Another Auber with Temp Problems

[SuperDave]

So, what was the conclusion?  Probe? Auber?

[coachB]

Unable to sort out where the problem occurs so just return both and start from scratch.  Works for me.  Steve is great to work with.

[DivotMaker]

Thought that might be the solution, Bill.  Glad it's working-out for you.  Let us know how the replacement works!

[coachB]

Tony, the new unit arrived yesterday as I was leaving for work.  Great service from Steve by the way.  He received the old one Friday AM and I received the  new one Wednesday.  Also received the Jerky Dryer I ordered online Sunday from him.  I just finished an autotune and wanted to run the numbers by you.  The setup was exactly the same as the last autotune.  The bricks had not been moved, water pan at same level, permanent probe still 1 1/2" from top centered, outside temp ranged from 68-73.  I programmed the PID as shown per our instructions:

                 CO1        140                     E01t               .5
                 CO2        225                     E02t              2.0
                 C03        140                      E03t              1.0                         

Checked after 3 hrs and autotune completed, 195 showing in left Auber display window.  PID listings were as follows:
                                   P             106
                                   I              967
                                   D             241

Do these numbers sound acceptable to you?  I noticed the P# seemed almost double to what other users posted under the group thread, I# a little high, and D# in line with others.  Not to worry?  I'm obviously a little gunshy.  Thanks in advance, again, for all your patience and input.  Steve should officially appoint you Smokin-it Ambassador With Portfolio for what you provide on this forum, with special regard to the Auber.

[DivotMaker]

Bill, the "P" does look high, but you need to run a "simulated" smoke (not in autotune mode) to test it.  Leave your bricks in there, and set C01 to 225, t, 2.0 hours.  Turn the cold smoker on, and test how it rises to temp, and how it holds.  I'd do this before testing with meat.

Thanks, so much, for the kind compliment!  I'm a little passionate about SI smokers, and mainly our great group of fellow smokers here, so it's all fun!  I'm blessed to be a part of the SI team!

[Carp210]

Bill,
I also got a replacement Auber from Steve and this might help you.  Mine is a #2 not a three.  I did two new auto tunes and tried another set of figures from Walt and none performed as well as my old Auber settings. I have done one smoke and three simulated smokes over the last four days.

I put my old numbers into the new Auber and it looks great so far from the test smoke.  I was happy with the results on my old Auber except when it over ran my target by quite a bit on ramp up.  I'll know more tomorrow when I smoke some beef ribs for the first time.

[Carp210]

Auber ramped up to target of 235 in 54 minutes.  Over ran by 4 degrees then dropped back and locked on target for 6 hours and never moved.

I think my problems are behind me now. Thanks to all those who helped me work thru this.

[coachB]

Tony,

I did 2 simulated smokes today with the new Auber, C01 225 @ 2.0.  First one the temp was running fast for first 20 minutes (205), then slowed.  At 45 min.  it was at 215, and at 1hr 13 min it hit 225.  1 hr 35 min at 226.  I didn't get back to the unit until it was at 2hr 25 min and it had ended and box temp showed 174.
I let the box cool down for a few hours and ran the second simulation.  71 at the start, 1/2 hr @ 167, 15 min later @ 209, 1/2 hr after that @ 225.  Stayed at 225-226 until the end.  Length of simulation was troubling, however.  I set the Auber as suggested at 2.0 hrs, but the unit did not shut off until it had gone for 2 hrs 17 min.  That could create a problem.  Any ideas?

[DivotMaker]

I set the Auber as suggested at 2.0 hrs, but the unit did not shut off until it had gone for 2 hrs 17 min.  That could create a problem.  Any ideas?

Hmm... not sure about this one.  Are you certain the rest of the steps were zeroed-out?  It might have been trying to move to step 2? 

[coachB]

Nope, set at C01 2.0 with all other programs zeroed out.  Held temp fine once reached, just ran 17 minutes over.  Puzzling.

[DivotMaker]

During the :17 over, Bill, was the little green light (above window 2) on, showing that power was going to the element?  Or, did the program just fail to shut off at 2 hours?  If the green light wasn't on, it wasn't powering the element.

[coachB]

Tony,
The red light on the left was on, the green light on right was on, as was the light showing temp in right window.

[DivotMaker]

Bill, the red light on the left is nothing (that's power to a Bradley smoke generator, which you can turn off in the settings).  The green light, on the right, means power to the element.  I'm a little confused about "the light showing temp in right window."  Did you have it set to time, or temp?  The right window should have been displaying time.

[coachB]

Tony,
Sorry for the confusion.  It was the time indicator light (Instructions Diagram #5) just below the green output status indicator.  The right window was displaying time.
It does however, get more interesting.  I did an autotune earlier.  All parameters the same.  Nothing changed.  Final readings were:
                                    P         57
                                    I         063
                                    D        265
I figured uh, oh!  063.  Better do another autotune.  Let the unit cool down and proceeded to autotune menu.  When scrolling through the steps the readings stored were:
                                    P          57
                                    I         986
                                    D        265
I am waiting for the box to cool down now and I will do another simulated smoke tonight.  Just for reference,  my initial PID with the 1st Auber, using the same bricks, same location, same water pan and lqd volume, and permanent probe in same location produced the following:
                                     P         80
                                     I        945
                                     D       236
I will post an update when I conclude the simulated smoke.
                               

[coachB]

I made a mistake with the previous post.  The second set of numbers was incorrect.  They should have been entered as:
                                     P           57
                                     I          600    NOT    986
                                     D         265
After completing the second autotune today, the numbers were:
                                     P           57
                                     I          986
                                     D         246
Will await the sim smoke results to see how the unit handles the time shutoff factor.