Another Software Upgrade This Week
- Thread starter Lew Newby
- Start date
Lew Newby
R.I.P. 1/26/2024
I'm with Tim.
Darian Hofer
TVWBB Pro
Last night during my wing cook, I walked out side and my display was blank but there was flashing lights running along the bottom of the display. Lasted about 30 seconds and display came back on but I had to re enter my cooking temp. Just figured my control box fudged up again and it reset. Never thought to check software version. But if I would have been in the middle of a longer cook and not been home my cook would have failed. I thought it was not supposed to update during a cook?
Robert Mack
New member
I've said this elsewhere. Weber needs to seriously ramp up the talent level of their software engineering team. IOT engineers they are not and SF is clearly an example of the IOT (Internet of Things).
Lew Newby
R.I.P. 1/26/2024
I'm not a software engineer and have only read some about IoT. I think my desires for the software are more modest. I would like to see consistent accuracy and reliability on my grill.
Tony-Chicago
TVWBB Wizard
They brought a software company onboard when this started up. What happened.
I agree simple and dependable over fancy and...
I agree simple and dependable over fancy and...
Bruno
TVWBB Honor Circle
I think I liked this comment elsewhere, Weber needs to bring in some serious talent on the software side! Maximize what we all have at home, you know what you are working with, make it as good as it can be.
Brian B Atlanta
TVWBB Gold Member
I think when they bought June they thought the were getting some serious talent and maybe they did but have said this before big difference doing software for a convection oven in your Kitchen which is a controlled environment then for a grill which is outside in varied environments.
Bruno
TVWBB Honor Circle
Good to hear!! We have rain this weekend so hopefully I can get that updated next weekend.
BFletcher
TVWBB Platinum Member
@TimA has helped me realize I used a poor choice of words yesterday and for that I apologize. How I really feel is that it seems from my little bit of reading the SF works very well for some, yet poorly for others. I have firsthand experience with this: I returned my first SF for issues that started even during the initial burn-in, yet I purchased one again later and so far it works quite well (though I am not using the recent firmware releases).
In my feeble mind it just seems there could be issues aside from firmware given that some units work well from what I read. An Engineer would roll their eyes at me but a bad circuit design (where some PCB assemblies can be just inside or outside a threshold that determines their reliability), counterfeit components, a contract manufacturer not producing to the right spec, etc. seem possible, too. It seems like Weber would have this data by now.
In my feeble mind it just seems there could be issues aside from firmware given that some units work well from what I read. An Engineer would roll their eyes at me but a bad circuit design (where some PCB assemblies can be just inside or outside a threshold that determines their reliability), counterfeit components, a contract manufacturer not producing to the right spec, etc. seem possible, too. It seems like Weber would have this data by now.
TimA
TVWBB All-Star
To be clear, I haven’t updated software. I’m still on....whatever version it came with last November. Was just commenting on the software overall, up to this point.
It’s become clear to me that the initial issues I had were related to pellets, I believe a combination of bridging during a cook and topping off the hopper and that maybe somehow causing feed issues. I just push down directly over the auger to make sure there are zero voids. No issues since, and I don’t clean it with any semblance of a routine. Nice in fact since November
TimA
TVWBB All-Star
I’m not sure what you said haha but maybe I missed it.
But that’s the thing. Now many of the issues I’m sure could be attributed to ignorance, and I don’t mean ignorance in a bad way, just non enthusiasts, folks that go buy it but it’s likely the only grill they have, maybe rarely dip into a brisket or something, really the majority of folks that may or may not research and may buy strictly off brand name. Because most buyers aren’t enthusiasts that can name production changes on kettles or Gennies or whatnot like some on here can. They buy a grill and it works or doesn’t.
But the other side of that is the guys that are deep enthusiasts. Either gasser guys that wanted a little more flavor, or kettle guys that have tried several pellets or whatever combo. Guys that know what they are doing, and still have issues. That’s the mind warp to me; these are guys that would typically make sure everything is assembled correctly, lined up, etc.
I think the hardware is fine. Perfect? Maybe not. The hopper, I like it and I don’t. It’s beautiful, the Smokefire is about the best looking grill on the market, just a looker and part of that is the hidden hopper. But the hopper is a pain to top off and I do end up making a mess. So the issue HAS to be software and/or the sensor reading pellets as that seems to be a sticking point.
I think Weber bought June under the premise or hope that they would have it running perfectly right away. Now, whether Weber was misled or didn’t understand what they were truly getting into, or what, I don’t know. But the hard parts are the same regardless, environmental factors are relatively mute in terms of the chute and the auger and drain holes, etc.
That’s about all I can figure. I thought and researched and read for nearly two years before I bought it, knew the issues going in and crossed fingers, and so far I’ve been lucky.
Brian B Atlanta
TVWBB Gold Member
I agree with some of what you are saying except its the only grill they have maybe I misunderstand what you are saying. I would guess better than at least 85% or more of those people have a gasser or something else and I also disagree with your statement about those buyers rarely dipping into brisket or ribs or whatever why else would they have bought it? One grill to do all most of those people probably returned them not going to deal with the issues not their fault nor the downtime when they have no grill waiting for parts to be replaced or dealing with constant software updates which sometimes are worse than the previous version this baffles me coming from a tech company retired since we always had beta before we went to production and even then their can be issues but those would be resolved fairly easily.
Not bashing the Smokefire really not, lots of great cooks here but it seems most of the owners here are willing to deal with the issues because they love the way their food turns out and really that is all that counts.
Bruno
TVWBB Honor Circle
Excellent post!!
TimA
TVWBB All-Star
I can drive around town and the ONLY grill most houses have, is a pellet. Generally of the T brand. I’ll see pellets on about a, spitballing here, but 10-15:1 ratio to kettle or charcoal, and maybe 5:1 to gassers.
Not scientific, data driven numbers but an educated guess. I drive down alleys a lot looking for old cars generally or checking up on finds
"ONLY" grill? As in one grill? Per house? Is that even possible?