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Cook stove controller on electric smoker?

Hi all, I have a couple of items that use 1500 watt elements and need to be able to adjust the temperature on them. Both are wired where they are either full on or full off, no in between. One is a meat smoker and the other a boiler with a submerged element. I have been trying to use a surface burner controller off an old GE electric cooktop. The problem is that it is just full on or full off with no between. The switch is of course 220v and I am running it 110v. Is there some way to hook this up so I can get it to adjust the temperature? The switch has L1 and L2 for the inputs and H1 and H2 for the outputs to the burner. I simply wired it into an extension cord so I can move it from the smoker to the boil pot. Any suggestions??

Reply to
catfish
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Thermodisc makes the ones you're looking for. They sell mostly to appliance OEMs, so the unit price in quantity will be right. OEM & quantity are the important concepts here! They supply samples, though, so they might sell you one. Or give you one if you ask nicely.

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Reply to
thrugoodmarshall

Hmmm...more sources--this time on the institutional rather than industrial side:

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Some a little cheaper, too.

Have fun!

Reply to
thrugoodmarshall

Thanks for the replies, but most of what I saw is out of my price range. This is a smoker that was given to me and I'm trying to build the heat control for cheap. It doesn't have to have the thermostat control on it. If I can just "turn it down" like a dimmer switch does a light bulb I would be very happy. I have the surface controls from an electric range and would like to figure out how to make these work. I have a few friends who would like to do the same with theirs and it would be great if I could just make a few extension cords with dimmers in them that would work for them. Any suggestions on making the stove controls work? Thanks!

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Reply to
catfish

These things are just a bimetal strip and a contact. The knob bends the strip closer or farther away. I imagine the problem is the heater on the strip is sized for 240v. It may be easier to go buy a 120v "hot plate" control. They are not that expensive at the appliance supply

Reply to
gfretwell

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Or you could use a standard light dimmer, with the correct power rating. It is after all a resistive device.

Reply to
Nirodac

Take a look at the price of a 1500 watt dimmer. :-(

Ed

Reply to
ehsjr

Take the triac out of a cheap one and replace it with one (with heatsink) of the appropriate rating and gate sensitivity (to match the original). Replace the filter inductor with one capable of taking the new maximum current.

Or just make your own from scratch - it is only half a dozen components and the wiring (other than mains safety) is not critical.

Reply to
Palindr☻me

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