Quote:
Originally Posted by unterhausen
An NTC thermistor and temperature controller costs $30 from amzon and makes any crock pot a precision heater.
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
I've used this for a couple different applications. Its not exactly plug and play, you have to be somewhat conversant with PID programing, and you need to wire the pid to a plug and then the solid state relay to an an outlet. My last application was to control a wine cellar cooler.
The advantage of PID control is that it learns how fast the system generates and sheds heat, so it stays ahead of the "swing" unlike a thermostat which often varies by 10-15 degrees-5 on low side then 5 on high. But its wax, not critical.
I've not used one with a crock pot, which has a ton of thermal mass and changes temp rather slowly. A small wax melter for cosmetic use likely is a better application, and the whole unit, with built in temp control, costs what the PID does.