Smokin-It User Forum!
Auber PID Controllers => Auber PID Tips and Tricks => Topic started by: SuperDave on May 16, 2015, 02:49:56 PM
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I'm reaching a point of frustration with my Auber and how it picks and chooses which smokes to behave and which ones it seems to have a mind of its own. Today, it is just flat being a PITA. It is wanting to hold temps 20 degrees below the program set with 6 racks of ribs in the box. If I increase the set temp by 5 degrees, the temp goes up 5 degrees but still holds - 20. If it was 1 out of 10, I might just blow it off but I think I'm more like 3 out of 10 for poor performance. Not acceptable IMO.
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This sounds very similar to the problem I had with my original Auber. Only did it on ribs ( no IT probe ). Wouldn't come to programmed temp (20 degrees below). That was when I did an autotune and had some very funky numbers. Worked fine with probe 2 running but ribs--uh, uh.
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Must be moon phases. My Auber keeps flashing AL and AH with alternating temp at 300+. Of course I am trying to get a butt done. Having the bypass switch saved my proverbial bacon though. :)
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What model are you using, Dave? I have been using the old 1503CPH for a couple of years, and it performs absolutely flawlessly. I have a 1200GPH also, and have noticed a few weird quirks with it. I haven't seen anything like you're talking about, but it just doesn't seem to perform like the 1503. The 1200 I have is one of the very early ones, and I had to manually reset the autotune when it completed. I'm going to put the permanent probe in my Model 1 and really dig into this unit. I'm not sure what Auber changed in the programming, but they need to go back to what worked with the old model.
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The sticker says, 1500GPH.
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OK Dave, so it's the 4th generation model (the new one). I thought it probably was, but wanted to confirm. Does it only do this when using one probe?
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I put the second probe in yesterday to see if that made a difference and it didn't. If there is a commonality to the weird behavior I haven't figured it out yet. As I mentioned above, just random. When it works right, nothing better but when it doesn't, it really pisses a guy off.
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I had weirdness on my 1200 this weekend too. Flashing AL and AH alternately with the box temp showing 309. Of course in the middle of a smoke. Haven't figured mine out either. Maybe next weekend. :(
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Bob, yours I can answer providing your box temp really hit 309. The Auber has preset high temp limits and if you exceed them, the alarm goes off. I discovered this when I inadvertently plugged the meat probe into the box probe port and it registered 230. I think the high temp limit on the meat probe is set at something like 200.
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If the box was at 309 I want to keep my 700w element! :) I was getting these readings right after I turned the box on. I am wondering if I have a bad element. It is the kind that is in the box permanently so I hope it is not that. I don't want to take it back out and I will have some doubts on the longevity since it was a permanently installed sensor.
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Bob, when it started flashing the Alarm Low and Alarm High codes, and showing 309, did you try to unplug it and cycle the power? Sounds like a computer glitch. I remember Drippings (Jeff from Florida) with the same issue last April ('14) - he even video'd it. Turns out, the Auber had to be replaced - not the sensor. This wasn't posted - all PMs, but it was similar to what you're seeing. You might PM drippings.
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One thing that I thought was a little different in my smoke this weekend was the amount of steam coming out of the exhaust port. I had a big tin of water on my smoke box lid and I thought I couldn't remember ever seeing that much steam come out. The Auber seemed to be working at the very end of my smoke, about the time the water pan would have been empty. So, I'm leaning on a theory that the high steam was somehow messing with the sensor. I'm thinking I should try a dry, simulated smoke and see if the Auber behaves.
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I usually see a lot of steam with ribs or butts, and have never had it effect the sensor, but a test is worth a shot!
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Auber appears to be working just fine today with a butt in the box. I think they just hate cooking ribs. Lol!
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Technology has a mind of its own sometimes.
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I think they just hate cooking ribs. Lol!
Please don't let yours talk to mine...mine loves 'em! ;)
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Dave, are you using the wall mounted temperature probe? If so, do you have the right probe for your model controller? I know the current wall mounted probe advertised on the Smokin-It store sight is not the right probe, according to Auber, for the PIDs they sell. I posted the following under Auber Instructions: http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1594.msg25125#msg25125
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Dave, are you using the wall mounted temperature probe? If so, do you have the right probe for your model controller? I know the current wall mounted probe advertised on the Smokin-It store sight is not the right probe, according to Auber, for the PIDs they sell. I posted the following under Auber Instructions: http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1594.msg25125#msg25125 (http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1594.msg25125#msg25125)
Dale, the one they sell is right for the model Auber they now sell. You cannot interchange them; different plugs. If he had the wrong probe, he wouldn't be able to use it. The site has been corrected for awhile now:
http://www.smokin-it.com/PID_sensor_p/ws-sensor05.htm
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Well the good news is that with the smoke I did this weekend, the Auber worked fine. No alarms and controlled like a champ. Now I am confused. I hate gremlins. :o
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I think I'll start a journal with rack pictures to see what if anything is common on the days it doesn't perform.
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Dave, are you using the wall mounted temperature probe? If so, do you have the right probe for your model controller? I know the current wall mounted probe advertised on the Smokin-It store sight is not the right probe, according to Auber, for the PIDs they sell. I posted the following under Auber Instructions: http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1594.msg25125#msg25125 (http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1594.msg25125#msg25125)
Dale, the one they sell is right for the model Auber they now sell. You cannot interchange them; different plugs. If he had the wrong probe, he wouldn't be able to use it. The site has been corrected for awhile now:
http://www.smokin-it.com/PID_sensor_p/ws-sensor05.htm
Just reporting what I read in Auber site http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_28&products_id=99-- which is contradictory to what I see on the Smokin it site. According to Auber Website the WS-Sensor11 is the right product for the PID I bought WSD-1200GPH, and the WSD-1500GPH. I bought WS-Sensor11 for my WSD-1200GPH and have not had any issue to date. I will writer Auber to get a clarification.http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_28&products_id=447
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After re-reading and looking at the pictures--the photo of the sensor in the Smokin-it sight still has the part# for the WS-Sensor5--the picture appears to be of the WS-Sensor11. I am tracking that if it plugs in it should work--probably has the 11. I am out on this subject. Best of Memorial days to all.
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I had some weird things with my Auber this weekend cooking butts. First of all, I had (4) 9 lb butts in my SI#2. Never done this many before and I was thinking that I might have "overloaded" it. I was using both the permanent box probe and the meat probe. I put the meat probe in one of the butts near the top and put my Maverick probe in one of the butts on the bottom and set the alarm for 165 deg (I wanted to wrap them at 165 and then finish the cook). I clipped (with a small binder clip) the other Maverick probe to the top flange of the cooking grate support and angled the probe out into the box. The permanent probe and the Maverick probe were probably 2-3" apart near the top of the smoker. I set the Auber for 225 deg. After about 2 hours, the Auber was reading about 205 degrees and the red lights on the Auber & the SI were on constantly indicating the the element was on constantly. The weird thing was that the Maverick probe was reading about 245 deg. I assumed that my permanent probe had become flakey.
According to the Maverick, the bottom butts reached 165 deg in 5 hours. I pulled them all out and wrapped them. I put the bottom butts on the top and vice versa. This time, I put the Auber meat probe in one of the bottom butts and the Maverick probe in one of the top ones. I set the Auber for 225 deg and programmed it to run until the meat temp reached 195 deg. 4 hours later this was the case and I took the butts out.
I then smoked some Mac & cheese and this time I put the Maverick probe through a ball of aluminum foil and placed it on the top rack. This time the Maverick and the Auber were reading within a degree or two of each other.
This is not the first time that the Auber has seemed to work inconsistently. When I first got it, it seemed to hold the temp within a degree or two. The previous two smokes (ribs & salmon) the temp swing has been more like 10 degrees or so.
My plan is to remove the permanent probe from the SI, boil some water, plug the probe into the Auber and see if it is reading 212 (I'll check all of the probes including Auber meat probe and the Maverick probes to make sure that they are all reading correctly). That way I'll know if my probes are accurate or not.
The next thing that I intend to do is put the permanent probe back into the SI and then do some test smokes with a "dummy load" of sorts. What have you guys used for "dummy loads"? I used a couple of concrete bricks wrapped in foil for calibrating the Auber. Is there something that would be better? Maybe a pan filled with wet sand?
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
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Ravel, I believe you experienced what you did by overloading the #2. First, 4 x 9 lb butts in a #2?? Wow! They had to be jammed in there pretty tight! I think you most-likely restricted the heat flow to the wall sensor. You had 36 lbs of cold meat between the heat source and your sensor...that's a pretty big heat block! Also, that much meat was probably crowding, if not actually touching, your probe!
When you smoked the mac & cheese, it worked fine, right? Have you ever experienced this on anything else? Next time, do 2 smokes for that much meat, or handle it the way you did, realizing that everything has its limits. That's a whole lotta butt in a #2! :o No need to remove the probe and test. You said it was within a degree of the Maverick on the M&C, right? It's fine. Just do a few more reasonably-sized smokes and see if it works like normal.
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After re-reading and looking at the pictures--the photo of the sensor in the Smokin-it sight still has the part# for the WS-Sensor5--the picture appears to be of the WS-Sensor11. I am tracking that if it plugs in it should work--probably has the 11. I am out on this subject. Best of Memorial days to all.
I brought this up months ago? It still hasn't been fixed yet?
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=2742.msg19722#msg19722
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Dave-
Do you per chance plug your Auber into a GFCI electrical outlet? I have a HM PID and just found an issue resulting from ground loop noise affecting my PID probes. The HM creator just today created me a software fix to "cancel" out the noise and help my PID controller operate effectively. Just a thought of something to check.
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Code here is that all outside outlets have to be on a GFI circuit. So, the outlet that I plug into isn't the primary GFI but down stream in a GFI leg.
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Same here. I got my software fix from the HeaterMeter creator today and now my PID controller works like a champ! He was able to recreate my problem with a GFCI outlet at his house and that enabled him the ability to create a noise cancelling solution. I'm not sure Auber's have the same issue but I found it to be a very interesting problem.
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My Auber is still acting weird on ribs. I was going to go without it today but went ahead and used it since I was going to be around to watch it.
It just does not want to get to temp early in the smoke. I was set for 225 and it did not get there until the very end. I have a wall mounted probe on the way so I will be curious if this will fix the issue.
Here are the stats from today:
(3) racks in the smoker on shelf #1 & #4. Probe was between the racks.
2:30pm / 84
3:30 / 194
4:30 / 205
5:30 / 221
7:45 / 224
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Tony,
I am pretty much convinced that I overloaded it, but only due to the quantity of meat. Lately I have been using the Bradley racks to more easily move food between the kitchen and the SI and back. (2) 9 lb butts fit on one rack and there was 2-3" between the meat and the side walls of the smoker. I made sure that the meat was not touching the Auber permanent probe. It was probably a good 3-4" from it. The measured difference between the Auber probe and the Maverick probe is what concerned me. However, as I said earlier, when I smoked the mac & cheese, the 2 probes seemed to track pretty close.
I would like to test the system without cooking some meat because I have had some strange things occur with a small amount of salmon (2 lbs. or so) and 2 racks of ribs. Is there a proven or recommended "dummy load" that I can put into the smoker that will act similar to meat (at least for a few hours) so that I can run some tests to see if things are working as they should before I get ready to smoke something to eat? In the past, I have used 2 concrete bricks that are wrapped in foil.
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I'm of the opinion that bricks and bricks wrapped in foil make a poor dummy load. We should be looking for something that can absorb heat. I've been using a pan of damp sand. (uncovered)
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Seeing as how many of us are seeing the odd performance with ribs, I've begun to speculate that the ribs laying flat are blocking too much air flow. For anyone interested, how about putting a Maverick probe below the ribs to see what the temp delta is between the space above and below the ribs when the Auber is giving the low readings?
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Thanks Dave.
Do you try to chill the damp sand first to make it more like a piece of meat coming out of the fridge?
I think that your idea of putting temp probes above and below is a great one. Two or four shallow foil boats with cool damp sand should look to the smoker like one or two racks of ribs as far as mass, temperature and physical volume go. One or two 9x9 pans with cool damp sand should look one or two butts.
(This is what happens when you give an electrical engineer an electrical appliance and a programmable controller.)
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I dampen the sand the night before and figure that the night time temps bring it down into the 50's. I get up in the morning, have a cup of coffee and do my auto tune or test.
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Thanks Dave.
Do you try to chill the damp sand first to make it more like a piece of meat coming out of the fridge?
I think that your idea of putting temp probes above and below is a great one. Two or four shallow foil boats with cool damp sand should look to the smoker like one or two racks of ribs as far as mass, temperature and physical volume go. One or two 9x9 pans with cool damp sand should look one or two butts.
(This is what happens when you give an electrical engineer an electrical appliance and a programmable controller.)
I think you are right on target. My best auto tune was done with a pan of wet sand that I scrapped off the back yard that was under my above ground swimming pool. Sand was very wet and at a temp around 40 to 45 degrees.
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Since we we are not likely to see night time temps in the 50's here in the great South until sometime in October or November, I think that I will try to refrigerate the sand overnight. (I'm sure that my wife will love this, but hey, she married an engineer, so she should be used to goofy behavior by now.)
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Hey engineer, tap water and a tray of ice cubes. LOL!
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Seeing as how many of us are seeing the odd performance with ribs, I've begun to speculate that the ribs laying flat are blocking too much air flow. For anyone interested, how about putting a Maverick probe below the ribs to see what the temp delta is between the space above and below the ribs when the Auber is giving the low readings?
Ribs blocking air flow may be part of the problem. Since I am only cooking for two, with a SI#2, I have been cooking one rack cut in half. On the top shelf I place a Maverick close to my fixed probe. Ribs are on 2nd shelf with room between but I slide them forward too allow heat to rise up the back, more or less unrestricted. On last thee rib smokes it hit target with little overun and locked on target. Maybe multiple racks of ribs, using multiple shelfs, has something to do with how the heat reaches the probe creating strange currents within the smoker.
It would be nice to document these problem cooks in detail with photo to see what they all have in common. Then compare them to others that never have a problem.
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Is it possible that it's the increased surface area of the ribs that is causing the issue? I was thinking this weekend that there is more surface area radiating cold than on a big hunk of meat. Kind of like there is more breading on chicken nuggets vs a chicken breast. The air has to move up and around all of this cold surface.
Would a better simulation be several socks full of cold wet sand vs one big hunk?
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While I can see that multiple racks of ribs and greater surface area may cool the smoke, with the amount of airflow in the SI and the amount of space for the smoke to move, I am having a hard time coming to the conclusion that this is the issue. Not that I have a better idea...... :-\
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I thought my Auber problems were behind me. Wrong! Two months ago I had a bad Auber replaced and for 8 weeks I have been constantly doing test smokes and logging every aspect of my meat cooks. Everything with the new Auber was perfect so I saw no need to continue hovering over the smoker to make sure the new Auber was doing what I paid it to do. Set it and walk away. Two weeks ago I even stopped putting my Maverick probe in to check smoker temps.
Over the weekend I took a quick peek at the smoker 40 minutes into the cook and what do I see? Same problem I had with the first Auber, a temperature spike. I ran inside and got my camera and filmed a 46 second video showing the climb all the way up to 451 degrees. During this spike power is not going to the heating element (you can see this in the video) and the temperature showing is not accurate. This explains why I noticed the temp rising on the Auber and my Maverick temp falling with my first bad Auber.
This time I let it run it's course to see what would happen. Temp dropped down to 217 but would never lock on a setting , just kept going up and down. After 3 1/2 hrs I turned the Auber off then back on. This seems to be a fix if you happen to be home and watching your Auber during this period. It ramped up and locked on target temp of 235.
This is just my opinion but I feel that it is a problem within the Auber. Maybe something in the algorithm or possibly a bad component. Way above my pay grade to figure out. All I can do is gather information and pass it along. Glad I caught it on video this time.
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Dave, no video link.
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Dave, no video link.
I have the video on my Mac computer. Can it be posted directly to the forum like a photo? I can e mail it to you if that works. I not really up on all the video posting.
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Dave, check your messages.
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Ok, I hope this link works. It's all new to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANmH045HSxM&feature=youtu.be
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That's pretty wild! It looks like you are the title of my thread.
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I thought my Auber problems were behind me. Wrong! Two months ago I had a bad Auber replaced and for 8 weeks I have been constantly doing test smokes and logging every aspect of my meat cooks. Everything with the new Auber was perfect so I saw no need to continue hovering over the smoker to make sure the new Auber was doing what I paid it to do. Set it and walk away. Two weeks ago I even stopped putting my Maverick probe in to check smoker temps.
Over the weekend I took a quick peek at the smoker 40 minutes into the cook and what do I see? Same problem I had with the first Auber, a temperature spike. I ran inside and got my camera and filmed a 46 second video showing the climb all the way up to 451 degrees. During this spike power is not going to the heating element (you can see this in the video) and the temperature showing is not accurate. This explains why I noticed the temp rising on the Auber and my Maverick temp falling with my first bad Auber.
This time I let it run it's course to see what would happen. Temp dropped down to 217 but would never lock on a setting , just kept going up and down. After 3 1/2 hrs I turned the Auber off then back on. This seems to be a fix if you happen to be home and watching your Auber during this period. It ramped up and locked on target temp of 235.
This is just my opinion but I feel that it is a problem within the Auber. Maybe something in the algorithm or possibly a bad component. Way above my pay grade to figure out. All I can do is gather information and pass it along. Glad I caught it on video this time.
Dave, are you using the drop-in probe, or the wall mount? Sounds like it's possibly a bad probe, or could it have dropped toward the heat source? Do you know if Auber found anything wrong with the first unit you sent back?
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Tony,
I have had a wall mount probe from day one, make that day 2. Auber said they found nothing wrong with the first unit. Not sure how they did the test. I sent all the information to Steve yesterday along with the video. I suggested the he forward my e-mails to some one at Auber that understands and writes the programs and have them watch the video. It has to be something that they can fix on their end. I'll sit and wait to see what Steve can find out directly from Auber.
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Tony,
I forgot to add about the probe. I guess it is possible but why does it not happen during a cook after it locks? Always starts when the Auber gets close to the target, then it goes off the rails. Never in the middle does it start. If it was a bad probe why does turning Auber off then on seen to fix the problem? Why has it always been on a rib cook? I don't think the kind of meat, or size, has anything to do with it. Maybe the trigger is a cook that is programmed at 235 degree temperature and timed, not probed for internal temp. Am I making any sense?
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I thought you had a wall-mount, Dave, but couldn't remember for sure. Every unit that Steve replaces goes back to Auber. Since they build them, I'm sure their testing is pretty thorough, although I don't know the exact procedure. I've spoken with Steve and Ben about this, and I, too, will be interested to hear from Auber about the video. This is an unusual case, for sure! Obviously, if it's a problem, our goal is to help you solve it! Be patient, and trust we're working on figuring this one out!
About the probe - being able to "reset" the unit, by cycling power, seems to eliminate a probe problem, in my mind. The fact that this has only happened when you have only the box probe attached, and set to "time," makes me wonder. Have you attempted a rib cook with the meat probe plugged in too? You could still set your program to time, and just drop the meat probe through the hole a bit. Might be worth a try, just to test if it has something to do with probe 2 not being attached.
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Tony,
I'll try to rule out the probe #2 not being connected. I have a butt ready to go on tonight at around midnight. I'll put the Auber meat probe in the meat but not into the Auber, set time to 8hrs. Since I will know about a hour into the cook if it is going to lock or not. If it locks I'll plug meat probe in and change to 195 IT for the remainder of the cook. I'll also use my Maverick. I'll do this on all my temperature cooks for a while. The next time I do ribs I'll do those with the meat probe plugged in from the beginning. That way I'll be testing with every cook.
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Sounds good, Dave! Sometimes, the "process of elimination" takes lots of meat! ;)
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Dave, I have a theory on this. You told me your issue seems to happen about 40 mins into the smoke? I have a heatermeter PID and have seen similar spikes of PID craziness around the time the smoker gets in the 160 degree to 180 degree temperature range. You can see the spike in my PID graph attached by looking at the orange line near the left side of the graph.
I believe the problem here is that the heating element has been on full power since starting at time 0 and it gets so hot that around 160 to 180 degrees the wood catches fire causing a very fast spike in temperature within the smoker. This wreaks havoc on the PID controller because it doesn't expect to see that fast of a change based on the prior data it has been collecting and monitoring. This spike throws off the PID algorithm because the error goes from something small to immediately something very large. It then takes the PID controller a very long time to re-calibrate and stabilize. I believe you are watching it very near the "combustion" event. I'm betting it would eventually stabilize if you waited a few hours before looking at it again? I don't have an Auber so I cannot confirm.
I would recommend you do some tests to ensure your wood cannot combust during the initial ramp up period. This could be achieved multiple ways (or combinations) such as buying moist wood and ensuring it maintains high levels of moisture content in storage, foil boating wood, creating a Auber ramp up profile that brings your smoker up to operating temperature in stages so that the element don't get so blazing hot that it causes the wood to burst into flames, or possibly soaking your wood so that during the ramp up period it's just getting the water dried out rather than igniting it.
I'd also believe that you'd never see this issue if you didn't have wood in the smoker? Have you tried just using dummy smoker loads of bricks/sand and no wood to see if the problem still triggers?
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Dave, I have a theory on this. You told me your issue seems to happen about 40 mins into the smoke? I have a heatermeter PID and have seen similar spikes of PID craziness around the time the smoker gets in the 160 degree to 180 degree temperature range. You can see the spike in my PID graph attached by looking at the orange line near the left side of the graph.
I believe the problem here is that the heating element has been on full power since starting at time 0 and it gets so hot that around 160 to 180 degrees the wood catches fire causing a very fast spike in temperature within the smoker. This wreaks havoc on the PID controller because it doesn't expect to see that fast of a change based on the prior data it has been collecting and monitoring. This spike throws off the PID algorithm because the error goes from something small to immediately something very large. It then takes the PID controller a very long time to re-calibrate and stabilize. I believe you are watching it very near the "combustion" event. I'm betting it would eventually stabilize if you waited a few hours before looking at it again? I don't have an Auber so I cannot confirm.
I would recommend you do some tests to ensure your wood cannot combust during the initial ramp up period. This could be achieved multiple ways (or combinations) such as buying moist wood and ensuring it maintains high levels of moisture content in storage, foil boating wood, creating a Auber ramp up profile that brings your smoker up to operating temperature in stages so that the element don't get so blazing hot that it causes the wood to burst into flames, or possibly soaking your wood so that during the ramp up period it's just getting the water dried out rather than igniting it.
I'd also believe that you'd never see this issue if you didn't have wood in the smoker? Have you tried just using dummy smoker loads of bricks/sand and no wood to see if the problem still triggers?
At first I thought it may be wood catching fire also. In the past I have seen what you are talking about with wood combusting but in this case I'd have to rule that out. For this smoke I used new wood from Smokinlicious, a great company to deal with. Wood was placed on foil. Hickory 2 oz with a moisture content of 33.5%. Cherry 2 oz with a moisture content of 23.3%. At the time I went outside no smoke was present from the wood. Immediately after the 5 1/2 smoke I pulled the wood box out and took these pictures. I also weighed the charred wood. I started with 4 oz total and ended up with a total weight of 1.4 oz.
Maybe just to rule the wood I'll do three test smokes. I have some very dry wood left over from Home depot that I'll load up with no foil, let it rip, and log the results until the Auber locks on a 235 target.
Does anybody know what the temp is inside the wood box when the heater is running 100% on?
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Dave, TMan (the other Tony) has a great point, and a logical assumption, especially considering this happens 40 minutes in. I agree with you that the Smokinlicious wood is not likely to combust. I have used it on several smokes now, without foil or "ramping" temperature up, with no problems at all.
Just to completely rule out the wood, I would load the smoker with bricks or sand (like an autotune setup), without wood, and run your rib program. No need to use meat - just do a dry test.
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Tony,
I will try that in a few days but in the mean time let me post my smoker log for two rib cooks that I was able to observe the Auber spike. One is with my first Auber with very dry wood and the second one is the replacement with the wood mentioned above. Maybe a fresh set of eyes looking over my log will show something that I may have missed. I'll also e-mail them to Steve in the morning.
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Thanks Dave!
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Not sure if this will work and be viewable but here it is. These are the two log sheets from two different Aubers. First Auber was with very dry wood and the second was the replacement Auber with the wood described above.
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Did you return your auber probe when you swapped units?
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Did you return your auber probe when you swapped units?
If he didn't, using the meat probe for the box probe in a test should work, I would think. Steve gave me both versions of the box probe when I got my smoker so I'm set with a back up if my permanent probe was to start acting up.
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Did you return your auber probe when you swapped units?
No, I kept the fixed probe installed on the box. I don't think it is bad. Look at the first Auber log at the 1:15 mark. Once the Auber was turned off and on again the readings look normal next to my Maverick. I would think a bad probe would have shown up at that moment.
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Y'all may have read my issues with the Auber on a model 3 in another thread. I'm waiting for something much better and more reliable. My experience was horrible.
I am still interested in the heat meater.
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Dave, TMan (the other Tony) has a great point, and a logical assumption, especially considering this happens 40 minutes in. I agree with you that the Smokinlicious wood is not likely to combust. I have used it on several smokes now, without foil or "ramping" temperature up, with no problems at all.
This is what wood combustion looks like on a log sheet. This was a rib cook from my first Auber and pay particular attention to the Maverick reading along side of the Auber numbers. You can clearly see what is happening inside the box as far as a temperature spike caused by wood burning. I was inside the house when I noticed the Mav was above my target by quite a bit. Had I been away from the house I never would have known this happened.
What you don't see is the Maverick and Auber temps being wildly different. Yes the wood is burning but it is short lived and soon afterwards it settles and the Auber locks on 235 target. As long as the Auber and Mav readings are close all is well.
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This is what wood combustion looks like on a log sheet.
Wow, that is some "technical" BBQ. Over the last 15 years, I have used the gamut of BBQ cookers from a WSM, offset smokers, BGE, Chubby, Ole' Hickory, smoke houses, trailer mounted reverse flow smokers, etc etc... with these kinds of smoking methods, great lengths are expended in order to minimize temperature swings to the levels that are being discussed here. Just think about how many times the temperature plummeted during the pre-foil mopping days of BBQ. With some larger smokers, its not enough just to try to stabilize the temperature but you have to know the smoker's "hot spots" and rotate the food to account for varying temperatures inside the smoke chamber(s).
I think that technology has allowed us to monitor temperatures to levels that exceed the precision necessary for fantastic BBQ. Spikes in temperature due to wood burning, or +/- 20 degree temperature variance early in the smoking process will have minimal impact on your final product. I consider the most critical time for stabilized temperatures is when the meat temperatures are between 140 degrees F and 170 degrees F. It is during this time that collagen begins and completes the transformation from being a tough fiber to a succulent gelatin. Slow and steady temperatures during this transition period is what will make or break the texture of the your meat.
(My comments are not meant to minimize the concerns about an Auber PID holding set temperatures. For the price we paid for these units and it seems reasonable to expect them to perform as advertised)
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That 400+ degrees seems really high for combustion. I have hit combustion the past few days playing with temps to see why I cooking as slow as I have been on almost all my cooks. I am not reaching above 350, let alone well over 400, but I have a 3 so a lot less space in the 2 could account for the dramatic temp rise.
I am still interested in the heat meater.
You can buy built ones at auberins now. There are people on the heatermeter forum that will build them for cheaper as well. Love mine, it was nice to be able to check my smoke while I was at dinner with friends away from home.
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I don't believe this is combustion. And Dave, you are absolutely right about this being "technical" BBQ! You do NOT "have" to have perfect +/- 1° temps to make great Q! It's not an exact science, and a few degrees really don't matter! The Auber PID provides more accuracy and control of the smoker, and 6 programmable steps for automation of the process, but it does NOT make better BBQ! It's not about the end product, but rather the process. Some of us like it, some don't.
With that being said, I believe the other Dave (Carp210) is just looking for an answer on why his unit is having this weird spike. I've seen lots (and I mean lots of Auber issues), but this one has me a little confused. There has to be a variable we're missing. The first unit he had that did this checked out fine at Auber. We're still working with Auber to try and find an answer.
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That 400+ degrees seems really high for combustion. I have hit combustion the past few days playing with temps to see why I cooking as slow as I have been on almost all my cooks. I am not reaching above 350, let alone well over 400, but I have a 3 so a lot less space in the 2 could account for the dramatic temp rise.
Trip,
Keep in mind that the 400+ that was showing on my Auber is not in any way the temperature inside the smoker. I wish I would have had my Maverick in the box then I could have shown on the video a side by side temperature comparison. Also notice in the video the light for power to the heater is off during this climb. If the power is off temp should have been dropping. Maybe I'll catch it next time.
If I could hit 451 in 46 seconds just think of the crispy chicken skin I could make.
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I just finished my second smoke since I installed my perm temp probe. The first was a brisket and the Auber locked on 225 and never budged. I did ribs today. This has always caused the Auber problems for me in the past. Today was perfect. I never saw anything but 225 all day.
I did have a 30 minute ramp up to 140 then onto 225. I also put a single layer of foil under my wood. I also used clean wood with no bark. Hopefully future smokes will work as well.
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You can buy built ones at auberins now. There are people on the heatermeter forum that will build them for cheaper as well. Love mine, it was nice to be able to check my smoke while I was at dinner with friends away from home.
I just took a look and could not find the heater meter on auberins.com. Did I miss it?
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On their website put heatermeter in the search box. They are currently sold, out waiting for a new batch to come in.