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Alohapiggy

Thermoworks Billows

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21 hours ago, MacKenzie said:

helliger, I had to send the new replacement unit it back too, it didn't work either but the third time was a charm. Knock on wood it keeps on working, it's nice when it works. :-D

 

We'll see how it goes. Cooking a chuck roast right now with the new one that came in yesterday. It does seem that the Bluetooth is way more stable with this one. No dropouts 

 

And looks like I was a bit wrong about graphs. If you go into any one graph it saves them for all probe graphs. (Not intuitive but that's what it does)

Edited by helliger
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I wouldn't think so.  The common filaments used for printing are not great candidates for anything that could get hot.   Of course they are molten and deposited in the printing process so it's not hard to imagine that they do not like heat.  I had a printed part fold over and collapse in the heat of an automobile in the summer.   

My son has a Signals/Billows system and I made an adapter for his to fit his Primo.   Of course that is different than the Guru type cylindrical mount.

Your best bet is to have a proper adapter made.  A machined tube to fit the KK port welded to small plate which is drilled for sheet metal screws to hold the fan.  Here's one that is made for a 3/4" NPT coupling mount and a FireBoard fan just as an idea.  BTW, this example is used on a Lone Star Grillz stick burner.   Such an adapter could be made then the Billows fan drilled and attached with sheet metal screws.   I toyed with such a adapter but since I am a FireBoard and Guru Fan user, I moved on.  

EDIT: The follow up post directly below postulated on the printed material that was affected to be PLA - it was ABS.   "The Person" doesn't use PLA. 

 

 

 

 

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Edited by Alphonse
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2 hours ago, GeorgeFromOz said:

Does anyone think that an adaptor could be 3D printed? I am in the same situation. 

 

Really depends on the material you use.  Sounds like in the example above, the person used PLA, which is highly unstable with temperature and also has the lowest print temperature.  ABS would be next, but it doesn't like outdoor environments so much and has the next lowest print temperature.  PETG, polycarbonate and possibly nylon would be a different story.  But the average person will have a hard time using some of them due to the 300 degree C  print temps of some brands.  PETG can be printed around 260 C, but again brands differ along with printers.  I've seen people print some of these materials at lower temps, but they usually do better at the higher temps.

I'd definitely try it first, worst case it's going to deform and you finish the cook manually.  But if you are using it for a typical low and slow, the normal temps of 225-250 are far below the melting points of better 3D printed material.  Anything but PLA should work OK, PETG would be much better.  Not that this adapter needs to be food grade, but PETG is considered safe for use with foods.

Another solution would be to just use a Guru fan.  Even if the device is not 12v, it's a pretty simple matter to use a relay at whatever voltage the device you are using outputs, then the relay just switches a 12v wall plug for the Guru fan.  Long, long ago, before the Guru series had an open lid detect feature built into the firmware, I made an electronic version for my ProCom4.  It was simply a tilt switch and a timer that switched a relay for the Guru fan.  I could adjust the timer, so was able to dial it in pretty good so I wouldn't have temp flare ups opening the lid.  Anyway, guess my point is when there's a will there's a way.

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On 8/27/2019 at 4:06 AM, Alohapiggy said:

I finally got a reply back from Thermoworks after showing them pics of the KK fan port.  This is the response I got. 

 

“I would recommend pulling the vent assembly out, remove the wooden handle then use one of the 3 vent holes and taping the other two.  Without knowing what's behind the vent that is the best option”

 

So I’m guessing Thermoworks isn’t making an adapter to adapt billows to the KK.   

 

Argh.. Tape just doesn't work..  

Called them today and Kevin from the development team at Thermoworks will be calling me tomorrow with ideas to make these work in the Guru port.. 

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9 minutes ago, DennisLinkletter said:

Spoke with Kevin in product development at Thermoworks, he was very helpful and told me they are currently developing some adapters. 
One way or another, we'll get ya an adapter to be able to use their fan in the Guru faceplate on on your KK.

Sounds very good.  I would hate to see anyone using a plastic adapter or worse yet, destroying the port to attach a $59 fan! 

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On 4/13/2020 at 8:59 PM, Alphonse said:

I wouldn't think so.  The common filaments used for printing are not great candidates for anything that could get hot.   Of course they are molten and deposited in the printing process so it's not hard to imagine that they do not like heat.  I had a printed part fold over and collapse in the heat of an automobile in the summer.   

My son has a Signals/Billows system and I made an adapter for his to fit his Primo.   Of course that is different than the Guru type cylindrical mount.

Your best bet is to have a proper adapter made.  A machined tube to fit the KK port welded to small plate which is drilled for sheet metal screws to hold the fan.  Here's one that is made for a 3/4" NPT coupling mount and a FireBoard fan just as an idea.  BTW, this example is used on a Lone Star Grillz stick burner.   Such an adapter could be made then the Billows fan drilled and attached with sheet metal screws.   I toyed with such a adapter but since I am a FireBoard and Guru Fan user, I moved on.  

EDIT: The follow up post directly below postulated on the printed material that was affected to be PLA - it was ABS.   "The Person" doesn't use PLA. 

 

 

I had similar problem with a fan installation because it was overheating very fast. Actually I still haven't find a solution. I do agree that some adapter might help to prevent the material from heating

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Earlier in the thread, someone suggested 3D printing some parts.  I am relatively new to 3D printing, but agree that plastic probably won't work on a hot grill.  There is an option on some of the 3D printing services to print in metal - either stainless steel or a mix of stainless steel and bronze.  The way it works is that the 3D printer uses metal dust mixed into some sort of a plastic.  After the 3D print is made, the plastic binder is burned away in a furnace and the metal fuses together.  I believe there is a bit of shrinkage that occurs I doubt it's as structurally strong as something that is properly cast, milled, or forged, but it is probably more than strong enough for this purpose.  

You can design something at home and prototype in PLA, and then order the final metal print somewhere else.  If someone designs an adapter, please share your work with the forum!  

https://www.shapeways.com/materials/stainless-steel

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