Easier cleanup

[prudentsmoker]

Five hours later, it finally auto-tuned! I am thinking for the test that I will leave the bricks in, remove the metal bread pan and put the 4 silicone ones back in on the floor. I will put 2 cups water in one pan and a probe. I will monitor for at least 2 hours and plug into Excel.

Does this sound adequate?

[DivotMaker]

Sounds reasonable.  I just wanted you to do an autotune with the smoker set up in a configuration that has proven itself, before experimenting.  I wouldn't run the autotune again, with the silicone pans, but just run a program with the probe in the water.  I'll be very interested to see what temp the water gets up to!

[prudentsmoker]

Will do tomorrow. Left St. Louis at 5:30 AM and need a little sleep.

Thanks again for all your help O Wise One.

[DivotMaker]

Get some sleep - Q will wait!

[prudentsmoker]

Without the pans I am seeing swings from 209-229 and now it reads 198. I think it must be using the time program. Please help.

[DivotMaker]

Without the pans I am seeing swings from 209-229 and now it reads 198. I think it must be using the time program. Please help.

OK, how are you getting those temps?  Is that what the left window of the Auber is reading, or are you getting them with an external thermometer?  In either case, where do you have the probe placed, and what is in the smoker?

[prudentsmoker]

The probe is between two bricks on the second from the top rack. That is all.

[DivotMaker]

So the reading is from the Auber.  That is very strange, and something I've never seen before.  It has to be the autotune settings.  The P, I and D settings have to be off (it's not cycling properly).  If you wouldn't mind, write down the P, I and D settings (under the 166 lck code), as well as the other settings.  Also, cycle through the program and write it down.  Each of the 3 settings for each step, please.  The more information on what it's doing, and what your settings are, will help greatly.

[prudentsmoker]

Tony, thank you so much for your help.
C01 140
T01 .5
C02 225
T02 2.2 (this should have been 2)
C03 140
T03 1.0
all others 0
P 140
I 400
d100
AT 0
T 2

Wondering if I should not try and add more bricks and autotune again since it is a number 3 and took 5 hours.

[DivotMaker]

Those are interesting settings.  I would try the autotune again, and see what you get.  Here's why I say that:

When I did an autotune on the #2, with a wall-mount probe, with a model WPS-1503 CPH, I got the following:

P   62
I    902
D   112

You can see the "I" and "D" settings are quite a bit different from what you got.

I recently performed the autotune with the new 1200 GPH, with a wall-mount probe, and got the exact same numbers!  So, between 2 Auber units, they "analyzed" the box characteristics of the smoker exactly the same.  I found it odd that they weren't a little different, but they weren't!

One thing that may be effecting your autotune is the probe placement.  You may want to find a spot, as high as possible (clipped to the highest shelf slide), that is not too close to what you're "cooking" (the bricks).  They may be shielding it, but I don't know.  Just spit-balling possibilities.  This is where the wall-mount probe really excels.  When you do an autotune with a removable probe, it will change, if you move the probe to a different spot.  With the wall-mount probe, the settings will never change, as the probe is in a fixed location.

As for your program:  Try increasing t02 to 7.0.  This will allow Auber to "dial-in" the 225 setting over a longer time.  Remember, it's testing how fast to increase the temp, when to slow it down, and how long it takes for the box to cool.  Change C03 to 0, and zero-out the rest of the settings through step C06.

Let's try this, and see what happens!

I don't know if you've seen this post, but it has some good info on this process:

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1285.0

[prudentsmoker]

It worked!!!  I did get as high as 228, but it rose from 227 without the power light coming on. I think it had to be the heat radiating out of the bricks and water.

Final settings
P 63
I 392
D 174

I am going to lunch with a friend and will double check it when I get back, but I really think it is fixed. And again thank you so much.

[prudentsmoker]

Update- I took out the bricks and just had the bread pan w/water in there and it ran from 221-228. I thought about trying another autotune, this time with just one brick and the bread pan. The last one just took two hours and there was tremendous improvement. However, 221-228 is not bad.

Your thoughts on this please.

I was also wondering if the unit being 1200 watts might have something to do with it. That is almost 50% higher than the #2.

[DivotMaker]

Update- I took out the bricks and just had the bread pan w/water in there and it ran from 221-228. I thought about trying another autotune, this time with just one brick and the bread pan. The last one just took two hours and there was tremendous improvement. However, 221-228 is not bad.

Your thoughts on this please.

I was also wondering if the unit being 1200 watts might have something to do with it. That is almost 50% higher than the #2.

No!! Don't do an autotune with just water!  We'll be starting all over.    The 1200GPH can handle up to a 1450 watt element, and #3 owners have experienced results like mine (with the #2).

At this point, I would just smoke something.  And, not to be negative Ned, but I'd set those silicone pans aside for use in the kitchen.  Stick with the foil on the bottom & smoke box lid, and good old aluminum juice pans for the best heat transfer.  Cleanup really isn't bad - lots easier than traditional smokers!

[prudentsmoker]

Will do, but just to be clear, I was going to autotune with water and 1 brick.

[DivotMaker]

Will do, but just to be clear, I was going to autotune with water and 1 brick.

Sorry - missed the brick!    No need for another autotune, unless you add the wall-mount probe (which I highly-recommend!).