Training Wheels before I mess with the KILN
You see, I have a SKUTT 8 kiln for working with PMC (precious metal clay). It’s a nice kiln and all bit it doesn’t have what I would call good temperature control. This got me thinking… rather than spend $300-$800 dollars for a professional kiln controller… I could use the Arduino to make my own. Seems simple enough… I thought. Well, the KILN draws over 15 amps and after a little research, I realized that there was this thing called Proportional-Integral-Derivative feedback control systems… and if I were smart… (I try) that’s what I would be using to control temperature over and undershoot. PMC clay is rather particular about temperatures… and quite expensive… so there is little room for mistakes.
So… initially I need to build a similar controller for my Toner Transfer laminator as a dry run. Lower temperatures and current… so I can test my theory on something that won’t burn down the house.
The first step in that process is to build a breakoutboard… since the MAX6674 is a small surface mount package. Here is the result:
