Billows fan questions


 
Chris-P

Chris-P

TVWBB Member
I've been using my Signals/Billows combo for about 10 months now. I love how it works (but absolutely hate the software).

I update the firmware whenever prompted, so I know I'm up-to-date as of this moment (v 2.81). I wish they would give some sort of info on exactly what it is updating but that's another software development issue that annoys me.

Is it normal for the Billows to kick off and on over and over when coming up to the set temperature? Sometimes it will go just full on and keep going, other times, when getting close to the set temp (or not), it will cycle on/off, on/off, on/off.....so I'm assuming this is normal? It's done this since new.

I've seen this on their site: "Billows now comes with Open Lid Detection, Billows returns the smoker to your set temp much quicker." I had taken the lid off, removed the brisket, put the lid back on and the Billows didn't kick back on. I unplugged the power wire and plugged it back in and Billows immediately kicked on but it begins to cycle on/off/on/off, etc . It had lost probably 25 degrees and I would have expected the fan to go full on. It felt like the inlet in the fan was a little gritty when plugging in the power wire. I would have blown it out, but I wasn't in the mood for some awkward positioning on the ground in broad daylight with my smoker and the fan. Would it be safe to use electrical cleaner to blast out grit in the inlet?
 
When one opens the lid on a WSM, sufficient oxygen is added to the fire so that the WSM will in some cases cause the WSM to become a blast furnace. What your Billows was doing was trying to save your butt.

You may have lost those 25 degrees, but only temporarily...
 
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Join the billows insiders on Facebook i got the new software and lots of the kinks are taken care of
 

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Chris-P said:
The new Thermoworks app is fantastic. I used it last night and it worked flawlessly.
Click to expand...
I had some issues...installed the app, connected via Bluetooth to the base unit, then made a WiFi connection, then did a firmware update. Base unit locked up after the firmware update, with three hyphens shown in each of the four quadrants on the LCD screen. Followed online help instructions, letting unit run out of power before plugging back in and starting over. This time I was able to get the firmware update done, but then couldn't make a WiFi connection. Spent a good hour on the phone with Josh at ThermoWorks Support, couldn't figure it out and gave up for the weekend. I turned off the base unit, closed the app, and forgot about it for a few hours. Went back, powered up base unit and started the app, and BEHOLD the WiFi connection was there! So I think I've got it up and running reliably now. Time to cook something. But setup always seems to be trouble for me when it comes to Signals.
 
I don’t know if you guys are using iOS or if the new app is out for android, but they’ve completely abandoned the old design and started fresh. Whoever is making the new app knows what they’re doing. Give it a shot.
I knew they’d eventually figure it out, and it looks like they did.
 
I loaded the new app and updated last week. Tried a quick bench test and liked it a lot. Going to fire up the 22 next week with a 16lb packer I picked up today. Its choice but got it for under 30 bones! Should be a good test for the new app.
 
Well this is just my luck. Got it all ready to go this morning and the fan wouldn't work. Figured out its not charging so the fan function will not turn on. I've probably used this thing a total of 6 times. I'm ready to bin it. It seems like all this tech ever does for me is let me down when I need it(we are going to look at houses today). If I was going to be home all day it probably would have worked like a charm.
 
I actually did not call support. I adjusted the vents and left for a few hours leaving the billows hooked up to power only, letting the WSM run naturally aspirated. When I returned home it was recognizing the charger. I hooked it up to the fan and it started working. Very frustrating. This actually reminds me to check it again and see how it works. The worst part was all the foul language my poor wife had to endure.
 
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