Question for Adcraft induction burner owners

[IanMC]

I'm considering buying an Adcraft IND-C208V, and am wondering if it has a fan that runs when the unit is powered on. I'd like to control the burner using an external unit, but am worried that completely shutting off the power in between cycles may be harmful to it if it has a built in fan, as it will not be able to maintain cooling throughout.

Thanks!

 

[brumateur1]

I don't know if Adcraft IND-C208V has a fan, but if it has you can rewire it to an external power supply to make it always spin when brewing.

 

[IanMC]

Not a bad idea! Thanks.

Another idea I've been toying with is using a Raspberry Pi to control a servo motor attached to the power knob. Properly calibrated, this should be able to provide a fine level of control over the heat level, and even utilize a PID algorithm.

However, it also seems like a lot of work... which is why I started thinking that I could just something basic like an Inkbird 308 to control it by switching the overall unit power on/off, as long as the fan isn't an issue.

Edit: I should have noted that I want to use this unit for mashing as well as boiling, so that's why fine temperature control is a concern.

 

[brumateur1]

I can make you arduino based PID board to control a servo. The main question - will you be able to reliable connect powerful enough servo to control a knob?

 

[IanMC]

No idea. I don't have the induction unit yet, so I don't know how much torque is required to turn the knob, but I can't imagine it's that much. I thought this would be an elegant way to gain full PID control over the unit without modifying it internally. I'm not completely against doing that... but if you can avoid the risk of shock, frying the electronics, or setting the whole thing (and your house) on fire, then why bother? That said, just switching it on and off, as I know many others have done, avoids all this also, but I guess I'm just looking for someone with experience to tell me, "it's okay, it will work fine, and the cooktop won't suffer and die quickly as a result." Hence the question about the fan.