trouble getting cooker at low temp with BBQ IQ 120


 

PaulBz

TVWBB Fan
I have an 18.5 wsm. I got a bbq iq 120 recently. I thought the first few times I used it it worked fine. But now I cannot get the cooker to regulate at 225. I keeps spiking up to 260 and higher. I can't get it even below 260. I cook wings at 250 and I can't even get it there. I have done two ribs cooks and it spikes even up over 270. So I did not have a good finished product each time. I have all the bottom vents closed. I even closed the top vent fully and it still was really high. I am using kingsford professional. I do minion and start with about 6 coals. I changed the setting to 1 2 0 and 3 and nothing changes. Are the hotter burning kingsford professionals the problem? At first I thought it was the heat when it was over 100 for a while here. But not it's cooler and two more cooks same thing. Do i have a leak in the cooker you think? Should I tape up or get something for the door? I don't see any smoke coming out of it. Or is bmy iq 120 defective and I need to ask for a replacement? I used the 110 for about two years with no issues but then thought I would upgrade.
 
Hi Paul - it's nice to hear from you again! I have very little experience with ATC's but are you turning on your fan immediately after adding your 6 coals? If so, have you tried waiting until your WSM reaches your target temp before allowing the controller/fan to turn on?
 
atc problems

I turned on the fan at the beginning as I always did in the past. I never thought of trying that. I guess I will try that this weekend.
 
If you turn it on immediately after adding 6 lit, your pit will not be at your target of 225 and, so, your fan will run at 100% for a span of time. In my feeble mind, that might result in "runaway" temps. But wait for others' feedback before trusting my thought process.
 
You should call Pitmaster tech support and talk to them. You're cooking on the same WSM that it worked on before so it's probably not a leak problem. I don't know anything about the Pitmaster ATC but when I have a problem with my Auber I call them and they're helpful. They're in O'Fallon so maybe you could just drive over. Just kidding Paul. BTW, my most frustrating experiences with the WSM have been with the ATC. Good luck with this one.
 
Thank you guys. It’s really frustrating. I guess it’s the atc. I can’t afford $200 to buy another one though. I personally like using them a lot more then none at all because you get the exact temp and I think it produces more consistent better food. And if I’m doing a long cook like brisket or pork butt I do it over night and then eat that afternoon. Without an atc you can’t leave it overnight. So I guess I’ll be taking a hiatus from smoking unfortunately if it is a product defect and they won’t replace it.
 
What? I do overnight cooks all the time, don’t even lose much sleep. I don’t use an ATC or anything complex or expensive.
With practice comes confidence.
What ever happened with your “Deadhead” thing?
 
Ah the deadhead thing. That is a long story. I guess I’ll write it here. I was contacted about a greateful dead festival that highlighted a local band. I got a random phone call from someone from my neighborhood who knew I loved to bbq and posted some pics on facebook. Almost as soon as the phone call started I informed her I have one 18.5 14.5 and a weber kettle. I don’t however have transportation for all of those to a venue. I told her I didn’t have equipment for a 1000 person event. She said no problem just make what you can and do as much as you can. And didn’t tell me how many people she estimated to be there. I was thinking this wasn’t a huge event but did not know. The point is she knows I don’t have a large smoker or equipment to feed 1000 people. But I said it might be a good opportunity and I’ll see what I can do. I contacted a friend of mine who is a caterer and she agreed to help me with the event. I then got a text message from someone new who I didn’t know who it was. She said hey are you ready to cook for 500-1000 people and come to our event. Out of nowhere. After I had talked to the original woman a few times. I was like ok yes I think we’ll try it since I had a caterer friend to help me. Then the original lady contacted me and said they got someone else. I was like so I need need to cook for 1000 people but possibly waste 500 pelople’s worth of food. And accused me of being “agressive”? It really was a strange deal all the way through. I know it’s for charity as they kept saying. But then she didn’t answer my phone call when I tried to call her to I guess apologize for any way that I offended them. I guess they found someone that was wailing to do it all for charity and risk wasting a bunch of food. And there was rain in the forecast all weekend anyway so that would have sucked. I am not sure why I was contacted in the first place if they needed someone to cater for 1000 people which I clearly didn’t have the ability to do and was very upfront about that. And then some random person contacts me out of the blue with I thought a very rude text message given that I told them I did not have that capacity. So I didn’t go and I hope it went well for them. I met with my caterer friend and the cost of providing that much food should have been enormous. Not sure how I would have made a profit or gotten it done. I’ll never live my dream of opening a bbq/sports bar and it saddens me every day. I go to bars and see all of the ways they are run poorly and I know I can do way better. But I just get laughed at. Oh well. Not sure what else I can do.
 
I used to have one and after two years it crapped out. I see you are in St. Louis, did you buy it from their factory/store? I went right in and bought mine. Was temped to go back in and give it back when it died. But, went w something else.
That said, how have you closed off the remaining vents? Is there airflow from them? I used the plugs from Lowes to close mine and it helped.
 

 

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