cuslog wrote on Nov 16^th, 2021 at 8:42am:


Many have built their own units as did cuslog.  It’s a relatively simple design and all the necessary parts are readily available on eBay, Amazon and/or several suppliers for $50 to $100.  You’ll need the main controller, solid state relay (SSR), heat sink, appropriate thermocouple, on/off switch, fuse/fuse holder, terminal strip, power cord, AC socket and small project box.  All of this is discussed on numerous Internet sites and in several threads on the Cast Boolits forum

Wayne

bnice wrote on Nov 16^th, 2021 at 7:50pm:


bnice,

I'm familiar with PID's & started using one back in 2016.  The items I listed in my previous posting are what I consider minimum requirements to build one.

At one time a guy in Canada made PID's for casting pot applications.  His design included a few more features.  But he's no longer making them.

Wayne

How much does the actual temperature drop and rise above the actual temperature set when one is using a PID. And has anyone actually checked it with a Thermometer that is actually capable of doing just that. The reason I ask is my Lyman MAG25 Digital Melting Furnace will not hold an exacting and constant Temperature. It actually fluctuates more than one might think that he is actually getting from all of their money being spent.

JLouis wrote on Nov 17^th, 2021 at 4:47pm:


Both the separate PID on my RCBS Pro-Melt & the built-in one on the RCBS Easy Melt will easily hold the temp to within +/-2 degrees during a normal casting session once the ladle is up to temp & with a constant cadence.


Wayne

Texasmac and in all honesty my Lyman MAG25 Digital Melting Furnace is not capable of doing that. 
So in earlier posts and quite sometime back I might have actually miss-represented that fact. 
Hopefully no one has spent their hard earned money based on what I had to say during those time.
I do actually like that Pot allot but I also realized that anything that cycles off and on also cannot hold an exacting Temperature. 
All of the Variables involved including those of my own and how I choose to cast. Probably does have a direct impact on its actual capabilities. Everytime I put the ladle back into the pot to ladle cast another bullet it can and often times does change the existing temperature. And if it happens fo drop it does take time for the pot to then be able to catch back up. 
And I also do cast just as fast as I possibly can, but if a bullet fails to drop right out or if my timing happen to be interrupted the ladle temperature is also dropping as well.

Couple of things to consider with the aforementioned Waage melting pots. First they are big and heavy so heat retention is guaranteed. They have temp control that satisfies industrial applications such as soldering where constant accurate temperature is absolutely necessary. My pot is I believe either 80 or 100# and big enough that adding fresh alloy rarely affects operating temps. There is just little if any thermometer movement. You can start casting and casting and casting till your arms go numb. Is it an overkill we’ll probably yes but if you can snag one at a good price you’ll never look back. 

Rick

I actually threw a Waage away as they would not send me a new heating element and quite expensive at that. To ship it to them, the cost of the part, their labor and then shipping it back was just simply not cost effective for myself.

bpjack wrote on Nov 17^th, 2021 at 6:00pm:


The old Rapine pots I was familiar with looked very similar to the Waage pots. If that is the case I’d bet Waage made them and I’d also bet they have a heating element that would work. Anyway they are nice folks and helpful so I’d call them. Worth a shot anyway. Check out their website Waage Electric

Rick