Tell me about it? Thinking about starting this project.


 

JeffK-FL

New member
I guess the question is, without spending days reading about it, is this a "project" or a "hobby"?
Is this something a guy of decent technical skills can get going pretty quick or is this an ongoing hobby that will never be "finished".
I was shopping for a bluetooth thermometer. I bought an iGrill mini. Well I might as well sit next to the smoker for as far as the bluetooth will reach! So I went shopping again. Looked at some device from ebay that the guy seems to be spamming every smoker site with. Looked at the CyberQ and that seemed like the one I needed, pricey but it seems to be the ticket. I even thought about building one with a PLC because that is closer to my area of knowledge.
Then I came across the HeaterMeter. If it is as it looks it should do everything that the CyberQ will do and it might just be cheaper.
BUT, I really don't want another hobby, If this can be done with minimal investigation and education, then I am all in.

And words of wisdom?
Good contact info? Some of the threads I saw were getting pretty old.

Jeff K
Polk City FL
 
It's a little bit of both, but keep in mind that it's a project that continues to evolve as more features are added, software bugs are chased and people come up with new ideas and new ways of doing things.

I haven't looked at the CyberQ specs in a while, but I'm pretty certain that the HeaterMeter can run circles around it!

If you're looking for as close to a turn-key solution as possible, then I'd suggest getting one from Auber, but you'll still need to invest some time in tuning it for your specific grill.

There are also folks here that can assemble a custom solution for you, which you might be better off with.

As far as contact info, this forum is your best bet.

Cheers.
 
If you 'know' PLCs (IE, competent enough to understand how to flash & set up Pi) & can solder through hole, you can have a HM up & running in maybe 2 evenings (~4hrs). Once done, you probably won't HAVE to fool with it again, other than using it. But you just might find that you WANT to fool with it.....
 
+1

agree 100%

If you 'know' PLCs (IE, competent enough to understand how to flash & set up Pi) & can solder through hole, you can have a HM up & running in maybe 2 evenings (~4hrs). Once done, you probably won't HAVE to fool with it again, other than using it. But you just might find that you WANT to fool with it.....
 
Ok, I've been reading and reading. I have made contact with people about assembled units. I see the majority of users are grill users. I'm working on a 250 gallon smoker. I think I'm going to need different damper / Fan control options.

Thanks for the input!
 
Yeah I think Andy pretty much nailed it. I assembled a HeaterMeter for my dad who is a 70 year old retired salesman and he uses it all the time for making BBQ and never messes with it otherwise. So if that's the level of engagement you want, then that's all you need to do. It takes about 1-2 hours to solder together, 30 minutes max to flash the image and configure the wifi, then figure out how you're going to attach it to your grill, which is the hardest part for me anyway.

However, HeaterMeter has the world's most advanced grill control software so you may find yourself playing with it a lot while watching your cook. Other unsubstantiated claims about HeaterMeter:
  • Official BBQ Controller of Summer
  • The #1 Selling BBQ Controller in the World (ranked against all BBQ controllers sold at heatermeter.com)
  • Highest Precision BBQ Controller up to 10x more precise than competitors (we have 1 decimal place!)
  • Learning controller makes over 3600 decisions and improvements every hour
  • Sustainable - I'll keep making them until people stop buying them. That's what sustainable means, right?
 
I would like to add although my post count may not reflect it I have been following this project for years....when you post on this board you get the support and help of not only the creator but all the members as well. that is one of the great things about this....if you got the cyber Q or another product and have issues....well good luck. post an issue on here and odds are you will either have an answer to your issue or multiple people trying to figure it out.
 
You may want to check out this thread. Someone running the heatermeter on a 250 gallon reverse flow smoker.

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?414...-flow-smoker&highlight=heatermeter+250+gallon

I use this fan on my smoker (UDS and it is way too big so I limit the fan to 20% max)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0025VJEL8/tvwb-20

It is a 25cfm fan and should work just fine for you.

david

Ok, I've been reading and reading. I have made contact with people about assembled units. I see the majority of users are grill users. I'm working on a 250 gallon smoker. I think I'm going to need different damper / Fan control options.

Thanks for the input!
 
I also designed a version of my RD3 that uses a 25CFM blower. It's HUGE (the round part is about 5 inches in diameter) but next to a 250 gallon smoker I guess it might not seem so huge...
At any rate, the Heater Meter is going to way more versatile than the other commercial units, allowing you more option on how to control that huge smoker.
I do find it odd, however, that you have such a large and unique smoker, yet you are concerned the HM will be more of a project/hobby than you bargained for? It seems like you must be pretty into your BBQ to have such a smoker, isn't it not a hobby, or perhaps a job, already for you?
 
I also designed a version of my RD3 that uses a 25CFM blower. It's HUGE (the round part is about 5 inches in diameter) but next to a 250 gallon smoker I guess it might not seem so huge...
At any rate, the Heater Meter is going to way more versatile than the other commercial units, allowing you more option on how to control that huge smoker.
I do find it odd, however, that you have such a large and unique smoker, yet you are concerned the HM will be more of a project/hobby than you bargained for? It seems like you must be pretty into your BBQ to have such a smoker, isn't it not a hobby, or perhaps a job, already for you?

I like to do BBQs for my employees. We had a small crew of about 75 people. I HATE grilling burgers and dogs so I built a 120 gallon smoker and about 4-5 times a year I fire it up and make ribs, pork or chicken and a couple hundred peppers for our employees. Well as we have grown the smoker is getting smaller, it is hard to cook that much food on that small smoker. I cook for each shift so it is broken up a bit but it is still a load of meat. I also fire it up about once a month and fill my freezer and send my Son's family home with a cooler full of meat.
So, yes I need a big smoker, no, I don't make money doing it. I love to cook, but I have many other hobbies. I build and restore motorcycles, I build things around the homestead,coops and sheds and aviaries and Peacock pens... big farm tables for my family (we like to eat) ;-) I am always swamped with projects so I have to pick and choose what I will start and what I need to finish. And right now finishing this smoker is tops on the list then back to the slew of unfinished projects. So when I went looking for a controller for my new smoker I found that nothing on the market really made me comfortable. Then I found this group. This seems more to my liking. I just didn't want to make it a new "living project". I built a custom fuel injection system for my favorite supercharged motorcycle. It was fun, but even now 10 years later I still find myself tweaking the map, it is never going to be "finished"
 
Well, having a bunch of unfinished projects means you are the target audience for heatermeter :)
Welcome to the island of misfit toys. I printed another case for my HM because I used it the other day & the slight warpage in 1 corner bothered me (3rd if you include the Lego case I made before buying a 3d printer) + my 3d printer wasn't making enough noise, so in between the 4th iteration of parts for my automatic can smasher, a case was born.

As I said before, you CAN mess with it as much as you want, but you don't HAVE to. Get someone to print up a case & RD (RD25 sounds like it might be in order) and go. Hell, the kit & 3d exchange makes it really easy just to get all the parts (no 9.99 mouser shipping for $2 in parts). OCD will probably get the better of you - that's why you're here in the 1st place.
 
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I'm not sure if this is the best thread to post my question to. I'm also thinking of building this project but, I'm wondering if anyone has looked at doing all the same functions just using a raspberry pi instead of the micro-controller and accessory PCBs plus a raspberry pi. Seems like one could significantly reduce the total cost and part count since the Pi can do everything the controller can do (and more) and has plenty of I/O capability. Is the PID software available for running on the Pi alone?
 
I'm not sure if this is the best thread to post my question to. I'm also thinking of building this project but, I'm wondering if anyone has looked at doing all the same functions just using a raspberry pi instead of the micro-controller and accessory PCBs plus a raspberry pi. Seems like one could significantly reduce the total cost and part count since the Pi can do everything the controller can do (and more) and has plenty of I/O capability. Is the PID software available for running on the Pi alone?

The RasPi can't be used on its own because all of its GPIO pins are digital, not analog. Replacing the RasPi piece of the project will be a much easier task than replacing the heatermeter board, as others have already done it.
 
I'm not sure if this is the best thread to post my question to. I'm also thinking of building this project but, I'm wondering if anyone has looked at doing all the same functions just using a raspberry pi instead of the micro-controller and accessory PCBs plus a raspberry pi. Seems like one could significantly reduce the total cost and part count since the Pi can do everything the controller can do (and more) and has plenty of I/O capability. Is the PID software available for running on the Pi alone?

As Steve said, the Pi would be the easier of the 2 to swap out. All it does is the network/graphing part, the controller handles the grill. As a matter of fact, Bryan should be getting his Alpha-level CHIPs this month...... (CHIP is a $9 computer similar to Pi). You're still going to need a daughter board for the connectors, as well as most of the circuitry for power / fan & servo drive, etc - the $4 Atmel isn't adding all that much cost. I had plans to do a HM-style controller on Beaglebone that has been back-burnered for a year, got so far as an estimated BOM. It really didn't reduce that much in cost even with built in ADC. Also, I don't think I could fit all the connections inside the BBB footprint, making the PCB & case wonky.

I think if the CHIP ($9) works out, it will be the biggest cost reduction possible (RPi + Wifi = $35+)
You can use Rpi -A & leave off the LCD/buttons and save ~20$+
You could redesign the PCB to be smaller - SMD and/or ribbon cables for the LCD/pi instead of headers.
 
Exactly. There's no ADC on the Pi, and ADC chips are a couple of bucks, which is about what the ATmega costs anyway so there's really nothing to gain space or cost-wise.

The CHIP board I'll be experimenting with soon has a 6bit ADC which isn't sufficient for our needs, but they also have 2x 12-bit ADCs that are used for a resisitive touchscreen (which we wouldn't use) that I was wondering if they can be repurposed. I doubt it though because you'd still need a couple PWM outputs, and there's only 1 on the CPU.
 
And many components on the HM board are for noise / power filtering. Those would still be required.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I have a different project using the Pi for temperature logging and I was impressed with how easy it was to hook up an unlimited number of Dallas-one-wire temperature sensors and have the Pi tweet out the data. I guess for a high-temp application one has to go with a thermocouple instead of the Dallas-one-wire sensors and that means you need ADC which is going to cost at least as much as the ATmega, plus there is the output for the fan. I was also thinking about CHIP or Photon or Electric Imp based solutions but, I don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Ok. you convinced me. I've got to build a Heater Meter. Next question, has anyone interfaced it with a Pit Barrel Cooker (basically an UDS)?
 
Many of us.

david

Thanks for the clarification. I have a different project using the Pi for temperature logging and I was impressed with how easy it was to hook up an unlimited number of Dallas-one-wire temperature sensors and have the Pi tweet out the data. I guess for a high-temp application one has to go with a thermocouple instead of the Dallas-one-wire sensors and that means you need ADC which is going to cost at least as much as the ATmega, plus there is the output for the fan. I was also thinking about CHIP or Photon or Electric Imp based solutions but, I don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Ok. you convinced me. I've got to build a Heater Meter. Next question, has anyone interfaced it with a Pit Barrel Cooker (basically an UDS)?
 

 

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