Electrical & Saftey Compliance and RCM Certification

[ozlegacy]

MOD EDIT :
This topic has been moved from the Woodpellets section where it started life as a thread about building your own pellet cooker and went off the track in to a discussion on electrical compliance and safety, which is also a worthwhile discussion topic.

Keep it nice please. Gumb. Forum Moderator

If you want a better controller go for a Savannah controller it will add about $200 to the cost of your setup
This thread is cooking on a budget its a low cost setup using low cost items
For the purists if you want temps within 1 deg spend the dollars [About $4000 ] in the end I bet I can cook a dish the same as you

Fair point and sorry for taking the thread off topic I think your the first person to confirm on this forum though that some of the aftermarket US controllers work on 240v hence the change in topic

[chrisg]

Heh,

There's been a change in the OEM cost of power supplies to such a degree caused by the computer market as much as anything that there is little to no point in a supply manufacturer making three variants, 110/240/universal when the last can be sold into all markets. There are still some 110v only products but probably wont be for much longer.

I passed this thread link along to a couple of welder mates who send thanks, I think they have plans to build their own versions

Sadly my welding skills have completely atrophied and don't have the equipment any more in any event because I would love to put one of these together

Fabulous job, congrats!!

Cheers

[beaver]

*puts on safety hat*

while simple electronics the 240v/110v transformers usually only have to supply about 2a remember that these pellet bbq's are also running igniter rods as well as motors (big amperage).
as an igniter rod and motor cant be a variable voltage (unlike powersupplies) they basically have step down transformers to usually convert to 110v (as many of these are made for the US market).
not all will have stepdown transformers and without one you can possibly break the unit (or worse)
another consideration is that going from 60hz to 50hz for a stepdown it will slow down your auger motor a smidge so if there are complicated electronics that are calibrated to a specific speed of motor you may have to look into a stepdown transformer that converts the hz as well (probably not a problem but definitely something to think about)

for those considering building one of these themselves PLEASE have a sparky friend give it a look over. You wont get it electrically certified but you will at least have peace of mind that you have taken some precautions.

in saying that i love tinkering and love having a play with all this stuff so dont let the above turn you off just be safe

[chrisg]

I was just referencing what is on the open market beaver.

In the pc build world I can buy some ludicrously powerful psus these days, but I do agree, especially on the 50/60Hz.

Cheaper psus that I see from time to time, the ones that sort of come free in a case, the AC ripple DC side is pretty frightening, slow poison for electronics. They are also pretty useless at coping with a power surge, other than being a fuse.

I guess they fail safe but DIY anything around mains power is never to be treated lightly.

Sometimes I do wonder if we made the right choice with nominal 220VAC. I used to employ a crazy but very talented American engineer who thought 110VAC was just a wake up buzz, but even he had respect for Oz mains power, as he should.

It's a bit to somewhat crazy, 60Hz is much more sensible but we end up with a higher voltage at a lower Hz whist in the US, a nominally 110VAC home grid they common up two phases for more demanding needs to get 220VAC...

It used to be much scarier in PC land when we had a switch on the front of the PC for mains voltage, thankfully ATX removed that threat put not before a few guys had painful shocks inside a case and at least one I know of personally died doing a PC service.

Cheers

[beaver]

ah, the old AT PSU days, mains switch was crazy, thank god PSU's these days are as far as the 240v gets, all the rest i think 48v is the highest (or 24v)
i am glad we have 240v but yes, it doesnt help when much of our hobby's cool gadgets are from over the pond

[chrisg]

Yeah,

48VDC is as far as it goes, now. Actually even that is unusual, 24VDC is getting common on CPUs/GPUs.

Big diff though, DC gets hot damned fast, the numbers can be deceptive, as many have found around car batteries

Cheers

[Smokey]

I've been belted with 240 before , It ain't nice, So did one of my sons at age seven who found an open circuit under a house we once had. Burnt a pin hole through his finger as happen to me .
Healthy respect now we have
He's twelve now and wants to be an electrician

[food&fish]

So what your telling me is the controllers for the treager and yoder are especially made for the aust market

[food&fish]

Just spoke to somebody who in an electrical geniuse He is willing to test a few

[Jars]

So what your telling me is the controllers for the treager and yoder are especially made for the aust market

Not sure about the trager, but the yoder sure is. I believe is has to be to be compliant.

[beaver]

its not necessarily the controllers, we had Yoders in aus before compliance.
Much has changed to get compliant as the US standards are WAY lower than aus standards.

Also RE a sparky looking at it he probably can't ctick it. He would probably only be able to provide piece of mind or in some cases (if he is familiar) point out engineering and electrical risks.
Personally I would be happy with this as you are building a one off. It's not like you will sue yourself.

It's all quite complicated and not worth starting a big hoo ha about but yes. Assume that almost all the 240v pellet cookers and their parts aren't compliant unless you see a Ctick (which to my knowledge none of them have except yoder)

[food&fish]

So what your telling me is the controllers for the treager and yoder are especially made for the aust market

Not sure about the trager, but the yoder sure is. I believe is has to be to be compliant.

Ok I see your point the 100 grills or so that are made for the aust market have a different controller than the 4000 they make for the other country's

[urbangriller]

It's all quite complicated and not worth starting a big hoo ha about but yes. Assume that almost all the 240v pellet cookers and their parts aren't compliant unless you see a Ctick (which to my knowledge none of them have except yoder)

This is the back of my GMG Jim Bowie.

The GMG's were not imported into the country, sold or marketed until the Ctick complience was complete.



Chris

[beaver]

And GMG it seems.
The picture above is what you should be looking for on these products

[urbangriller]

And GMG it seems.
The picture above is what you should be looking for on these products

While the C-Tick is still a good indicator of complience, it is no longer required.

The C-Tick mark has been consolidated with other regulatory approval marks into a single compliance mark— the RCM. The new scheme has commenced a bit over 6 months ago and is in transition.

A new database has been established for all supplier registration and the supplier identification requirements removed from the labeling notices.....Stickers are no longer part of the reglatory requirements (after all anyone can print a sticker)......So, new equipment registired under the RCM, will not have a sticker.

Cheers
Chris