guru... pitminder


 
in the grand scheme of things, that's not a huge difference. for what it's worth my dial is just a hair lower than the 225 numbers and my maveric has been at 227* for the last 2.5 hours. the dial on the minder is not exact, it's an analog dial. if it was meant to be exact there would be a mark for every 5 degrees or so. it seems like you would never be happy with the way it is even if it were working right so the best bet would be to get a digital(much more than 170 dollars) or use good old fashioned vent moving.
 
yes sir, I agree. Im def. finnikey, really. I only got frustrated because of my situation. I was just venting and trying to keep a humerous attitude through the situation. I'm firing up cooks old school as of yesterday and today. It seems obviouse they work wonders for most, but I def. have a bad unit. def. cant afford a digital... I re-read my post and I thought It came across rough, sorry, not meant to be hard on yours (if thats how you seen it, i dont know),was only joking around, and through my eyes was a good point for the money.. I just meant MINE was waaaaay off as far as therm and everything else, and apperantly others have same prob. w/ therm. just the money to me is a lot w/ my income. thats all, enjoy yours, let you know when they contact me and everyone will know what the deal is. I'de just like others in my shoes to see this, I would have liked to known.
 
i wasn't offended, it just seems like the minder isn't what you thought it should be. i also believe that if you aren't satisfied with their product(for whatever reason) they should refund your money if you ship everything back. that is not very good customer service in my opinion. and it's not good for business if word spreads that will not refund unhappy customers.
 
Originally posted by Dan H.:
I just meant MINE was waaaaay off as far as therm and everything else, and apperantly others have same prob. w/ therm.
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Then why not move the dial so it jives with the therm reading? Problem solved.
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well that was the smallest problem of many that were worse, its in the mail right now and didn't want to tinker w/ it so I might be able to get money back if its a lemon.. the therm dial didn't bother me, the temp 'control' did, (previous posts, it never stopped that behavior)
 
recieved my unit back in the mail, after a long phone discussion, I agreed to try the same unit one more time and at the same time call one of the tech's on his cell phone to talk me through whats happening and describe to him etc. etc. ....long story short the 'testing' came back that the unit was in "perfect" working order........also both agreed I did everything as recommended, exept I refuse to 'knob' on it all the time, shouldn't have to, esp. more so then w/out the guru attached... So we'll try one more time I guess.. now I gotta decide what to cook with it.. probably wait till this weekend though. I'm dissapointed that it wasn't a factroy defect, but we'll see if he can figure it out but I explained how I even ridiculously foiled the whole cooker to cover up any holes (even though there is none) and the whole works... he suggested sand in my pan and I refused to put something kids are suppose to play in in my water pan, but i'm hardnosed about the techniquin' as I call it
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the saucer is far enough, esp. cause it preforms awsome w/ out it (guru).. water or no water in pan even??!! was a really helpfull guy though and conversation was great, service this time was exellent, and hopefully im missing something stupid, although I'm afraid im not. mabye he can help over the phone, A+ for effort. i'll post back.
 
Dan, are you using the 10cfm fan with the slide damper fully open? if so i would be inclined to believe that is the problem. the 10cfm fan would deliver too much air even when it's just pulsing to maintain temp. i see a few people that use the 10cfm fan keep it fully open until it gets near temp and then close the damper halfway off. 4cfm is all you really need for a WSM, but 10cfm will help it get up to temp faster i guess.
 
Tony
I jumped back on real quick for another quick thought I just now had, after re-installing my minder just now out of the box, and was going to ask something, but i'll get to that in a minute. No, I don't run it fully open... ussually. 90% of cooks I ran it about half shut, maybe slightly more, you know how its hard to see perfect when kneeling down there but ya, half shut for most. I've done 2 shorter cooks (rib) w/ it 1/4 open. I've done about 2 cooks with it FULLY open. As posted before I distinctly remember the best cook I had, ironicly was my first. I used water in the pan (I didn't know at that time not to) w/ damper fully open,
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woops. but ironicly it seemed to come out just ok. I've had hell ever since, and for THE LIFE OF ME cant figure out why, I want IT TO WORK but its woopin me. but help is on the way next weekend it sounds like. btw one of the big "stumpers" for me was ALL cooks described above except for first, all were about the SAME. I mean it didn't seem to matter where the damper was they all had similar problems as in previous posts. just nuts.. im tellin you and now that it was tested as working perfect im just goin nuts over here
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but now for my genious thought of the day about this:
I was just outside thinking "well, it was tested perfect, so lets say they put JUST the probe end into some sort of environment thats hot or whatever to replicate a smoker. So I wander if my wire its attached to heats up and messes with the reading somehow... " but this just seems silly but thats to the point im getting... silly. I don't know though i'll just give it a shot again, if i'm awake it will be fine, cant wait to have help on the phone, after all they make them, and then I just read Ed. C's post and at first read title thought "ya baby! im not the only one!!! Im not going nuts!!" and then after reading through the whole thing I just went "AHHHH!" I want that to be me hahaha. -Dan
 
you may be on to something with the probe. perhaps yours is defective. i would assume they used your temp probe to test though. hope you get it worked out.
 
Originally posted by Tony C.:
you may be on to something with the probe. perhaps yours is defective. i would assume they used your temp probe to test though. hope you get it worked out.
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Dan,,mine was pure stupidity on my part. When I dumped the ashes, I inadvertently did something to the fan assembly as when I checked it this morning it was completely closed, and therefore it wasn't blowing any air into the charcoal ring. I felt pretty dumb after the guys pointed out the obvious to me. I wish I could be of help to you, but I am just not that familiar with your type of power draft system.
 
Dan, If you still have problems with it, may I suggest sending it to me. I'll run it through the paces and see what I can figure out for you. I'll send it back to you at my expense. Just a thought if you still have problems with it on your next cook.
 
Thats very generous of you Brian, I'de really appreciate that and I've never thought to ask one of you guys.. . you really wouldn't mind wasting charcoal?... Actually I could send a rolled up 10$ and that could fix that nevermind... But ya that would be great because I understand there testing is probably good but really I don't think there exactly using a wsm, if you know what I mean. Being that I know mine is tight, and I KNOW everyone elses work wonders for them and there wsm, that may be a perfect idea, if you truly aren't bothered by this, and I mean that, I really don't want to bother you, then I'de be up for it. I am going to wait till this weekend to call the tech guy to help me over the phone and see if we can pin it down but we'll just have to see. At this point your either thinking "k... Dan doesn't know his #$& from a hole in the ground, and doesn't know how to run it" or just simply.. "shut up about it.."
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But if it keeps up I think you would truly be stumped if you could see it. But do you think my thermometer wire getting hot could affect it? I drop it through top vent hole always.. then either place therm. on top grate or hang it about 2 or 3 inches down? _Dan
 
Originally posted by Dan H.:
Thats very generous of you Brian, I'de really appreciate that and I've never thought to ask one of you guys.. . you really wouldn't mind wasting charcoal?... Actually I could send a rolled up 10$ and that could fix that nevermind... But ya that would be great because I understand there testing is probably good but really I don't think there exactly using a wsm, if you know what I mean. Being that I know mine is tight, and I KNOW everyone elses work wonders for them and there wsm, that may be a perfect idea, if you truly aren't bothered by this, and I mean that, I really don't want to bother you, then I'de be up for it. I am going to wait till this weekend to call the tech guy to help me over the phone and see if we can pin it down but we'll just have to see. At this point your either thinking "k... Dan doesn't know his #$& from a hole in the ground, and doesn't know how to run it" or just simply.. "shut up about it.."
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But if it keeps up I think you would truly be stumped if you could see it. But do you think my thermometer wire getting hot could affect it? I drop it through top vent hole always.. then either place therm. on top grate or hang it about 2 or 3 inches down? _Dan
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Dan, Really no problem at all for me. I thought of something while at work today and wanted to post this for you. I'm on my third set of wires/probes now. I had the pit wire break on the second set. Seems everytime I would feed the meat probe through the eyelit, it would pinch the pit temp wire. I'd be cooking along and all of a sudden the high pit temp alarm would go off, and the red led would be flashing at 400+ degrress. Id have to take the wire inbetween my thumb and index finger and twist the wire a little bit so it would make contact again. Everytime I would bump or move the wire it would happen again. Well 2 weeks ago I finally pulled out my 3rd set of wires/probes and started using them. At $40.00 a clip I tried to deal with it as long as possible. You could have a broken wire inside the plastic casing. Just a thought.
Now onto the wire hanging down like that. You know, some moisture could be getting down in there and causing a problem. I always clip the pit temp onto the grate so where the wire goes into the steel end is pointing down towards the coals. This way no moisture could get in there and give me false readings. I know the Polder, Nu Temp, ET-73 probes are notorious for this problem.
 
well I was just getting ready to post another thought, but i'll save that a second... but yes what you said makes since, I have a mav. that has some black stuff coming out of the therm wire where it meets the probe, and anyway, long story short it seems that its slowly but surley coming apart. And also I don't drape the wire downwards to the coals I never thought of that but its understandable from what you said, even w/ no water all you have to do is hold your hand over the vent and theres def. moisture in there, and ussually a good amount, more then i'de thought. Thats sounding like a better possibility to me, and this is making the most sense because my temp just starts sneaking up, up, and up, but all the while my dome doesn't feel any different 30 degrees later by just touching it with my hand, if that makes since, i've found that my hand can take (235, grate temp.) about 2 or a little more seconds resting on the dome (only a wierdo would do that) and you would think that at 260 or 270 I would notice a hotter feel. But then again i'm sure that one cook fried my briskit pretty good while I was asleep and also a set of spares while I was downtown, but hell who knows... hopefully I get it figured out. My thought I had while I got on here for was this:
I'de just like to verify that the guru w/ a 10cfm fan should pretty easily hold temps. to at least 7 degrees correct? and not 30-40? cause if this is normal I just didn't realize it when I bought it. And one more ? .. I'm not asking to much to get it to hold within 7or8 degrees am I? just to verify one last time. I just hear of everyones being super steady, and i'm adding in the fact that before my guru installed I could maintain within 5, no kidding, if I really for whatever reason wanted to, which im sure you all know. But really I wouldn't worry that bad, if it was just between 235-250 I wouldn't even go down the stairs, but i'm just saying if I really wanted extra special effort I pry could have held it to 5 degrees, basicly im just hoping the guru can as well, I'm correct right? thanks, and i'll let you know, I'll read this tonight, im gonna leave for a while tonight. -Dan
 
Originally posted by Dan H.:
I'd just like to verify that the guru w/ a 10cfm fan should pretty easily hold temps. to at least 7 degrees correct? and not 30-40? cause if this is normal I just didn't realize it when I bought it. And one more ? .. I'm not asking to much to get it to hold within 7or8 degrees am I? just to verify one last time. I just hear of everyones being super steady, and i'm adding in the fact that before my guru installed I could maintain within 5, no kidding, if I really for whatever reason wanted to, which im sure you all know. But really I wouldn't worry that bad, if it was just between 235-250 I wouldn't even go down the stairs, but i'm just saying if I really wanted extra special effort I pry could have held it to 5 degrees, basicly im just hoping the guru can as well, I'm correct right? thanks, and i'll let you know, I'll read this tonight, im gonna leave for a while tonight. -Dan
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Yeah Dan, It should be within 10 degrees or less IMO. I can live with a 10 degree difference. But 30-40 would tork me also. My lid Thermo is pretty much spot on with the guru. I have a 6" stem on the lid thermo so it's pretty close to the grate. Temps are usually dead on or with 5 degrees of one another.
 
Hey Dan, I hope you figure it out. I had a little problem with mine as well. Once I got my Maverick I knew it was my Tel-Tru 4in stem, lid mounted thermometer was off by 10-15°Fs. Now with dialing that in, My lid temps are 10-20°F hotter at the lid than they are at the top grate. Where I have my Maverick smoker probe and my pitminder probe installed in one of those BBQGuru probe trees. Since then I have had only one problem and I attribute it to 2 things. One I usually start using the MM open the bottom vents of the WSM and let it come upto temp on its own, once it gets close I will use the pitminder, to get it there and to hold it. On this one cook I just used the pitminder to get it upto temp, I was short on time. After 1hr in it gradually shot up 30°F over what it was set at. I believe it was from me using the pitminder to get it upto temp real quick. The other was that it was in the sun all day long. That was the only mishap I have had. Now I use an empty water pan with some air trapped in the bowl of the pan. Thats it I didnt have good success using a clay saucer with my pitminder, or water in the water pan.
 
hmmm... i cant wait to get it out, I always let the minder bring the temp up, myselft. Maybe i'll do that on top of other "investigations" unfortunatly nothing to report yet, pry on sat. though. mine gradually shoots up like urs did, but sometimes 40 or more degrees before, then last cook it fell to 140ish if I remember right and who knows how long (i was asleep) but all I know was it was breathing at a steady pace as if the pit was my requested 235-240, which it held fine for an hour, before I went to bed. Instead it was still a steady breathing as if it was satified at 140. I'm still thinkin therm. right now more then anything after Brians post... heck, I don't know nothin right now, we'll see. thanks a lot -Dan
 
Dan,

I'm late to this posting, but you have indeed been going through the tribulations! I can say only that I've had a competitor for 4+ years and its been bullet proof until I recently burned the wires. One thing I'm not sure I spotted in your posts: I got the little rivet from BBQGURU guys that lets me feed the probes through it. I can't see where this should make any difference though. My consistent process is Minion start, wood both in unlit coals and then on top of lit coals. Foiled pan. Meat on grate, probes in, lid on, then start up Competitor. It takes a little time to adjust temperature (usually get it to cool off by not running fan at all) and then it does its thing. The only other thing I do is if temp is going to drop below 32-35 at night I'll put the blanket on it.

Good luck on your investigations. I'm "building" an ugly drum smoker and was planning on buying a new unit for it, so I'm watching closely what you come up with, even though I'm happy with unit # 1.
 
well I had to get money back, they are helpfull guys and A+ to them, but I think my units haunted, they did say it could be a deeper calibration prob. that might have to be looked into. In the meantime i've remembered how good the wsm is w/ nothing and have been happy as a clam, and the foods been better then before. i've controlled it well w/ no water, or water, etc. I was gonna send it to you Brian but after thinking and disscussing w/ my s. o. i could use the money more wisely anyway right now. this economy, fuel prices, etc. have put me in a position i've never seen before, this is all new to me
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I'de really like you to know that I think that was very generous of you to offer and I was liking the idea as well, but I think i'm all set now. thanks again guys, good luck w/ all your units. I guess this post is finnaly done... i'll miss all the investigating... darn technology!
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-Dan
 
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