Wolf Initial Setup, I cant quite figure it out

Chocolatesoupcan · 11-03-2012, 11:06 AM

Has anyone seen a manual for Wolf?

I finally got around to building my offset, and I am having trouble keeping temp.

I looked at this one to get the gist of where I should have my settings on the pit and meat probe. Those settings are pretty easy to understand.

It looks like a lot of people are having a tough time figuring out what the swings are like when the PID is learning.

I can get the pit up to temp in manual, but it does not seem to want to cooperate in auto. If i switch to auto mode at 225 and want to keep it there, it will usually drop to 210 then hover there with the fan blowing intermittently for 5 minutes or so, and then it keeps declining down to 160 or so. At that point I just give up and shut it off.

Are you supposed to get the pit up to temp first and then switch to auto? or can you start from auto, and with your meat and pit values in?

I believe I have a 50cm fan, is there anything I need to tweak for that? Its a fairly big pit, and I can get it up 300 degrees in manual mode.

Will changing the P. I. D. side help? I saw that Toronto's posting of Gizzards documentation.

How long does it take for the PID to learn the smoker?

woodpelletsmoker · 11-03-2012, 11:13 AM

Different smoker may need different P.I.D. value to work best.
It is a trial and error process.
First set I=0,D=0, and try different P, say 10, 20, 50, 100

Toronto · 11-03-2012, 01:14 PM

Can you give us a little more detail on your setup?

Dimensions of the offset?

How you have it attached?

Where did you place the pit probe?

Have you tried other settings besides the defaults?

10 or 50 CFM fan?

A pic is worth a thousand words and would save you a lot of typing.

Chocolatesoupcan · 11-03-2012, 02:54 PM

Can you give us a little more detail on your setup?

Dimensions of the offset? 12x12x12 box with a vertical feed pipe and feeds out on the right to a large converted propane tank.

How you have it attached? Welded

Where did you place the pit probe? right side of pit,

Have you tried other settings besides the defaults? I set all the Phase 1 and Set 2. I have not adjusted anything else.
Phase 1, SC1 Pit Temps TC1 Time AL1 Low temp.alarm AH1 High Temp. Alarmand Set 2.

SET2 P1 Meat Temp. T Time for P1, minute P2 Temp after P1,will keep meat at P2. P3 Maximum PIT temp.when meat probe dominates

10 or 50 CFM fan? 50 CFM fan

I will try to load a pic through my phone.

Toronto · 11-03-2012, 09:25 PM

Where is your fan mounted onto the offset?

Is your pit probe about where I put it in the pic?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolatesoupcan

I can get the pit up to temp in manual, but it does not seem to want to cooperate in auto. If i switch to auto mode at 225 and want to keep it there, it will usually drop to 210 then hover there with the fan blowing intermittently for 5 minutes or so, and then it keeps declining down to 160 or so. At that point I just give up and shut it off.

If I had to take a stab in the dark I would say that your 50CFM is overkill for your 12x12x12 inch offset box. Maybe turn down the HDC setting to 25% and see what happens? That should bring it down to 12.5CFM which should be plenty.

Question: When you see the temps drop way below the target temps on the Wolf does the fan blow at full speed?

If yes, does the fan at full speed snuff out the fire?

If no, something is wrong it should be blowing at full speed if you are 30-40F below target temps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolatesoupcan

Are you supposed to get the pit up to temp first and then switch to auto? or can you start from auto, and with your meat and pit values in?

You can start it below temp and it should bring it there automatically.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolatesoupcan

Its a fairly big pit, and I can get it up 300 degrees in manual mode.

This eliminates the fan being the issue.

woodpelletsmoker · 11-03-2012, 09:48 PM

How do you set P1,P2,P3. and real temperature of meat
It controls fan also.
If P1 reaches to target value, P1 will take over control of fan.

Say if you set SC1=225F, and P1=140F
When P1 reaches to 140F, it will keep meat at 140F.
In most cases the pit temperature must be much lower than 225F by then.

If you prefer the smoker always at 225F, you can simply set P1>225, say P1=300F
Or you place meat probe outside the smoker.

Chocolatesoupcan · 11-05-2012, 06:25 PM

That is close to where I have the pit probe, its closer to the top but still on the left side.
When it drops way below temp, It will blow full speed for less than a minute then it will stop and give bursts every 5 minutes or so. It doesn't come anywhere close to bringing temp back after 30+minutes.

I had it set up at Set 1 SC1=225 TC1=720 AL1=160 AH1=250 SC2=0000
Set 2 P1 =195 T=120 P2=170 P3= 250
F-C = 0001 SL1=1111 SL2=1011 HDC=0100

When I was running it I had the meat probe outside the smoker.

Toronto · 11-05-2012, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolatesoupcan

That is close to where I have the pit probe, its closer to the top but still on the left side.
When it drops way below temp, It will blow full speed for less than a minute then it will stop and give bursts every 5 minutes or so. It doesn't come anywhere close to bringing temp back after 30+minutes.

From the way the fan is behaving it seems like its giving bursts to maintain temps, which tells me that the controller believes its at the target temp. The only things left to play with really is the HDC and PID settings?

Try P=7 I=0 D=0 and see if that helps?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolatesoupcan

I had it set up at Set 1 SC1=225 TC1=720 AL1=160 AH1=250 SC2=0000
Set 2 P1 =195 T=120 P2=170 P3= 250
F-C = 0001 SL1=1111 SL2=1011 HDC=0100

Settings look good to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolatesoupcan

When I was running it I had the meat probe outside the smoker.

Well this eliminates bad P1, P2 and P3 settings altogether.

woodpelletsmoker · 11-05-2012, 10:11 PM

please do a restore to default. I worry some data may be changed.

first manual to 150F and change to auto mode then.
Please do not disturb when auto mode. no open door, no change air inlet/outlet, no touch controller

Try P=5,10,20,50,100 and I=0, D=0
Try also HDC=0090, 0080

It is really a trial and error process to find the best data for your very own pit

woodpelletsmoker · 11-06-2012, 12:03 AM

there is a great paper regarding how to tune P,I,D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controllerThe graph explains how P,I,D effects temperature

woodpelletsmoker · 11-17-2012, 06:21 PM

May I know your latest news about WOLF.

11-03-2012, 11:06 AM	#1
Chocolatesoupcan Found some matches. Join Date: 07-26-12 Location: New Orleans, LA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Wolf Initial Setup, I cant quite figure it out Has anyone seen a manual for Wolf? I finally got around to building my offset, and I am having trouble keeping temp. I looked at this one to get the gist of where I should have my settings on the pit and meat probe. Those settings are pretty easy to understand. It looks like a lot of people are having a tough time figuring out what the swings are like when the PID is learning. I can get the pit up to temp in manual, but it does not seem to want to cooperate in auto. If i switch to auto mode at 225 and want to keep it there, it will usually drop to 210 then hover there with the fan blowing intermittently for 5 minutes or so, and then it keeps declining down to 160 or so. At that point I just give up and shut it off. Are you supposed to get the pit up to temp first and then switch to auto? or can you start from auto, and with your meat and pit values in? I believe I have a 50cm fan, is there anything I need to tweak for that? Its a fairly big pit, and I can get it up 300 degrees in manual mode. Will changing the P. I. D. side help? I saw that Toronto's posting of Gizzards documentation. How long does it take for the PID to learn the smoker?

11-03-2012, 11:13 AM	#2
woodpelletsmoker is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 03-29-11 Location: Beijing,China Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Different smoker may need different P.I.D. value to work best. It is a trial and error process. First set I=0,D=0, and try different P, say 10, 20, 50, 100

11-03-2012, 01:14 PM	#3
Toronto Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 09-12-12 Location: Toronto Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Can you give us a little more detail on your setup? Dimensions of the offset? How you have it attached? Where did you place the pit probe? Have you tried other settings besides the defaults? 10 or 50 CFM fan? A pic is worth a thousand words and would save you a lot of typing.

11-03-2012, 02:54 PM	#4
Chocolatesoupcan Found some matches. Join Date: 07-26-12 Location: New Orleans, LA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Can you give us a little more detail on your setup? Dimensions of the offset? 12x12x12 box with a vertical feed pipe and feeds out on the right to a large converted propane tank. How you have it attached? Welded Where did you place the pit probe? right side of pit, Have you tried other settings besides the defaults? I set all the Phase 1 and Set 2. I have not adjusted anything else. Phase 1, SC1 Pit Temps TC1 Time AL1 Low temp.alarm AH1 High Temp. Alarmand Set 2. SET2 P1 Meat Temp. T Time for P1, minute P2 Temp after P1,will keep meat at P2. P3 Maximum PIT temp.when meat probe dominates 10 or 50 CFM fan? 50 CFM fan I will try to load a pic through my phone.

11-03-2012, 09:48 PM	#6
woodpelletsmoker is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 03-29-11 Location: Beijing,China Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	How do you set P1,P2,P3. and real temperature of meat It controls fan also. If P1 reaches to target value, P1 will take over control of fan. Say if you set SC1=225F, and P1=140F When P1 reaches to 140F, it will keep meat at 140F. In most cases the pit temperature must be much lower than 225F by then. If you prefer the smoker always at 225F, you can simply set P1>225, say P1=300F Or you place meat probe outside the smoker.

11-05-2012, 06:25 PM	#7
Chocolatesoupcan Found some matches. Join Date: 07-26-12 Location: New Orleans, LA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	That is close to where I have the pit probe, its closer to the top but still on the left side. When it drops way below temp, It will blow full speed for less than a minute then it will stop and give bursts every 5 minutes or so. It doesn't come anywhere close to bringing temp back after 30+minutes. I had it set up at Set 1 SC1=225 TC1=720 AL1=160 AH1=250 SC2=0000 Set 2 P1 =195 T=120 P2=170 P3= 250 F-C = 0001 SL1=1111 SL2=1011 HDC=0100 When I was running it I had the meat probe outside the smoker.

11-05-2012, 10:11 PM	#9
woodpelletsmoker is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 03-29-11 Location: Beijing,China Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	please do a restore to default. I worry some data may be changed. first manual to 150F and change to auto mode then. Please do not disturb when auto mode. no open door, no change air inlet/outlet, no touch controller Try P=5,10,20,50,100 and I=0, D=0 Try also HDC=0090, 0080 It is really a trial and error process to find the best data for your very own pit

11-06-2012, 12:03 AM	#10
woodpelletsmoker is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 03-29-11 Location: Beijing,China Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	there is a great paper regarding how to tune P,I,D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controllerThe graph explains how P,I,D effects temperature

11-17-2012, 06:21 PM	#11
woodpelletsmoker is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 03-29-11 Location: Beijing,China Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	May I know your latest news about WOLF.