Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

I thought a temp controller should be easier to figure out, and I guess once I had it in hand the 4 pages of instructions in the 8 page manual would convert from japanese to english. It might be interesting solve the riddle of what the following terms in the manual mean when programming it:

LBA deadband
autotuning
proportional band/cycle
integral time
derivative time
anti-reset windup
proportional cycle

For example, I know what an integral is, but I don't understand their bad-English explanation: "eliminates offset occurring control is performed".

I could not tell from ebay which controller I would be getting: what type of thermocouple it needed, if it included a thermocouple, and if it had a relay or voltage output, as determined by the unseeable extended model number. I also could not tell from the contradicting manual if the relay was 1A or 3A at 240VAC, the second being enough for the heater, the first requiring my own relay.

So, I put a switch on it and stuck in my MM thermocouple.

My ugly but simple control of the motor worked good. No "jerk" lines showed in the final product. I didn't have the parts on hand to change the frequency. It seems to work better with 2 passes instead of one, another less perfect alternative to your double laminator. The second pass could be made higher pressure as you suggest by using an aluminum plate, although this would reduce the heat.

If I wasn't using a brother printer, the control of both temp and motor speed should allow 1 pass with good results, where I see others in the database using 3 to 12 passes with better printers and more expensive laminators (not including my time for the motor control circuit). Maybe they are using paper that's less optimal than my press-n-peel. I'll test the HP photo laser paper soon, and then maybe staples.