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Old February 17th 11, 02:26 PM posted to rec.crafts.pottery
Bob Masta[_2_]
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Posts: 10
Default DIY Kiln Controller

On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:44:26 +0000, Jules
wrote:


Hi - just wondered if anyone has come across any diy plans for an
electric kiln controller using an embedded controller?

I'm in the process of trying to make one, but it would be nice to see
some others for comparison.


No, but I've thought about it. I was thinking more along
the lines of putting an old PC to use for this, since I have
a bunch on hand, and also I could have it plot out
temperature versus time.

The main drawback for me is that modern Windows PCs have no
easy-to-use I/O (parallel port), and older DOS units would
be more trouble to program... and more pointless, if I
wanted to share the plans with others who were not similarly
endowed with a computer graveyard.

However, I have developed a circuit to use a Windows sound
card to read thermocouples (see
http://www.daqarta.com/dw_kkjj.htm ), and it will probably
be fairly easy to get the sound card output to control the
elements.

Since all this involves circuit contruction, it probably
will appeal only to the most die-hard tinkerers. I think
your idea of using an embedded controller makes a lot more
sense, though.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

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