heating issues

[DivotMaker]

There you go, Ben!  Ribs, pan full of apple juice/cider, and 5-6 hours time.  Easy Button ribs!

[rickne]

Rick and Ben - are either of you using a large drip pan on the bottom shelf?  In the past, we've had several people placing a drip pan between the smoke box and box temp probe, and they've experienced low temps.  Just curious...

Oddly, some say putting a pan in there evens out the temp swings.  But it sounds like it can kill your heating capacity.

I suspect this was part of the problem with my turkeys.  I had two small pans beneath my turkey's to catch drippings.  I put a little water in both.  I figured it was killing the heat by trapping heat beneath the pans, causing the thermostat to kick off the element when the temp above the pan was only 180 degrees.  To fix this, I removed both pans and stuck my 6lb breast in the oven.  I left the 12lb turkey on there but the temp never did get above 215.  Weather was in the twenty's with a stiff north wind.

The next day, I cooked 2 butts.  15 lbs total.  No pans at all.  I placed them on two different shelves and staggered them with the lower butt placed nearer the door and the top butt placed in the rear.  Never got above 210 degrees in the cooker.  Weather was in the 30's and 40's with a light south breeze.

Oddly, I smoked the beans on Saturday.  A 12x12 pan with 130 oz of cold beans from the fridge.  The cooker did get as high as 230.

Every cook, I had the dial pegged at 250.  I find it hard to believe it's the weather.  My element is kicking off.  If it were weather related (lack of insulation), the element would continually run but mine does not.  If it did, I wouldn't have this issue.

I'm thinking the pans can kill your heat transfer.  But my bigger concern is that this unit should push 45lbs of meat and from what I'm experiencing, anything over 12lbs causes it to labor.

I'm placing a call right now.  I'd order the PID but my discretionary income is going to keeping my dog alive right now. We have a creek at the back of our lot and my retriever loves to get down in there and hunt around.  Sunday, he came across and ate a rancid carcass and has a stomach full of bones now.  $750 at the emergency vet yesterday.  He's back at our normal vet all day today.  I hope I don't lose him.  He's an incredible dog.

[DivotMaker]

Best wishes for your dog, Rick!  Tough to go through!

[benjammn]

I really hope your dog is doing ok. Hate to hear when pets get ill, they are another member of the family.

I just got parts to make a temporary PID setup that I want to experiment with, only cost $34 from ebay. I will post pics elsewhere.

[rickne]

The dog is doing a little better.  They induced vomiting on Sunday, got 2 lbs of the carcass out, mostly bones.  They figured they got 70% out.  He came home Sunday night but under the condition that he was to go back to our regular vet on Monday.  He spent the day there pushing the balance of it through and giving him enemas.  He's home again but not so spunky.  I can't blame him.  I wouldn't be so thrilled with induced vomiting and enemas.  He still has some bones working through is digestive track and until they pass, we aren't really out of the woods.  But it's certainly better than where we were 48 hours ago.

Back to the topic... I spoke to Steve today.  He had me pop off my controller knob and turn it 90 degrees to the right.  I'm I missing something or does this not really fix my problem?  Yes, the actual temps in the cooker may resemble what the knob is pointed at now, but I'm not going to get any hotter temps.  I'm still cooking at 180-210 degrees. 

I'm starting to think the only way to get this thing to run hotter than 225 or be able to push 20lbs of meat is to invest in the $200 PID.

[old sarge]

Not sure how Steve explained the process to you. You should see a stop or limiter on the mounting that the shaft passes through that prevents the controller from overshooting or undershooting the temperature readings on your smoker. In many cases, this stop is adjustable, even if slightly. On occasion, the stop may be permanently fixed in position or only accessible by dismantling a secondary housing.  Once you have it adjusted to 'increase', and reassembled, it is just a matter of repositioning the controller assembly and/or the knob so that the control knob index aligns with the low to high temperature settings on the decal. It may take some finagling, as well as testing to see if you have it set to where you are satisfied.

By adjusting the stop, you increase or decrease the current reaching the element and thus the temperature. I am not an electrician, so I probably explained that all wrong, but you get the point.
   
Be aware, that in his FAQ, there are temp swings of 30 degrees or better above and below the set point. And this is common with other analog smokers as well.

Lastly, I hope I have not stepped on any toes here.

Dave

[DivotMaker]

Rick - glad to hear the dog is doing better!    Dave - great explanation!  I'm going to mess with the controller knob on mine to see if I can "fine tune" it a little.  I don't get big temp swings in my #1, but it's a little off from the dial.  I'll get back to you on this...

[rickne]

   
Be aware, that in his FAQ, there are temp swings of 30 degrees or better above and below the set point. And this is common with other analog smokers as well.

The swings are minor and not an issue at all.  Trying to get the cooker over 210 degrees before the element kicks off is my issue.  When my dial is pegged, I'm typically running 180-210

I sent an email to Steve for directions on what I need to do. I think I did misunderstand him.  Moving the plastic knob is not going to get me more heat.  Now it points to 240 when it's off and 220 when I have it maxed.  From  what David said, it sounds like there is an adjustment on the metal piece that the knob attaches to.  That would make much more sense.  I will get directions from Steve.  I don't want to go prying anything that I don't need to. My knob is already really lose.

[rickne]

I got the pictures/directions from Steve.  The only fix is to adjust the "orientation" of the plastic knob so that it points to 245 when it's off and 220 when its cranked all the way up. 

David, do you know of a way to adjust the stop on the smoker, itself?

[rickne]

Do these operate with a Rheostat or a thermostat?  That could be the answer to the question of how weather affects these.  A rheostat is a dimmer switch with no monitoring of the smoker temps.  A Thermostat will have a probe that monitors the internal temp and run the heating element accordingly. 

Everything on the website states thermostat.

But people here refer to it as a rheostat.

Is there a temp probe inside sensing temperatures and kicking the element on and off?  I really haven't seen one, but haven't looked that closely at the back wall.

[old sarge]

The temperature probe is inside the smoker, protruding from the back wall.  You should see it between the shelves, and use, this is what regulates the thermostat, or controller to an on/off state.

These can be called many things, including a potentiometer. It is not any different than what controls a deep fryer, other than they are set /designed to reach a higher temperature.

[rickne]

The temperature probe is inside the smoker, protruding from the back wall.  You should see it between the shelves, and use, this is what regulates the thermostat, or controller to an on/off state.

These can be called many things, including a potentiometer. It is not any different than what controls a deep fryer, other than they are set /designed to reach a higher temperature.

Good.  With that said, it really shouldn't be the weather affecting it, given my element is turning on at 180 and turning off at 210. 

[DivotMaker]

I don't know, Rick, but it sure sounds like a bad thermostat.  I can set my dial to 140 and produce smoke, and I seen it hold 225 during smokes (I rarely crank it up above that).  Sounds like the thermostat is not kicking on and off right.  Just my 2-cents...

[DivotMaker]

Congrats on "Hero Member" status, Ed!  We now have 3!

[rickne]

I've been working with Steve.  I think we are heading down a path of resolution.  I will let you all know how it turns out but I'm confident it will turn out fine.  I have a couple of cooks "scheduled".  One for the office on Dec. 20th (Pulled pork and bbq beans for 20 people), chicken for the family on the 21st, and Buffalo Wings and Stuffed Jalapeno's on Christmas Eve.  There may even be a Christmas day cook. 

I'm hoping to get out pheasant hunting over the holidays and with some luck, will get to do some bacon wrapped pheasant breasts.