush hose. It was designed to fit over the end of the metal sprayer. I then slid it over the fitting and clamped:

Parts washer brush hose cut and clamped onto the new fitting

I had to order the drain plug as it is metric:

Metric drain plug installed in the parts washer basin

I built a PID for casting and I have an extra temperature sensor. I drilled a hole in the wash shelf and ran the cable through the grommet.

Temperature sensor cable routed through a grommet in the parts washer shelf to the PID controller

The only other modification I made for now is putting a block of wood on top of the power switch to stop some of the wobble.

Block of wood added on top of the power switch to steady the parts washer

Next up is testing.

Sweet success! I used plain water for the the just in case. It took a long time for the flow to start. So long that I removed the brush and blew air through the tube to make sure it was clear. That must have primed it, started flowing after that.

Parts washer brush flowing water successfully after priming the line

No leaks at the drain after 24 hrs….

Parts washer drain checked for leaks after 24 hours, none found

The PID worked as well. Set it at 100 degrees for now. Can adjust as needed.

PID controller display showing the parts washer heater set to 100 degrees

Questions? Reach out on the Contact page

Staying on track!

I wanted to add some T-Track to the end of the counter in the office. I could then do some medium and light work in the Better cooled Office area.

I started by making a couple passes with the router, going a bit deeper each pass until I got to the right depth. ½ inch.

T-Track slot routed into the office counter in progressively deeper passes

Then I tapped it in and made sure it was flush:

Making it flush
Making it flush

Got it screwed and and tested with the Present Arms setup.

Testing
Testing

Works great!

Questions? Reach out on the Contact page

More Solar

Quick post to show a 4 kW system I picked up for free! Luck, Right Place, right time.

We will be ground mounting this 18 panel system by our farm meter by our well pump. I am not sure if the inverter works, even if it does not, I can pick one up cheap enough. The next step will be to lay out the mounting area and start laying pipe!

Solar Pickup 01
Solar Pickup 01

Questions? Reach out on the Contact page

Hauling it!

The old single axle trailer needed a timber replacement.

First is easily removed the old wood, it just disintegrated, cleaned up the metal and gave it a quick painting.

Trailer frame with the old rotted wood decking removed and the metal cleaned and paintedRepainted trailer frame ready for new deck boards

Started sliding in the new treated 2 x 6 x 10 boards.

New treated 2x6 deck boards being slid into the trailer frame

Only thing left is a small sliver:

Trailer deck nearly finished, with a small sliver of space left to fill

Ripped a piece off the last 2×6, it is thin so I could give it a good bend and poof done!

Thin ripped piece of 2x6 bent into place to finish the trailer deck

Questions? Reach out on the Contact page

Keeping it Clean!

Earlier this week we had our AC system cleaned and sanitized. From vents to the unit. They recommended installing a Whole House UV AIR Purifier. So we did. First we outlined and cutout the holes:

Outlined and cut-out holes marked in the AC ductwork for the UV light installation

Did a test fit:

Test fitting the whole-house UV air purifier light into the cut duct opening

Then We got a cheap, as in Dollar Tree, pair of UV protective sunglasses. Popped out a lens, traced it, and cut out a square smaller than the lens.

UV-protective sunglasses lens traced and cut down to use as a viewing window

Then tapped it in. This way you can see if the light are working. If you dont do this, you have no real way of knowing if the UV light are really on.

UV-protective lens taped into the duct panel as a viewing window to check the light

Did a dry run to test things out:

Dry run test of the installed UV air purifier light before final assembly

And:

UV air purifier light glowing through the viewing window during the test run

Success! Taped everything up.

Duct panel taped up after finishing the UV air purifier installation Finished whole-house UV air purifier installation on the ductwork, sealed and taped

We now have UV light, purified, and super duper cleaned for the whole house.

Having a melt down!

Started collecting and separating wheel weights for casting.

Getting the lead out!
getting the lead out

I use the pinch method for the initial separation. Lots of info on YouTube about this. In a nutshell. If you can pinch and leave a mark its lead. If you can’t it is not.

Ended up with 27.8 pounds of wheel weight

27 Pounds

Got everything setup and melted them down.

The setup

Letting the last batch cool:

Cool it!

Stacked and ready to start casting

What a stack

Metal Fahrenheit ( f ) Celsius (  C  )
Phosphorus 111 44
Selenium 423 217
Tin 449 232
Babbitt 480 249
Bismuth 521 272
Cadmium 610 321
Lead 621 328
Zinc 787 420
Aluminum Alloys 865-1240 463-671

I got the pot up to ~700 degrees. everything still solid at that point was scooped off with the ladle. I did a saw dust flux and poured the ingots.