Paulo_sa Senior Member Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 3 Location: Adelaide Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Silvia with PID Tail mod Grinder: Lux Vac Pot: Hario Nouveau Roaster: Cafe Rosto
Posted Sat Feb 28, 2004, 4:23pm Subject: Some PID info
Hi, I posted recently to alt.coffee ("A Tail about Silvia") info on my Silvia PID mod. In case any Aussies are interested in PID, SSR, Thermocouple sources, would recommend giving IPA (Industrial Pyrometers Australia) a call. They have branches in all states. Not sure if they sell Fuji PID's though. My PID mod can be seen at http://www.digidive.com/coffee/index.html . I got the PID from Fuji Electric in Hong Kong for HKD 650. I have contact details, but have doubts whether they ship overseas. BUT.. there is a Coffee guy in Honkers who maybe able to help out. Haven't asked him yet though...
Luca Moderator Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,658 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Espresso: H: Maver W: FB-80 Grinder: H: Super Jolly W: Brasilia... Vac Pot: Hario TCA-2 Roaster: Sample Roaster at Work
Posted Tue Mar 9, 2004, 3:49am Subject: Re: Some PID info
Sheesh, Paul ... that's fantastic!
At 1 month in, I've tried some basic time surfing, but nothing huge. The other day I specifically extracted just after Silv's boiler light went out to see if I could actually taste the difference ... boy could I! There's no doubt in my mind that PID is the way to go, but with no engineering expertise (and no cash after the initial purchase!), I think I'll have to work my way up to it. To this end, could you give me any info about your schweet digital thermometer setup? I had a look around this page, Randy G's site and on alt.coffee and couldn't find a decent how-to on installing a digital thermometer like yours to monitor brew temp ... must come naturally to everyone except me :P Anyhoo, I have a few specific q's:
1) What model thermometer did you use, and is it available in any chain stores? (Yeah, lazy, but if you can tell me off the top of your head it'll save me looking!)
2) Where did you put the probe? Is it actually IN the boiler or just on the surface?
3) If it's in the boiler, how, exactly, did you do this? Did you need a 'thermocouple' (a term that I've read about, but never really seen in action ... I gather that it's a part specifically designed for this purpose).
4) Cost ... ?
Of course, if you happened to know a decent webpage with a how to on this it'd be most appreciated!
Thanks in advance for any info that you can provide!
Posted Tue Mar 9, 2004, 2:24pm Subject: Re: Some PID info
Hi Luca.
In case Pauo doesn't drop by here soon, you should check his posting on alt.coffee newsgroup for these details (thread was called " A Tail about Silvia", started on Feb 26).
To quote him:
"I was pulling shots with the boiler surface temp at about 109 deg C. This was giving me about 95 deg C at the shower screen using the thermocouple in the Styrofoam cup method. This fluctuated wildly though. I have not yet done a PF temp measurement with PID. But like shot time, I think brew temp is subjective. I think I'll be going by taste.
As for the Temp. Probe.. Here's a link to the part and where I got it from.. Might give some clues on the actual part number. http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=XC0224 Did some mods on it though this isn't necc. Like mounting it in a small project box, to fit nicely on Silvia. Was able to run the wire through one of the holes left by the Rancilio badge. Also carefully removed the TC probe from the steel sheath to get a quicker response. This was placed in a small well on the boiler with some heat transfer compound. Was happily surprised to find that the Thermo temp measured exactly the same as the PID with TC (to 0.1 deg C)"
Paulo_sa Senior Member Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 3 Location: Adelaide Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Silvia with PID Tail mod Grinder: Lux Vac Pot: Hario Nouveau Roaster: Cafe Rosto
Posted Wed Mar 10, 2004, 8:24pm Subject: Re: Some PID info
Thanks for that Ross.. Yeah I can be on CG daily, then sometimes only once a week.
Further to that. More info on the PID stuff. Ken Russell is in the process of getting a similar PID from Hong Kong direct. The model he is looking at is the PXR3-TCY1-0V-DI0 ("DI" for digital Input). I believed that my PXR3-TCY1-0V00 model did not have 2nd setpoint, 8/16 point ramp and temperature unit change. I only discovered this morning that by default a large proportion of my Parameters were masked/hidden (set in parameters DSP1 to DP13). I will be turning them on to see what else I've got, but now CAN change deg C to deg F. So am expecting to pick up the rest of them with out requiring the "DI" model.
Paul
Also I heard from Paul Pratt in Hong Kong, he's in the process of PIDing a number of La Marzocco's with the Fuji's. Would make a good story for CoffeeGeek Opinions Paul. :-)
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