Control of the servo heating valve provide the overall air temperature control. In the similar way, control of the servo drive for opening/closure of flaps and servo humidifying valve (atomizers) provide the overall air humidity control.

MC-100R controls its relay outputs completely automatically. All output adjustments are set in the factory during production, so the end-user do not have to make any additional adjustments. All irregular situations are detected and can be solved in automatic control unit itself, or some user/vendor actions must be taken, depending on the type of irregularity that occurred.

Automatic, semiautomatic and remote (via PC computer) control mode is available.

When in automatic control mode, MC-100R follows the chosen drying regime and achieves optimal drying conditions in the kiln with automatic control of installed equipment through its relay outputs. There are 20 available drying regimes given to the user to chose from.  Some of them (12) are invariable given by "NIGOS", while user can alter or make 8 new regimes.

In semiautomatic control mode, user can set desired setpoints for air temperature and humidity based on the personal experience, and the automatic control unit only maintain those values inside the kiln at the desired point.

Drying of the wood always pass through several stages. When the drying starts, automatic control unit enters measurement stage. In this stage, data needed for drying are collected from the air temperature and humidity and wood moisture content probes. After this stage is finished, heating stage follows if additional heating in the drying chamber is needed. When required temperature is achieved, automatic control unit advances to drying stage. Automatic control unit starts to control temperature/humidity/moisture in this stage. Conditioning is a stage performed at the near end of the drying in order to equalize moisture content on the surface and in the deeper section of the wood timber. Last stage is cooling stage when automatic control unit allows only air exchange system to operate. Air inside the drying chamber is cooled down until temperature set by user is achieved.

In all control modes, MC-100R automatically changes direction of flow fans. After a certain time, and with a short pause between, MC-100R alternates direction of reversible flow fans, which is indicated on LCD display. User can alternate direction manually, if needed.

If during the drying process some alarm situations occur, they are detected, shown on a display, and an alarm is turned on. Alarm situations are divided into 2 groups, which are: 

• warnings - drying process continues, but error notification is shown
• alarms - drying process is interrupted because an equipment malfunction is detected

After a power failure has occurred, drying is automatically continued starting from the measured wood moisture content upon power supply reconnection.

Since MC-100R has a built-in communication port, it can be connected to a PC computer, which enables control of a drying process from a distance (office or suitable operating room). Also, up to 15 kilns can be connected to a single PC.

All relevant data of a drying process are recorded in MC-100R's internal memory. Data samples are taken every 3 hours. Internal memory can hold such data for a period of up to 1 month.

Technical data of a MC-100R automatic control unit are given in the following tables.