Finally took the plunge!


 
B

Brandon A

TVWBB All-Star
After a year of wondering what ATC I should purchase, reading all the stoker vs. guru threads, and getting a firm understanding of the pros/cons, I settled on the DigiQ II. I had to agree with my wife and friends that hooking my computer up to my smoker was a little "over the edge". While I consider myself somewhat tech savy, I'd have to say the technical discussions about the Stoker are more then a little intimidating. I wasnt looking to moniter my smoker from work, graph my cooks, or run multiple smokers, just want to sleep all night and not worry about getting up to check temps (see also: drink as much as I want and not worry about sleeping through the alarms
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) I'm looking forword to being able to cook at exactly the temps I want to without fiddling with dampers, also looking forword to the ramp mode.

I got the blue model with a 10 cfm fan and 8 foot meat and pit probes. I couldent belive they wanted 20 bucks for USPS Ground shipping (5-10 day), 40 for 2 day and 60 for overnight, this thing cant weigh more then a few pounds!? What can you do I guess. Grand total was $280, ATC here I come
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thats the next thing for me. maybe if we get a big enough tax refund i can swing it. $20 for shipping does seem ridiculous.i held off getting eyelets for my 22 because i cant see paying shipping thats almost as much as the item
 
Congrats Brandon, can't go wrong with the DigiQ II. Welcome to the world of set it and forget it Q, you're going to love it!
 
Do you guys have to bring the cooker up to temperature first or do you let the DigiQ II do it? In other words do you just throw a few lit coals on top of unlit and close the cooker up, turn on the machine to the temp. you want and walk away?
 
You get a chimney started and burnt down then add it to your cooker. Dump on some more fuel and flavor wood then set your temp. Some people add the lit coals furthest from the blower input and some add it to an unlidded coffee can in the center.

From then on you can monitor it how you wish but if you have enough fuel you don't need to for the most part. I prefer the fancy charts that StokerLog produces just for an extra check.

-rob
 
Brandon.
With the type of " Winter Weather " we have been enjoying, that was money well spent IMO.....
I really don't do a lot of low n slow or overnites, but even at higher temps I could see a use for some type of ATC.( Especially this time of year.)

Now go out and have some fun
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Tim
 
i was thinking of upgrading my pitminder to a digiQ2 but am waiting to see the features the new one offers first. on another note my pitminder just died on me yesterday. i get no lights or anything. my dad is an ET and took it to work today. hopefully it's something simple.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brandon A:
After a year of wondering what ATC I should purchase, reading all the stoker vs. guru threads, and getting a firm understanding of the pros/cons, I settled on the DigiQ II. I had to agree with my wife and friends that hooking my computer up to my smoker was a little "over the edge". While I consider myself somewhat tech savy, I'd have to say the technical discussions about the Stoker are more then a little intimidating. I wasnt looking to moniter my smoker from work, graph my cooks, or run multiple smokers, just want to sleep all night and not worry about getting up to check temps (see also: drink as much as I want and not worry about sleeping through the alarms
icon_wink.gif
) I'm looking forword to being able to cook at exactly the temps I want to without fiddling with dampers, also looking forword to the ramp mode.

I got the blue model with a 10 cfm fan and 8 foot meat and pit probes. I couldent belive they wanted 20 bucks for USPS Ground shipping (5-10 day), 40 for 2 day and 60 for overnight, this thing cant weigh more then a few pounds!? What can you do I guess. Grand total was $280, ATC here I come
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Brandon: How did you justify to the wife to buy the ATC which cost more than the WSM?? I plan on approaching mine with the same idea.

Richard

WSM(OM), OTG 22 1/2" with Smokenator
 
Tony,

If you can open up the unit and let it dry out for a few days it might come back. I had a Guru competitor get rained on and it came back after a week of air drying.

-rob
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RobM (YankeeRob):
Tony,

If you can open up the unit and let it dry out for a few days it might come back. I had a Guru competitor get rained on and it came back after a week of air drying.

-rob </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

no, i tripped over one of the wires yesterday and it just stopped working. i think i pulled something loose inside where the power plugs in. as i get no lights or anything
 
I have also heard that the solder joints on these units are not the best. Do the following:

1 - Make sure that the output from the power supply is giving you 12 volts DC on the input.

2 - Open the unit and check the soldering of the DC input and the temp/fan control. The tracks may have been lifted by yanking the chord.

Like I said, I have both units and did my time fixing broadcast video electronics before moving onto software. I think it's probably an easy fix. If not, send it to me and I'll give it a look.

-rob
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Do you guys have to bring the cooker up to temperature first or do you let the DigiQ II do it? In other words do you just throw a few lit coals on top of unlit and close the cooker up, turn on the machine to the temp. you want and walk away? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I put 8 - 10 lit briquettes on top of unlit, assemble my cooker with meat on, turn Stoker on and let her go. Piece of cake!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by richard garcia:

Brandon: How did you justify to the wife to buy the ATC which cost more than the WSM?? I plan on approaching mine with the same idea.

Richard

WSM(OM), OTG 22 1/2" with Smokenator </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Richard, I've been talking about getting one for quite awhile now and we just got our tax return back. After paying off bills, I still had some coin left and she didnt put up much of a fight. I just showed her a picture of the different digiQ II colors and said, which one should I get, it has red lights. She said blue with red lights would look cool
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I'm sure shes looking forword to not waking up every two hours when my alarm goes off so I can get up an check temps, I know I am.

I hope I get it by next weekend, it'll be better then christmas
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the other good thing besides not having to get up every few hours to check things is being able to use an empty pan so you don't waste fuel heating a heatsink, wether it's water or a clay saucer like i used to use. i guess i need to dig said saucer out of the shed if my dad can't get my pitminder fixed by tomorrow evening. he was too busy in the lab yesterday to get to it
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at least my maverick et-73 still works. i can sleep on the couch and hear the alarm go off if the temp goes out of range
 
Brandon, you'll be very happy with your purchase. I owned a DigiQ2 but ended up selling it to get a stoker. It worked absolutely great, I just needed to control more cookers at once.
 
I hope it ships tomarrow (fri) I ordered it on Tuesday and hope to have it by next weekend. If it shows up next Monday I'll have to take a vacation day lol. Cant wait to play with my new toy. And it'll be nice to ditch the clay saucer and see what kind of fuel consumption improvement I get.
 
BBQguru shipping has always been fast. way too pricey, but fast none the less. i'm sure you'll love it. my dad called me 40 minutes after i finished my chuck roll yesterday to tell me my pitminder was fixed..LOL. the probe wire had a break in it and apparently the control itself will not work(lights or anything) without the probe plugged in. he repaired and calibrated it for me.
 
Brandon, it will be well worth it. The DigiQ II makes overnighters a breeze. I bought the one Patrick sold, almost a year ago now. They are great! I have the 10 cfm fan and everything is easy to setup and run. Have fun with it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tim C:
i held off getting eyelets for my 22 because i cant see paying shipping thats almost as much as the item </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I guess you missed the thread about the eyelit shipping charges? The BBQ Guru folks have heard our complaints about the shipping charges on the eyelits. If you click on the link in that thread It says they ship for about $1.00. Here's the link to the thread on TVWBB.
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