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have a pot that is bigger than 10 gallon and the heater is drawing 18 A, and you need to
raise the temperature by 108 °F, you better use one of the methods mentioned below to
reduce the heat in the controller. Otherwise, you might damage the controller.
Please note that when the ambient temperature is hot, as it is often the case in some
commercial kitchens, the temperature of the controller will get hotter. This is because the
heat dissipation is mostly determined by the temperature gradient (the temperature
difference between the ambient and the controller) instead of absolute temperature of the
controller itself. If the controller reaches 50 °C when the ambient is at 20 °C, it will reach
70 °C when the ambient is at 40 °C.
Solutions to reduce the heat stress on the controller
.
1) Use hot water. If you fill the pot with hot water that has a temperature close to the set
temperature, the heat dissipation of the controller is not an issue. As we have mentioned,
once the temperature is close to the set point temperature, the controller starts to pulse
(PWM) the power. The effective current is much lower, making heat not an issue.
2) Limit maximum output power. If you set output reduction parameter to 80%, then, a
18A heater will become a 14.4 A heater. It will take 25% longer time to heat up the pot,
but the controller will not over heat.
In addition to these solutions, following information will also help you to manage the heat.
Place the controller in right place. The SSR of Auber WS series controller is mounted in
the bottom of chassis. The chassis is made of 3 mm thick aluminum for good heat
dissipation. Do not cover the controller with any insulation. If you are running at 18 A with
a large pot, place the controller in a well-ventilated area and tilt the instrument up with its
front leg will help it to remove the heat better. However, the tilted position might allow the
water to be collected at the back frame. Although the controller is splash proof, you should
avoid water to be dripped to the controller when open the lid of the cooker.
Increase the P value. This can only provide limited help for reducing the heat. P is the
proportional band. P=200 means the proportional band is 20.0 degrees. When the
temperature is raised to less than 20 degrees from the set point temperature, the
controller will start to reduce the power sooner. But if the integration time is set to very
short, the controller might start to run at full power again soon.
