Simple cheap controller

[Mr Four Square]

Give it a go and let us know. EasyD over on StiilSmart forum reckons that it works. He plugs it in, adjusts the dial and reads off the wattage. Easy as. If it does more than one job then that's a bonus.

[Mr Four Square]

Oz Kev Did you run the controller and element through the energy monitor and get a useful result?

[OzKev]

Oz Kev Did you run the controller and element through the energy monitor and get a useful result?

I hadn't but I just happen to be heating some water up.

So I plugged my Voltage controller in and also the meter.
Volts on controller = 220v.
Current on meter = 2246w

Dropped the voltage to where I do a product run which just happens to be exactly half.
Volts on controller = 110v.
Current on meter = 1121w, then climbed to 1150w (The climb in watts is due to as the element cools resistance decreases)

Also tried 60v
Volts on controller = 60v.
Current on meter = 610w

At 50v, not sure what happened. The meter still worked but it must be below the voltage for the meter to read?
Volts on controller = 50v.
Current on meter = 0w

Side notes:
The Belkin meter doesn't display Voltage.
Also after 45mins the meter changes from current watts to an average watts, so we would need to unplug it for a sec.

[Brigand]

I've just brought this same one. Could you put up how your going to wire it?

Here viewtopic.php?f=60&t=933&p=27111&hilit=3800W#p27108

and here viewtopic.php?f=24&t=933&start=20#p19193

Cheers

[Dusty_ben]

I've just brought this same one. Could you put up how your going to wire it?

Here viewtopic.php?f=60&t=933&p=27111&hilit=3800W#p27108

and here viewtopic.php?f=24&t=933&start=20#p19193

Cheers

Thanks mate I found those a while ago. Got a mate who is a sparky onto
It. Soon as the meters get here it'll be on.

[TheMechwarrior]

At 50v, not sure what happened. The meter still worked but it must be below the voltage for the meter to read?
Volts on controller = 50v.
Current on meter = 0w

Kev, Sounds like you found the low end for your controller mate. Some of the cheap ones don't go down to 0v. The 3800W version posted above is quoted as controlling between 90~240V while the 4kW version states 0-220v.

[APR]

I am considering whether I should buy a 250 volt analogue meter ... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/110938888939 ... to fit into the box to give an accurate indication of the power going to the boiler. The power controller is right at this moment being used on my 2000 watt boiler and is so far performing faultlessly.

A voltmeter is definitely a worthwhile addition to the power controller. It is now obvious that if you start out with the potentiometer turned fully down, it is necessary to rotate the potentiometer up to somewhere around 1/3 of it's rotational travel before the voltage starts rising, and then it jumps to around 80 - 100 volts depending on the load. When turning the controller power level down you have excellent control right down to zero volts.

[APR]

I picked up a couple of these off eBay. The price was too good to only buy one.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271355766269

Well, one of these cheap 3800 watt SCR voltage regulators/dimmers packed it in last night while I was using it on a 2000 watt boiler. All of a sudden it was open circuit. I have a spare and have already ordered another, so it looks like I am going to persevere with this type of unit for another two failures :angry-banghead:

I had, in the last day or two, tried this power controller in line with a 5" Bosch angle grinder that already had electronic soft start, and found the combination of SCR power control and soft start together did not work. It seemed like there were irregular spikes of current to full power several times a second, and perhaps this stressed/damaged the power controller.

If I have another failure I will assemble a 40amp SSR power controller to replace this cheap unit, although even the SSR units do fail.

[APR]

Well, one of these cheap 3800 watt SCR voltage regulators/dimmers packed it in last night while I was using it on a 2000 watt boiler. All of a sudden it was open circuit. I have a spare and have already ordered another, so it looks like I am going to persevere with this type of unit for another two failures :angry-banghead:

I had, in the last day or two, tried this power controller in line with a 5" Bosch angle grinder that already had electronic soft start, and found the combination of SCR power control and soft start together did not work. It seemed like there were irregular spikes of current to full power several times a second, and perhaps this stressed/damaged the power controller.

Well, on a knee jerk after having a power controller fail, I bought another so I would have two spares, but on the basis of this unit not being up to scratch, I also bought a 40 amp SSR complete with heat sink and two off 500K ohm 2w pots to go with it. After pulling the "failed" controller out of the box it looks like it may be repairable with a bit of thought and solder.



The plastic terminal block for the power wires has distorted from too much heat, and perhaps that heat has come from not having the power wires tight enough in the terminal block and a heat generating resistance has resulted, however, there is not heat damage to the power wire insulation which suggests to me the terminal block pins may not have been soldered to the PCB properly in the first place. I can re-solder the terminal block pins to the PCB and try to do a good job of it, or I can leave the terminal block off, and place the power wires through the existing holes on the PCB and solder them in position.

While this failure occurred while the controller was feeding a 2000 watt boiler, I have been regularly using this controller on a 220v 3000 watt element. The terminal block on this board has 7.62mm pin spacing, and the Chinese manufacturer rates this terminal block for 20 amp at 300 volt so theoretically it should be up to the job if assembled to the board correctly. So, I will polish up the pins and re-solder the terminal block to the board this time and see what the future holds. (the two pins mounting the block to the PCB are only 1mm square. I am not sure I would trust these pins to stay cool when continuously carrying 20 amp.)

I have done the repair and the controller is now working again, so all is good.

[Andy]

hey APR im going with a similar design as you. I have ordered the controller and a voltmeter- (though i ordered it before i read that urs packed in)

any advice on a cooling system for it?

[1 2many]

Andy a 12 volt pc fan will do the trick but then you need a 240 to 12v dc power supply to drive the fan unless you can find a cheap 240 volt ac pc fan.