Strange issue

[Dan9327]

I setup my 3D to smoke and when I inserted the meat probe. I got a -55 readout. The meat is not frozen and wasn't even purchased frozen. Was brined for about 6 hours. In the 5 minutes since it dropped to -43. I tried restarting unit, moving probe, pulling meat probe plug in and out with no success.

Any tips?

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[Dan9327]

Now I unplugged probe and plugged back in and it reads 117. Only been in for maybe 15 minutes now so that also can't be right.

Well while I was typing this is jumped to -99. This is not cool

[DivotMaker]

Dan,

Have you had your smoker uncovered in the rain, or any way that water might have gotten into your probe port?  If not, you may have a bad meat probe.  If you've gotten moisture in it, when cleaning, or it got too close to the heat source, it can cause failure.

Have you tried shutting the controller off, and restarting?

[Dan9327]

Wow that's kinda crazy. It worked perfectly last weekend on two separate smokes. Can washing the probe cause this issue? I didn't know that you could not get the probe wet. I mean something stuck in meat for 14 hours isn't something you are not gonna wash.

Is there a way to repair it by drying it out somehow? I'm assuming that is the problem. The unit itself was never out in the rain its stored covered inside of my shed.

[DivotMaker]

Dan, it's not that the probe, itself, can't get wet, it's the top of the stainless part that meets the cord that you have to be careful with.  These new probes are much more watertight than the old wire probes, but it's still possible to damage the bulb-capillary interior, if you soak it.  You have warranty on the probe, so shoot Steve a text and I'm sure he'll get one right out to you!  I'm almost certain that's your problem, if you've cycled the power, and the unit hasn't been wet inside.

[Dan9327]

Ok thanks. My wife insists she didn't soak it but seems like it could be the only issue. Worked fine last weekend. Oh well at least I can still smoke just need to keep an eye on temps. Gez just when I thought I was getting the lazy q lifestyle.

I'll text Steve tomorrow. The number that is on the business card right?

Edit: so I just checked on it and now the box temp has dropped 15 degrees in the past 20 minutes. What's the deal? It's been on for almost an hour and the box was at its highest at 153 so far. Just looked and its down to 145. And has been there for a few minutes now. Not having a good feeling right now

[DivotMaker]

Dan, what are you smoking, and what's your setup?  Do you have anything in there besides the meat?  Since you are probably programmed for internal meat temp, you might try changing the program to box temp and time (since you are monitoring with another thermometer).  Turn it off, then back on, and reprogram for time. 

[Dan9327]

Well I turned box off and reset it for time like you said and the green light came on and we are good now. I had a few beers and went to bed expecting it to be that 1 hour per lb or more. To be safe I got up at 6 am, 8 hours cook time, and the butt was 205. Needless to say I pulled at and its resting now wrapped up.

Needless to say not thrilled to have issues like this with the second use of this auber. Hopefully it is just a faulty meat probe and all will be well in the world again.

[Dan9327]

Ok so I emailed back and fourth today with Steve and he is sending me out a new probe to replace this seemingly defective one.

Now I have a new issue it seems. This box will not get up to temp I set. I had this issue the same night of the probe but a simple restart fixed it. This afternoon, around 2pm I put in a 6lb and 5lb chicken. Kind of a last minute thing. I bought them to smoke over the weekend just didn't get to it and honestly was a little down on my new smoker already kinda giving me troubleshooting issues.

I set the box for 250 and was having it run for 6 hours which I know is way too long but since no probe I had to monitor it with a separate thermometer. I got home around 2 hours later and the box temp was at 179. Smoking away but I'm baffled that after 2 hours I couldn't reach 250? That can't be right. I pulled the chicken and don't think I'm gonna mess with it since I have no clue how long it was in the danger zone while this thing was screwing around with temps. A restart this time did nothing. Still came on to 179-180 and held steady.

I'm a little upset to say the least. I bought this thing for ease of use and setup. It worked wonderfully the first smoke with it and 3 smokes since it has been one issue after another. Talk me off the ledge guys cause this thing is not in my favor at the moment. I can't stand the thought of having to troubleshoot issues of a 700 dollar 3 week old item. Or even worse having to ship parts out to auber etc

[DivotMaker]

Dan,

Let's work through this.  First, tell me your programming for each step, and what was your setup.  Also, are you absolutely certain the chicken wasn't up against the box temp probe? (you'd be amazed how many times this has happened, and has even happened to me).

Next, I assume (from the sounds of it) you were not home during this smoke?  Personally, I'm all about Lazy Q, but I never leave the house during a smoke; it is an electric appliance, and some monitoring is the prudent thing to do.  Not meaning to get on a soapbox, just trying to determine what went haywire, and when. 

If you will answer these questions, we can go from there.  What we may want to do, later, is an autotune.  The factory PID settings are generally good, but I've seen a few occasions where they need to be adjusted. 

One step at a time, brother!  We'll get off that ledge together!

[Dan9327]

Ok yea so I am an idiot. You have it 100 percent correct DM and that was my issue. Didn't even know that was back there. It was either inserted into the meat or touching because when I read you post this morning I check and it had run on it. So I'll fall on the sword here and say I'm a complete jackass.

In regards to leaving the smoker unattended, I left for about 20 minutes to pick up my daughter from school. I was inside but was monitoring it very closely since I was ball parking about 2-3 hours for the chicken.

Really stupid mistake but at least I've learned something new that's for sure. Hopefully the meat probe reading negative is just as simple of a fix. Steve sending out a new one soon so I should be back in business.

Thanks again DM and hopefully I'm out of the woods with stupid avoidable problems.

[JackT]

Ok yea so I am an idiot. You have it 100 percent correct DM and that was my issue. Didn't even know that was back there. It was either inserted into the meat or touching because when I read you post this morning I check and it had run on it. So I'll fall on the sword here and say I'm a complete jackass.
In regards to leaving the smoker unattended, I left for about 20 minutes to pick up my daughter from school. I was inside but was monitoring it very closely since I was ball parking about 2-3 hours for the chicken.

(Not sure how I screwed up the "quote" format, but my response is below, duh)-Jack
My first and only real issue with my 3D was a fouled box temp probe. Drippings from pork butts had dropped on it and stuck and cooked. My temps were all over the place and I was totally at a loss. After unplugging, reprograming and finally a thorough inspection, I saw the fouled probe. Cleaned it off, moved by butt (both figuratively and literally), and all was good. Hope you've found your solution. Happy smoking!

[BedouinBob]

Welcome to the club Dan! We've all been there. 

[DivotMaker]

Dan, you don't know how happy that makes me to hear to tell us that!  Not the whole "jackass" thing, but that you skewered your bird with the probe! I was about 99% sure that was it.

I'm glad I was able to help!  Having used several different models of Aubers (standalone and integrated), and permanent probe models, I've fortunately experience a lot of the things I see happen!  Many of these types of issues are not equipment issues, but inadvertent user mistakes (not on purpose, of course).  Don't sweat it!  We've all been there, with stuff like this, so it's good to hear we found the problem quickly!

[parkgt]

I find it much safer to clean probes on all electronic thermometers with alcohol.  It gets the food off and smoke cleans off easier.  A alcohol damp paper towel can be run down the wire with little chance of damaging anything and they look like new.  Never lost one yet with this method.