Monday, April 14, 2014

Cheap Thermo Scientific ELED PR305225G Precision Gravity Convection

Thermo Scientific ELED PR305225G Precision Gravity Convection Compact Heating and Drying Oven with Bi-Metallic Thermostat Control and LED Display, 120V, 48L Capacity
Customer Ratings: 2 stars
List Price: $871.00
Sale Price: $754.90
Today's Bonus: 13% Off
Buy Now

I purchased this oven for a project that had a quick turnaround time. I paid the premium price for this US made product hoping it would be of good quality and work the first time. If I wasn't in dire need of one I would have returned it. It arrived slightly dented, but not critically so, and was absolutely coated with itchy insulation dust. Once cleaned up and checked out it heated up quickly. Unfortunately the temperature fluctuated pretty wildly along with some thermostat contact chatter. Turns out this was due to more insulation dust in the temperature controller. Even after cleaning it out that temperature control was erratic.

Other issues: The door is difficult to latch (not related to denting). It is poorly insulated and the exterior get quite hot discoloring the paint (haven't heated it over 120degC).

In the end I re-wired it with a digital PID controller, thermocouple and solid state relay. I also replaced the door latching mechanism with a SS metal magnetic latch. All these additions cost less than $50. It now functions quite well.

I don't like to leave a bad review, but sadly this oven is not good value.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

No comments:

Post a Comment