# Mypin TA4 problems.



## syncman

Building a simple controller for a 5Gal 120V 1550W BIAB kettle. My temp controller is setup for testing with a SSR controlling a lamp. The temp probe works fine, so wiring seems OK. I may have messed up some settings trying to change from C-F.

Question is, if I wanted to maintain a temp. of 156F mash, and never allow more than 3F above or below that, what would the settings be for alm1 and alm2? Alm 2 light is perm on, with test temp set at 60F and lamp switches on and off when it should. Had a question about the lamp cycling on and off, but that seems to be when its  just trying to hold temp at 60 exactly.

The Chinese/English instructions read like "super monkey death car"


----------



## dward51

If you have not seen this thread, take a look at it.  

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...tructions-and-general-pid-ssr-info-by-request

Also here is a much better TA4 configuration manual.

That being said, as I read your post, I'm a little confused. Is the kettle tracking temp correctly and you are having issues when the alarm lights illuminate or is the kettle temp swinging more than 3 degrees and you want to tighten the band up?  To control the actual temp tighter, you will need to fiddle with the P, I, and D settings. Have you set up the kettle in operating conditions (at least with water to simulate normal load) and run an AUTOTUNE session? If you autotuned previously and did not simulate the normal load in the kettle, it will be off.  Let it run until the AT light is out.

To autotune the PID controller:

For the Mypin, press and hold the AT button until the green AT light illuminated. Should take 5 seconds to get into AT mode, and at least 5 minutes to do the autotuning.  Then the AT light will turn off.  I start with my process material at room temp when I run autotune sessions.

Otherwise, you will be manually editing the PID settings to dial it in tighter.

Now if the actual temp in the kettle is tracking correctly and you are asking about the alarm light, that's different.  To have AL1 light when the kettle is over temp and AL 2 light when it is under temp, try this:

ALARM 1 = desired temp variation over set point

ALARM function 1 = 0 (0 sets that function to deviation high or over your set point)

ALARM 2 = desired temp variation under set point

ALARM function 2 = 1 (1 sets that function to deviation low or under your set point)

You could also go another route and use the "section outside" function and a single alarm LED.  That function activates the alarm when the process value is over or under the set value by a designated amount.  I don't recall the TA4 having a decimal value for alarm vale settings, so you might have to use a 2 or 4 degree band. To set alarm 1 for 2 degree band (+/- 1 degree) band, use this setting:

ALARM 1  = 1 (for 2 degree band, use a value of 2 for a 4 degree band)

ALARM function 1 = 4 (alarm if process value is outside the 2 degree band)

Hope this helps


----------



## syncman

Kettle with no probe yet. Just bench setup, with a lamp, for testing before I drill another hole. Set temp at 60F and using hand and ice to raise and lower temps for testing. Seems OK, except for alm2 light permanent on. Will follow instruction above and try again, thanks.


----------



## dward51

I just noticed a "cut & paste" error for the ALARM 2. Should be deviation low (not high as in first post). See below (I'm also editing the original post to correct this for someone who reads it later).

ALARM 1 = desired temp variation over set point

ALARM function 1 = 0 (0 sets that function to deviation high or over your set point)

ALARM 2 = desired temp variation under set point

ALARM function 2 = 1 (1 sets that function to deviation low or under your set point)

Note:  If you are testing with the temp probe in air over a light bulb, you are using air for your process.  The temp swings in open air would be very wide.  You would be better to test using a small metal container of water over the light bulb as your heat source, and put the probe in the water (just stick with a lower test temp as the light bulb will not get the water uber hot).  I think that will smooth out your results a bit more.  Then run an autotune cycle on that setup.

Also MYPIN units are usually either total crap that don't work at all or they work great.  Generally there is no middle ground.  The crap problem comes from all the cheap Chinese knock offs that are on e-bay that are not even real MYPIN units.  So it is not impossible that your light that will not turn off is not related to this potential issue.  Depends on where you bought the PID from (and what sort of warranty they gave).  So if you eliminate all other possibilities, it probably will mean the PID has issues.


----------

