John Rodgers on mon 27 jan 03
There has been so much on Clayart recently about controllers for
electric kilns that I have decided to let the cat out of the bag and
bring my current project to the light of day ... a homebuilt interface
for a Desktop PC that will allow the monitoring and control of up to
eight devices (read - kilns) at one time.
Bear in mind that this thing is in development and has not yet been
tested but the code is complete and all components of the circuit board
for the interface are installed. I have to mount it in a box, and decide
how to connect my cables to the kilns. It appears that the cost of the
interface will be about $125 for the components..
The principle is that by using the parallel printer interface on the PC,
a box can be built that will sense the micro voltage from a K-type
thermocouple, provide an input through the parallel interface to the
computer. A software program will, in conjunction with the processor,
use that signal to provide a corresponding control signal back out the
interface to an SSR - Solid State Relay - connected to 240V/60A
service. The signal through the relay will turn the power on and off.
With the code program, the signal can control ramp, hold, time and
temperature. This information is simultaneously displayed on the monitor
screen. At the present time the code is in QBasic and will remain so
until I have time to get it re-written in Visual Basic so it can be run
under Windows.
I'm no computer guru and a lot of people have helped in getting this
together. I am just about finished with a new web site, and will post
credits to that site when the project is complete. It is my intent to
make all information - Parts List, Circuit Diagrams, and Instructions
available on the site for those who would like to build one of these PC
Controller systems.
Just thought I would let everyone know about this. Please bear with me
until I can get it completed and tested.
Regards to all.
John Rodgers
Birmingham, AL
Kay Howard & Phil Chaban on mon 27 jan 03
I would be very interested. Especially if the program keeps data stored to
disc as the fireing progresses. Some of the advantages that would be useful
are an open element, worn out elements in total, and "did that fire finish?"
(for power outages) But anything that starts the process of controlling from
a PC is good to me.
Phil, in Grass Lake, MI
-----Original Message-----
From: John Rodgers
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Monday, January 27, 2003 4:49 AM
Subject: Coming Soon - PC control of Electric Kilns
>There has been so much on Clayart recently about controllers for
>electric kilns that I have decided to let the cat out of the bag and
>bring my current project to the light of day ... a homebuilt interface
>for a Desktop PC that will allow the monitoring and control of up to
>eight devices (read - kilns) at one time.
>
>Bear in mind that this thing is in development and has not yet been
>tested but the code is complete and all components of the circuit board
>for the interface are installed. I have to mount it in a box, and decide
>how to connect my cables to the kilns. It appears that the cost of the
>interface will be about $125 for the components..
>
>The principle is that by using the parallel printer interface on the PC,
>a box can be built that will sense the micro voltage from a K-type
>thermocouple, provide an input through the parallel interface to the
>computer. A software program will, in conjunction with the processor,
>use that signal to provide a corresponding control signal back out the
>interface to an SSR - Solid State Relay - connected to 240V/60A
>service. The signal through the relay will turn the power on and off.
>With the code program, the signal can control ramp, hold, time and
>temperature. This information is simultaneously displayed on the monitor
>screen. At the present time the code is in QBasic and will remain so
>until I have time to get it re-written in Visual Basic so it can be run
>under Windows.
>
>I'm no computer guru and a lot of people have helped in getting this
>together. I am just about finished with a new web site, and will post
>credits to that site when the project is complete. It is my intent to
>make all information - Parts List, Circuit Diagrams, and Instructions
>available on the site for those who would like to build one of these PC
>Controller systems.
>
>Just thought I would let everyone know about this. Please bear with me
>until I can get it completed and tested.
>
>Regards to all.
>
>John Rodgers
>Birmingham, AL
>
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>
iandol on tue 28 jan 03
Dear John Rodgers,
I was talking about this sort of thing over the holidays with the =
grandsons. they thought it was a great idea but so far, no feed back.
Just a couple of points. First is this for Electric kilns only or is it =
adaptable to other firing processes.
Second, would you consider the alternative of interfacing via a USB =
connection?
Interesting project, good luck with it.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis, Redhill, South Australia
Fabienne Cassman on sun 2 feb 03
If anyone has an Orton controller or several, it is already available.
I have finally managed to hook mine up to the computer using Orton's software with their controller. It can manage several kilns. The software was free and is downloadable. The interface is the only expense. If you have questions, contact me off list.
--
Fabienne http://www.milkywayceramics.com/
WARNING: I cannot be held responsible for the above
because my cats have apparently learned to type.
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