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Yea I have a couple sitting in my garage. They are real pieces of crap. Mine won't work in ssr mode, relay mode only. Only display in C. only works at 240volts. Basically completely not as advertised. I did buy mine from a different seller though. I tried to return them, but the return shipping which I would of had to pay was more than what I had into them. I made the seller return me half of what I paid. Ended up going with Auber in the end.
 
I've been down this path and it leads to buying an Auber in the end. I don't have this particular PID but picked up a couple Mypin PIDs for cheap off e-bay. They work and I use them for my Sous-Vide machine but none of the cheap ones offer the functionality (manual mode) needed for brewing. You'll save money by buying the best to start--get an Auber.
 
I just spent 6 hours yesterday messing with one of the cheap knock off eBay PID controllers. It's not the model you have, but it looks just like an Auber and has all the same features as this one: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=106

It's a total piece of crap. I had a problem a while go where the thermocouple posts came un-soldered from the board and I had to fix it. The temp would jump all over the place if you shook it. It started doing it again last week. I took it apart and re-flowed all of the solder joints I could reach because it looked like a 5 year old soldered it. It's now working well, but a resistor or capacitor the thermocouple uses is messed up, so the temp is off by 35 degrees. It does have an offset so I can correct for the error and it's useable now, but I would have been much happier to pay $20 more for the real thing.
 
There are other posts discussing the PIDs labeled "REX C-100". Apparently, these cheap ones are Chinese counterfeits, and total pieces of crap. If you read the specs and look at the photos showing the wiring diagrams, they are nothing like the title suggests.

There are real Rex PIDs, but they are much more expensive.

My recomendation: if this is your first jump into using a PID, I would go with Auber.

I just ordered a MyPin TA4 PID. Sounds like others are having luck with those.
 
The MyPins work OK but they're much more difficult to program and don't have a manual mode to control boils. The instructions written in English-is-definitely-not-my-first-language don't help the situation either. They are cheap though, so if you already know how to use a PID and don't need to control a boil they can work.
 
The MyPins work OK but they're much more difficult to program and don't have a manual mode to control boils.

Good point. I have a PWM on my system for boiling, so I always forget about the manual boil mode in these discussions.

Maybe as a public service I can translate the MyPin manual sheet from Chinglish to English.
 
I too, have a TA6 and I'm having problems with the programing and of course, there is no help from the company that sold it or the manufacturer.

I have been able to wire it correctly, and set a heating temp. When checking to see if it's working, I am using a light buld instead of a heating element.
when it is heating towards the required temp, the light stays on. But, within 10* of the target temp, the light bulb begins to flash untill it reaches temp and then shuts off.

I realize that if the bulb is flashing on and off, then the current would be doing the same to a heating element, and worse, it will cause premature failure to the solid state relay.

Can somone please tell me where I am going wrong???
Thanks in advance,
Brian
916-804-0175
 
I too, have a TA6 and I'm having problems with the programing and of course, there is no help from the company that sold it or the manufacturer.

I have been able to wire it correctly, and set a heating temp. When checking to see if it's working, I am using a light buld instead of a heating element.
when it is heating towards the required temp, the light stays on. But, within 10* of the target temp, the light bulb begins to flash untill it reaches temp and then shuts off.

I realize that if the bulb is flashing on and off, then the current would be doing the same to a heating element, and worse, it will cause premature failure to the solid state relay.

Can somone please tell me where I am going wrong???
Thanks in advance,
Brian
916-804-0175

What you are explaining is what appears to be normal PID operation. You do realize that the goal of the PID is to hit the requested temperature without overshooting it? When you get your system built you need to tune your PIDs to work with your system. There should be an autotune feature. The PID uses calculus to determine the heat curve (how much heat your rig can put into the system). If it ran full bore then turned off at the setpoint then it would overshoot (normal thermostat functions like this). With a PID, when the setpoint is near, the PID will start modulating on/off duration in the Cycle time (usually 2 seconds) so that it slowly reaches the setpoint without overshooting it. When it starts flashing it will be on longer than off, then as it gets closer it will be off longer than on. SSR's were designed to be cycled frequently. It's for this reason they exist as they are better at this than mechanical relays (aka contactors).
 
I too, have a TA6 and I'm having problems with the programing and of course, there is no help from the company that sold it or the manufacturer.

There shouldn't be any manual programming involved. Use auto tune to self-program. I believe you hold in the "<</AT" button for 3 secs to initiate auto tune. The AT light will come on during auto tuning.

Only thing I manually changed on my TA4 was to display deg F. Working great.
 
I have 2 of the MyPin TA6 Pids that come with the type K and the 25A SSR, they've been working OK ...as I recall the package was $35

would you care to help me with the same unit(s)? I have no experience with programining these and mine cycles on/off every second when it is with in 10 degrees of the target temp.
I am trying htis unit out on my electric smoker, before getting into brewing with my brother(only extracts in the past, but everyone has to start somewhere)
thanks, Brian
 
I have a my pin ta5, it is all wired up and running but the signal will not go to the SSR, the light on the pid is on but nothing on the SSR.

Any suggestions?
 
The signal lines are switched? Pos to neg and Neg to pos instead of pos to pos and neg to neg? Or maybe a bad SSR.
 
@migraine: If you don't want the PID to modulate the out close to the process temp, change it to ON/OFF mode instead of PID mode. This will provide full power until you hit the process temp.

@dancon: Make sure you are setup for SSR output mode, some models have several options for relay, SSR, 4-20ma output, etc. When it is setup correctly, you should be able to measure DC voltage (12V?) across the SSR output pins when the PID output is turned on.
 
I am on SSR mode (setting is 001, I also tried the other settings), the relay works, checked it with a 9v. Are there other settings that could be causing this? I have two PIDs and two SSRs, and tried them all and no luck. I must be doing something wrong. Thanks in advance for your help/advice.
 
You say you have a relay output that works.
Do you have "-RNR" model or the "-SNR" model? What is the full P/N?
R = Relay output, S = SSR output.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think you just found your answer. -RNR is for a mechanical relay. -SNR is for a SSR.

The ebay ad is misleading. I say call the seller and see if they will exchange the -RNR for a -SNR.
 
Yes that is Relay output. You can still use the relay to power the SSR by connecting 12V to one side of the relay and connecting the other side to the SSR control line, using the relay to turn the SSR on and off. Alternately, you could use the relay with 110v to enable/disable the 220v AC contactor or power relay and eliminate the SSR.

With relay output you usually want to have a longer cycle time to minimize the number of relay on/off cycles. I use the same PID and use it in ON/OFF mode, element is on until the process temp is reached, then turns off. I don't have a problem hitting my strike water process temp using this mode.

If these options don't work then look for a PID with both SSR output and manual mode like the myPin TD4 or the Auberins PIDs.
 
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