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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
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bizarre temp controller behavior
On Apr 15, 2:02*pm, Cydrome Leader wrote:
I've been working on a large C-41 film developing machine that has vats of chemicals which must be held at exact temperates of 100F. Each tank had 100 ohm platinum junction probes and the controllers are the digiwheel style Omron E5CS-somethingsomething units. Most have failed and other methods are used to maintain chemistry temperature, but the critical one for developer is acting strange. We got a new probe for it, a two lead Pt probe and wired it up into the cable harness going back to the controller of the machine using the original three leads. When exposed to air the proble and Omron unit work fine. If you warm it with your hand, it works fine. If you dip it in a jug of any liquid it measures the temp corrected. If the probe goes into any part of the developer, the temp reads as out of range (39.9C or around 106F). Ok, maybe it's electrical leakage. Putting the probe in an electrically insulated sheath doesn't work either. Temps go out of limits or read really high. Ok, maybe the probe isn't grounded, or there's a weird electrical leakage issue, so I ground the probe to the original thermistor shield. No dice, temps our of range. I even attached a lead to the metal probe and dumped it into the developer tank to see if it's electrical noise or leakage. No problems with temp readings in air or liquid if the probe housing is wired to the developer tank. It just never works when immersed, which is baffling. I tried the other "spare" controllers and they all seem to behave the same way, or are just dead. Tried other new probes, they all behave the same way too. They all measure 107ish ohms at room temp and the controllers are the correct ones for platinum probes. The only and next move is just replace the temp controller. The omron stuff has crappy docs (good luck finding old data sheets) *and is overly complex, so I'm steering towards something from Panasonic. No crazy hysteresis loops or fuzzy logic are needed. If the heater has to cycle every 10 seconds, that's fine as the racks going in an out of the tanks can shock the temperatures, and fast recovery is needed. The machine itself has no docs, is no longer made and there are no original parts available. Having custom parts made for these things is becoming the norm, and pretty expensive. The original probes were sealed in plastic tubes, but the reason why isn't known. There are no spares of even duds left to take apart. I tried replacing the cable of about 10 feet between the controller and probe, but it behaved about the same way but still registered a temp too high. Has anybody come across something this strange, or know what may be causing it? Having worked with photochemicals, the developer is VERY reactive(or it wouldn't work). You no doubt have an electrochemical reaction going on between contents, sensor and some fastener or plumbing somewhere in the tank. If I were speccing sensors for such an item, they would be glass-encased if immersed. It wouldn't have to be much of reaction to get a few millivolts out on the leads, enough to mess up any temperature signal. It wouldn't take a lot to seal the end of a suitable glass tube, drop the temp sensor in that and see if the problem goes away when dunked in the tank. It would take a pretty sensitive VOM to measure the voltage at that level, they DO exist, but usually aren't a shelf item at Lowe's. We generally used a mirror galvanometer and a Wheatstone bridge when messing with such things in the lab. Stan |
#2
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
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bizarre temp controller behavior
In article
, Stanley Schaefer wrote: On Apr 15, 2:02*pm, Cydrome Leader wrote: I've been working on a large C-41 film developing machine that has vats of chemicals which must be held at exact temperates of 100F. Each tank had 100 ohm platinum junction probes and the controllers are the digiwheel style Omron E5CS-somethingsomething units. Most have failed and other methods are used to maintain chemistry temperature, but the critical one for developer is acting strange. We got a new probe for it, a two lead Pt probe and wired it up into the cable harness going back to the controller of the machine using the original three leads. When exposed to air the proble and Omron unit work fine. If you warm it with your hand, it works fine. If you dip it in a jug of any liquid it measures the temp corrected. If the probe goes into any part of the developer, the temp reads as out of range (39.9C or around 106F). Ok, maybe it's electrical leakage. Putting the probe in an electrically insulated sheath doesn't work either. Temps go out of limits or read really high. Ok, maybe the probe isn't grounded, or there's a weird electrical leakage issue, so I ground the probe to the original thermistor shield. No dice, temps our of range. I even attached a lead to the metal probe and dumped it into the developer tank to see if it's electrical noise or leakage. No problems with temp readings in air or liquid if the probe housing is wired to the developer tank. It just never works when immersed, which is baffling. I tried the other "spare" controllers and they all seem to behave the same way, or are just dead. Tried other new probes, they all behave the same way too. They all measure 107ish ohms at room temp and the controllers are the correct ones for platinum probes. The only and next move is just replace the temp controller. The omron stuff has crappy docs (good luck finding old data sheets) *and is overly complex, so I'm steering towards something from Panasonic. No crazy hysteresis loops or fuzzy logic are needed. If the heater has to cycle every 10 seconds, that's fine as the racks going in an out of the tanks can shock the temperatures, and fast recovery is needed. The machine itself has no docs, is no longer made and there are no original parts available. Having custom parts made for these things is becoming the norm, and pretty expensive. The original probes were sealed in plastic tubes, but the reason why isn't known. There are no spares of even duds left to take apart. I tried replacing the cable of about 10 feet between the controller and probe, but it behaved about the same way but still registered a temp too high. Has anybody come across something this strange, or know what may be causing it? Having worked with photochemicals, the developer is VERY reactive(or it wouldn't work). You no doubt have an electrochemical reaction going on between contents, sensor and some fastener or plumbing somewhere in the tank. If I were speccing sensors for such an item, they would be glass-encased if immersed. It wouldn't have to be much of reaction to get a few millivolts out on the leads, enough to mess up any temperature signal. It wouldn't take a lot to seal the end of a suitable glass tube, drop the temp sensor in that and see if the problem goes away when dunked in the tank. It would take a pretty sensitive VOM to measure the voltage at that level, they DO exist, but usually aren't a shelf item at Lowe's. We generally used a mirror galvanometer and a Wheatstone bridge when messing with such things in the lab. The sensor appears to be a 100-ohm RTD, not a thermocouple, so millivolts should not have that big an effect. And the RTD is probably encased in but galvanically isolated from a stainless-steel probe. I'm betting on a bad RTD. Joe Gwinn |
#3
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
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bizarre temp controller behavior
On Apr 18, 7:47*am, Joe Gwinn wrote:
In article , Stanley Schaefer wrote: On Apr 15, 2:02 pm, Cydrome Leader wrote: I've been working on a large C-41 film developing machine that has vats of chemicals which must be held at exact temperates of 100F. Each tank had 100 ohm platinum junction probes and the controllers are the digiwheel style Omron E5CS-somethingsomething units. Most have failed and other methods are used to maintain chemistry temperature, but the critical one for developer is acting strange. We got a new probe for it, a two lead Pt probe and wired it up into the cable harness going back to the controller of the machine using the original three leads. When exposed to air the proble and Omron unit work fine. If you warm it with your hand, it works fine. If you dip it in a jug of any liquid it measures the temp corrected. If the probe goes into any part of the developer, the temp reads as out of range (39.9C or around 106F). Ok, maybe it's electrical leakage. Putting the probe in an electrically insulated sheath doesn't work either. Temps go out of limits or read really high. Ok, maybe the probe isn't grounded, or there's a weird electrical leakage issue, so I ground the probe to the original thermistor shield. No dice, temps our of range. I even attached a lead to the metal probe and dumped it into the developer tank to see if it's electrical noise or leakage. No problems with temp readings in air or liquid if the probe housing is wired to the developer tank. It just never works when immersed, which is baffling. I tried the other "spare" controllers and they all seem to behave the same way, or are just dead. Tried other new probes, they all behave the same way too. They all measure 107ish ohms at room temp and the controllers are the correct ones for platinum probes. The only and next move is just replace the temp controller. The omron stuff has crappy docs (good luck finding old data sheets) and is overly complex, so I'm steering towards something from Panasonic. No crazy hysteresis loops or fuzzy logic are needed. If the heater has to cycle every 10 seconds, that's fine as the racks going in an out of the tanks can shock the temperatures, and fast recovery is needed. The machine itself has no docs, is no longer made and there are no original parts available. Having custom parts made for these things is becoming the norm, and pretty expensive. The original probes were sealed in plastic tubes, but the reason why isn't known. There are no spares of even duds left to take apart. I tried replacing the cable of about 10 feet between the controller and probe, but it behaved about the same way but still registered a temp too high. Has anybody come across something this strange, or know what may be causing it? Having worked with photochemicals, the developer is VERY reactive(or it wouldn't work). *You no doubt have an electrochemical reaction going on between contents, sensor and some fastener or plumbing somewhere in the tank. *If I were speccing sensors for such an item, they would be glass-encased if immersed. *It wouldn't have to be much of reaction to get a few millivolts out on the leads, enough to mess up any temperature signal. *It wouldn't take a lot to seal the end of a suitable glass tube, drop the temp sensor in that and see if the problem goes away when dunked in the tank. *It would take a pretty sensitive VOM to measure the voltage at that level, they DO exist, but usually aren't a shelf item at Lowe's. *We generally used a mirror galvanometer and a Wheatstone bridge when messing with such things in the lab. The sensor appears to be a 100-ohm RTD, not a thermocouple, so millivolts should not have that big an effect. *And the RTD is probably encased in but galvanically isolated from a stainless-steel probe. I'm betting on a bad RTD. Joe Gwinn- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Have you checked that the housing IS isolated? I've been surprised more than one time that way. Stan |
#4
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
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bizarre temp controller behavior
Stanley Schaefer wrote:
On Apr 18, 7:47?am, Joe Gwinn wrote: In article , Stanley Schaefer wrote: On Apr 15, 2:02 pm, Cydrome Leader wrote: I've been working on a large C-41 film developing machine that has vats of chemicals which must be held at exact temperates of 100F. Each tank had 100 ohm platinum junction probes and the controllers are the digiwheel style Omron E5CS-somethingsomething units. Most have failed and other methods are used to maintain chemistry temperature, but the critical one for developer is acting strange. We got a new probe for it, a two lead Pt probe and wired it up into the cable harness going back to the controller of the machine using the original three leads. When exposed to air the proble and Omron unit work fine. If you warm it with your hand, it works fine. If you dip it in a jug of any liquid it measures the temp corrected. If the probe goes into any part of the developer, the temp reads as out of range (39.9C or around 106F). Ok, maybe it's electrical leakage. Putting the probe in an electrically insulated sheath doesn't work either. Temps go out of limits or read really high. Ok, maybe the probe isn't grounded, or there's a weird electrical leakage issue, so I ground the probe to the original thermistor shield. No dice, temps our of range. I even attached a lead to the metal probe and dumped it into the developer tank to see if it's electrical noise or leakage. No problems with temp readings in air or liquid if the probe housing is wired to the developer tank. It just never works when immersed, which is baffling. I tried the other "spare" controllers and they all seem to behave the same way, or are just dead. Tried other new probes, they all behave the same way too. They all measure 107ish ohms at room temp and the controllers are the correct ones for platinum probes. The only and next move is just replace the temp controller. The omron stuff has crappy docs (good luck finding old data sheets) and is overly complex, so I'm steering towards something from Panasonic. No crazy hysteresis loops or fuzzy logic are needed. If the heater has to cycle every 10 seconds, that's fine as the racks going in an out of the tanks can shock the temperatures, and fast recovery is needed. The machine itself has no docs, is no longer made and there are no original parts available. Having custom parts made for these things is becoming the norm, and pretty expensive. The original probes were sealed in plastic tubes, but the reason why isn't known. There are no spares of even duds left to take apart. I tried replacing the cable of about 10 feet between the controller and probe, but it behaved about the same way but still registered a temp too high. Has anybody come across something this strange, or know what may be causing it? Having worked with photochemicals, the developer is VERY reactive(or it wouldn't work). ?You no doubt have an electrochemical reaction going on between contents, sensor and some fastener or plumbing somewhere in the tank. ?If I were speccing sensors for such an item, they would be glass-encased if immersed. ?It wouldn't have to be much of reaction to get a few millivolts out on the leads, enough to mess up any temperature signal. ?It wouldn't take a lot to seal the end of a suitable glass tube, drop the temp sensor in that and see if the problem goes away when dunked in the tank. ?It would take a pretty sensitive VOM to measure the voltage at that level, they DO exist, but usually aren't a shelf item at Lowe's. ?We generally used a mirror galvanometer and a Wheatstone bridge when messing with such things in the lab. The sensor appears to be a 100-ohm RTD, not a thermocouple, so millivolts should not have that big an effect. ?And the RTD is probably encased in but galvanically isolated from a stainless-steel probe. I'm betting on a bad RTD. Joe Gwinn- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Have you checked that the housing IS isolated? I've been surprised more than one time that way. I'll be back tomorrow and an Omron rep is dropping by with some controllers to play with. Panasonic still hasn't contacted me back, so they lose, which is too bad, I liked the timers and stuff back when it was Aromat. As for the probes, I took one for testing. I can't get it to read wrong from 50 to 120F. It jives with my analog TelTru thermometer, which is actually more accurate than the thermocouple that came with the last Fluke meter. The fluke has more digits, but they're all wrong. With a standard meter, there's no connection between the stainless sheath and the leads. I don't know what the internal construction is, so I'm not going to try any 500 volt hipot-like tests, and I doubt it's rated to that anyways. milivolts should not have an effect on a RTD, but how electrically isolated the current temp controllers are is unknown, and again, I can't do a 500 volt hipot test on them, and I can't locate data on what the isolation ratings are to start with. So the plan is down to - try the probe I tested - try a probe inside something glass. There's never glass tubing around when I actually need it for some reason. - try a new controller from the sales guy |
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