Finally Decided to Take the Plunge for a Stoker


 
N

Neil R.

TVWBB Fan
Hello guys,
Ordered a Stoker at the end of last week.

Couple of questions............

How long should I expect before my order is shipped?

I'm planning to run a Cat 5 cable to the stoker from my router before going wireless. Is that the best tactic? I have a Ethernet B bridge that I've used for a SBC that I have. Anyone tried something like that before?

Does anyone know what type of thermocouples are used for the food sensor and pit sensor? I'm thinking about trying to extend those into my garage and place the base unit there.

What suggestion do the experienced Stoker users have for me? I've been reading the threads about where to place the hot coals when using the MM. Should I place them near the blower vent?

Any and all of your responses would be greatly appreciated.
 
Congrats and welcome to the club!

Lead time depends on a number of things. At the time I ordered the blower was hard to find so my order took 2-3 weeks I think.

On the probes, they are connected to the stoker using simple, *stereo*, quarter inch (old fashioned) headphone jacks. Radio Shack and music stores carry these. So you can easily build longer cables by using the appropriate cables or you can make your own. Again, notet that the connector is stereo, not mono (they both look the same but one has three wires and the other two).

Ethernet is definitely the way to go until you get everything working. That way, you know if you wireless is the problem or not, after you add it. As for using a "bridge" if it also has an ethernet switch/hub in it, you can use it. Or buy a standard hub/switch. They cost very little.

I use a different smoker than WSM so no advice there. But I do not cook any different with it just because I use the stoker.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Amir:
Congrats and welcome to the club!

Lead time depends on a number of things. At the time I ordered the blower was hard to find so my order took 2-3 weeks I think.

On the probes, they are connected to the stoker using simple, *stereo*, quarter inch (old fashioned) headphone jacks. Radio Shack and music stores carry these. So you can easily build longer cables by using the appropriate cables or you can make your own. Again, notet that the connector is stereo, not mono (they both look the same but one has three wires and the other two).

Ethernet is definitely the way to go until you get everything working. That way, you know if you wireless is the problem or not, after you add it. As for using a "bridge" if it also has an ethernet switch/hub in it, you can use it. Or buy a standard hub/switch. They cost very little.

I use a different smoker than WSM so no advice there. But I do not cook any different with it just because I use the stoker. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Amir,
Thanks for you response.

My question about the thermocouple type pertained to whether they are J, K or a different type. I want to use the appropriate cable to extend them or doesn't it really matter that much? I know this isn't really rocket science and tolerance shouldn't be that extreme of an issue.

I was thinking of using the B bridge to tie into my N router or, if necessary, route it trough a G router that I don't use any more to connect it wired into my N Router. I've use that setup for my SBC before and it works pretty good.
 
The probes for the stoker are "intelligent" in that there is a circuit right at the probe which convert the temp to an electrical signal much like Ethernet and then transmits the data just like a network. So you can use an electrical extension cord like I mentioned without worry of what kind of temp probe it is. For that reason, you also don't want to immerse the probe end in the water.

And yes, your old bridge would work as long as you turn off its wifi so it doesn’t interfere with your primary router.
 
Each probe cable has a small circuit board located inside the 1/4 inch connector. This reads the the temp from the thermocouple sensor and sends a serial type communication signal back to the controller.

The little circuit boards in the temp probes are supplied by the same DC voltage sent across the cables that powers the blowers.

If you want to use extension cables to locate the Stoker controller inside I would suggest using a dedicated extension cable for the blower and another one for all the probes.

Longer runs of cables (especially small guage wiring made for headphones and audio applications) tend to have a voltage drop when the blower is running. This will cause the controller to show different temperature readings from the probes, as the blower cycles on and off, that jump by several degrees.

You could put in a dedicated, heavier guage, 3-conductor wires for this purpose with several 1/4 inch stereo jacks in a small box on the outside, and a male connector on the inside end.

I used to do this in the winter (before Amir's fine Software) so I could change settings on the controller with out going outside. Also so I could more easily hear the stoker alarms inside and the neighbors would not.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Barry H:
Each probe cable has a small circuit board located inside the 1/4 inch connector. This reads the the temp from the thermocouple sensor and sends a serial type communication signal back to the controller.

The little circuit boards in the temp probes are supplied by the same DC voltage sent across the cables that powers the blowers.

If you want to use extension cables to locate the Stoker controller inside I would suggest using a dedicated extension cable for the blower and another one for all the probes.

Longer runs of cables (especially small guage wiring made for headphones and audio applications) tend to have a voltage drop when the blower is running. This will cause the controller to show different temperature readings from the probes, as the blower cycles on and off, that jump by several degrees.

You could put in a dedicated, heavier guage, 3-conductor wires for this purpose with several 1/4 inch stereo jacks in a small box on the outside, and a male connector on the inside end.

I used to do this in the winter (before Amir's fine Software) so I could change settings on the controller with out going outside. Also so I could more easily hear the stoker alarms inside and the neighbors would not. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the replies guys,
So, do you know whether the circuit board is actually converting the probe signal to a serial signal? I would think that it is more likely that it's conditioning it to a 0-5 or 10Vdc analog voltage or something like that.

Does the blower have any kind of amp rating on it?

I guess I'll just have to take a look at the unit when I get it to see what they're doing with the probe signals and the power for the blower. I would think that the blower pulls a few amps. It's probably creating interference that affects the probe signal when the cable lengths are extended when they're running together. I wonder if the probe signals are 0-5VDC......
 
No, it is not analog. It uses an IC which has a 1-wire network link. So it is fully digital from there on. If you look in the UI, you see that every device is assigned a serial number, much like the IP address in your router. I forget the manufacturer but I thought it was Maxim: http://www.maxim-ic.com/products/1-wire/. Do a search on the forum as I thought someone else had figured it out.

On blower, it is a common Panasonic blower. Digikey and such carries the part and should have the spec.

The whole unit has a small switching power supply so current consumption is quite low considering what it does.
 
I know some folks are having problesm when their exension cables are too long, especially with the fan. For my money, I'd run a long 10BaseT rather than try to make extension cables. Put your Stoker in a water proof container and go from there. I'm using a wireless setup with a Dlink 2100AP and have never had an issue, but I started with a long Ethernet cable.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Amir:
No, it is not analog. It uses an IC which has a 1-wire network link. So it is fully digital from there on. If you look in the UI, you see that every device is assigned a serial number, much like the IP address in your router. I forget the manufacturer but I thought it was Maxim: http://www.maxim-ic.com/products/1-wire/. Do a search on the forum as I thought someone else had figured it out.

On blower, it is a common Panasonic blower. Digikey and such carries the part and should have the spec.

The whole unit has a small switching power supply so current consumption is quite low considering what it does. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

VERY interesting. That's pretty cool. No wonder the probes are so spendy.
 
My wife called Rock's on Friday and my unit will ship on Monday according to the person she spoke with on the phone. YES!!!!

Should be to NC by the end of next week.

Only problem is that I'll probably be out of town for the next two weekends after the delivery.

Can't wait to try it out on any overnight smoke.
 
Hi James, how did it look on the iPhone all I have is a blackberry is the internet interface PDA friendly??
It sounds so cool to have access to BBQ data on a handheld.
Mine is "in the air" and has left SF on the 12th of July on it's way to Sydney (according to USPS).
 
The stoker software developer told me he did a lot of work to make the output compatible with PDAs. So good chance it will work.

If it does not, and you can get email, my stokerlog program can send you the temps/graphs on regular intervals so you will still be in touch.
 
At least on my phone, it looks like it does on the computer. The iPhone runs the same browser as the Mac, so it looks just the same. You can adjust the controls just as you would on your PC. I assume the Blackberry web browser works in the same function, as long as you have the blackberry that can connect to your wireless network. I will have a buddy come over and test it.

jb
 
Thanks for the feedback. I should have my stoker soon so I can verify. The iPhone has been released last week here in Australia and I may be an early adaptor in the BBQ world but not in Apple world!
Can't wait!
 
Well,
My Stoker is finally scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, my birthday. Nice gift to myself, I HOPE.

Wouldn't you know that I'll be out of town on business until later in the week. Of course, if it had shipped when they said it would, at least I would have gotten to play with it before I left. Oh Well.............

Cannot wait to get home and try it out!

I think I'll set it up wired inside the house for a couple of days, get it tweaked, then experiment with the wireless.
 
I would like to contribute my .02 plus a $28.99 fuel surcharge into this discussion.

It's been mentioned that there are problems extending the blower line. The "regular" cable with 1/4 inch phone jacks like you use for instruments or headphones can only handle what is called "line level" current. There's practically nothing in it but the faintest signal. For a blower you need to use something like speaker wire which can actually handle current.

Having said that they keep those cables awful short on the probes. From what I understand they are only 4 feet. I can't help but think that's for good reason. That's an "intelligent" signal on the probes and very sensitive to signal fluctuations I'm sure. I doubt it's a good idea to run a very long extension on those. You could end up getting erroneous temperature readings.

I think the idea of putting the unit in a plastic box next to the smoker is probably the "safest" and least problematic solution. It's probably cheaper too. They aren't giving extension cables away these days.
 
Yes! Yes! Yes!

It arrived on Tuesday and I finally go to play with it today.

IP setup was a breeze!

Attached my ethernet bridge, got the IP settings and security settings correct and BANG!

We have a wireless Stoker at my household!

Amir,
I'm going to install and try your program out tomorrow.

I still still need to get up to snuff on some of the settings but getting a wireless setting that works makes me very happy.
icon_smile.gif
 
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