PID Silvia
Last Sunday, my coffee friend, Irving who is an engineer finally PID his Silvia. This is less than a year after he bought the machine. Below is the unedited outline of his PID adventure.
It was an impulsive purchase. I was walking by an shop selling control & electronics stuff. They have this OMRON E5CZ controller that costs RM200, a fraction of what a new Fuji PXR3 would cost (about RM600). Except for the thermocouple, they have all the stuff I neede to construct the PID modification.
I had to do the mod in a “minimally instrusive” manner, i.e all the mods I do must be 100% reversible, with minimum trace. Which means no drilling, grinding or disfuguring any part of my Silvia, internal or external. Here’s what I’ve done.
- The thermocouple sensor is mounted to a washer (as shownin Murphy’s Silvia Mod).
- The solid state relay (SSR) is mounted using an existing screw in the Silvia (I just have to use an M4 sized nut to secure it).
- I’m using high powered magnets to attach the PID box to the Silvia (no double sided tape).
- PID controller box can be easity removed/detached – using connectors
The cost?:
- Omron E5CZ Controller – RM200
- Solid State Relay 25A – RM35
- Thermocouple – RM34 (bought from Farnell – www.myfarnell.com)
- Box for PID controller – RM3.80
- Lugs cables etc. – RM5
- Connector (Multipole) – RM3.40
- Connector (Thermocouple) – RM22
- Magnets – RM5
Total Cost : RM308.20
Note: the magnet are of 10sen coins size. I’ve used 4 of them. bought them at a stationery shop near my place… strong stuff
I’ve actually spend a bit more money than that, experimenting & testing with a few other ideas. The problem is that 1/32 DIN (25mm x 48mm) controllers are not popular at all in Malaysia. All I could get is the 1/16 DIN ones (48mm x 48mm). 1/32 controllers like the Fuji PXR3 and Omron E5GN would cost about RM500-600 and a lead time of 4 weeks. But with the compact sized controller, you can do a lot of nice stuff (fits well into a lot of common sized boxes).
Another thing… this is a basic brew temperature controller only. I did not put in the Steam temperature control. To do so, I’ll need to add the following :
- 2 relays ( about RM26 total)
- An input module for the Omron E5CZ controller (Don’t know how much).
But that’s for the future.
Now Irving is truly a coffee geek now. I will have to drop by Irving’s place and see it in action before I PID my Silvia.
Click here to view Irving’s mod.
If you are interested to know more about PID your coffee machine or what exactly is PID, check out these resources.
- Rancilio PID Kit review by Randy Glass
- MLG PID Kit
- A Tail about Silvia
- Murphy’s Silvia PID Page
- The Case of Temperature Surfing & PID Control
- Terry Stockdale’s Silvia PID
awesome gosu developer
Generally I don’t read post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very compelled me to take a look at and do so! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thanks, quite nice post.
canon powershot sx210
Thanks , I’ve recently been looking for information approximately this subject for a long time and yours is the greatest I have came upon till now. However, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you certain concerning the source?|What i don’t realize is in reality how you’re now not actually much more smartly-appreciated than you may be now. You’re very intelligent.
Fausto Sween
Hey there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thank you
Jay Brochhausen
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say excellent blog!
Gigi Reidler
Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write on my blog something like that. Can I include a fragment of your post to my website?
Jamel Behanna
Merely to follow up on the update of this topic on your web page and would like to let you know just how much I liked the time you took to generate this handy post. Within the post, you spoke regarding how to really handle this thing with all ease. It would be my own pleasure to gather some more thoughts from your website and come as much as offer other individuals what I have learned from you. Thanks for your usual good effort.
Markus Viveiros
Being a Newbie, I am always researching online for articles which will help me get further ahead.