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« on: August 08, 2017, 01:47:07 PM »
Hi, I'm new to the forum so I apologize if this is going in the wrong place.
The company I roast with owns a Diedrich IR24. It's an older model ('80s I think?) and all we have is the first generation Siemens Simatic Panel. After describing the benefits that Roastmaster could offer for our development and workflow the owner of our company gave us permission to get RM up and running on our system. Now the question is "how?".
In one sense the ThermaQ blue seems like the simplest option, but then again it would require adding an additional probe (especially since our machine has a K type probe and ThermaQ uses J). I assume that going this route would require drilling into the machine. If there is another way to do this please let me know.
The other primary option I see is Phidgets, which seems like a better long-term solution (since it would also set us up for other software if we desired, like Artisan or even Cropster). My concern is that it looks incredibly complicated to get set up. Other questions:
-Would we be able to somehow "tap in" to our existing K-type thermocouple, or get one with two outputs (not sure what the technical term is)? If not then Phidgets has the same problem that ThermaQ does—the need to drill into the roaster.
-I read somewhere on the forums that Diedrichs already had Phidgets installed... Did I misunderstand this?
-I also notice that our thermocouple has two wires running from it... Is that normal, or does that possibly indicate that it already has two outputs? If so I'll have to look into what the other one is being used for if anything.
I basically need some direction and recommendations for getting this set up. Thanks in advance!