Is the HeaterMeter Right For Me?


 
B

BrentS

New member
Hi everyone - like the title says, I am wondering if the HeaterMeter as a controller for my WSM is right for me?

Background:

- Have ran WSM's for 16 years now amongst other cookers. Currently I have a 22" with 2 cajun bandit stacker rings. Usually I just use one ring at a time, but I do use 2rings for bigger rib cooks. I also have a thermal blanket for it during cold weather cooks which I do a few of every year.
- I currently have an old white model Rock's BBQ stoker with 3 different blowers, lots of probes, etc. I make it wireless through hooking it up to my powerline network I have in the house. I will sell the Rock's BBQ stoker once I am happily set up if I go with the HM.
- I have never soldered and really don't want to learn (not enough time to invest in learning and my fine motor skills are shaky). A friend's son solders RC cars and basic electronics, so I have someone that could do repairs and likely solder wires to blowers. So, I would need to find a kind fellow here who would sell me a complete set up.
- I am reasonably computer literate, can network and am capable of following instructions and basic trouble shooting of software.

What interests me in the HM:
- I have read lots and lots of threads and find the whole concept really cool. I am interested in trying different blowers and finding one that can keep up to a WSM with 2 stacker rings installed and a full load of meat. The 10 cfm Rock's bbq unit really struggles with this.
- Maybe the project will inspire me to take up soldering. At least for small things!
- My sense is that you have an immense amount of control over how you run your set up and can really get into the details like PID settings, etc, as much as you want.
- I should be close to cash neutral at the end. Rock's BBQ stokers seem to be really popular here and I should have no problem getting a fair price for my old unit. I also dig being part of an open source project with so many contributors being so open to improve the project and sharing files. I don't like having to buy all of your parts and pieces from one or two guys whose customer service seems sketchy at times, like at Rocks.

So, what do you fellows think based on my background and what I am after? Is the HM right for me?
 
So let's tackle a few things here:

1. You said up to TWO rings at once? As in you’re running a “tri-height” 22” WSM? Holy crap. That’s a hell of an expansion of cooking surface and therefore heating area/volume.

2. The HM is fine for pretty much all charcoal/wood-fueled pits, and the sky is the limit on size. I’ve got a 15cfm blower for a big competition offset, and I’ve got a 6.5cfm for my 22” WSM (single-height). So in that regard, yeah sure it’s fine. And in terms of PID customization, yeah it’s got a nice set of figures to tweak, while still maintaining relative simplicity.

3. You mention that your other stoker struggles with its 10cfm unit ---- does it have a larger blower? If you’re running a “tri-height” WSM, then you’d probably need roughly 3 times the air flow (that’s incredibly unscientific analysis). I run my single-height with a 6.5cfm @ 40%, sometimes 50% at most. Triple that and you’re looking at roughly 9.5-10cfm needed, and that’s just to maintain.

If I were you, I’d get a 12-15cfm unit, either a blower by itself or a “rotoblower” unit from one of the fine folks here. WBegg rigged me up a nice 15cfm rotoblower housing not too long ago, so I know there’s at least one design out there already.

Also, I’m sure it goes without saying, but you’re of course gonna get big temp variances by height, something I’m sure you’re already dealing with anyway when stacked 3 units high. Out of curiosity, how much charcoal do you go through with that setup?

4. As for soldering, it’s certainly not the best project to get into soldering with, but also isn’t insanely difficult. That being said, if you have a chance to leave it to a pro to do, I’d go that route. Paying a bit more for convenience and peace of mind goes a long ways.

Sounds like you did your homework pretty well with researching it, and sounds like your next steps would be to try to locate a pre-soldered board if possible, possibly even a pre-built unit. Regardless, best of luck, and post a pic of that monster, will ya?
 
I believe that Auber Instruments sells a pre-soldered Heater Meter. You could definitely do it yourself for less, but if you want a professionally soldered board, that would be an easy route to take. They also sell blowers that would easily attach to the WSM
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

You could call it a "tri", you are right, 3 cooking sections and 4 racks in total. In tri formation I normally only do ribs; with briskets and butts I don't think I could ever get it up to temp. And you are right, there is a temp gradient but it really isn't that bad. I'll take a picture of it next time I have it set up. A step-stool would be a necessity if you are a short guy.

It does struggle with a 10cfm fan. I do have a 25 cfm unit that I use to run on a very big, old cabinet style uninsulated cooker that I sold. It doesn't have a dog bowl on it but I could rig it up I guess for the WSM. But that really sounds like overkill and I have my heart set on a HM now.

I use a lot of charcoal to begin with. Calgary is at about 1,200 m where I am at and the wind always seems to blow and suck heat out of the cooker. In regular mode I can easily use 14-18 lbs to cook a brisket and a couple of butts on super nice days if I can remember right. (Pretty much a full bag and then some on cooler days). What limits charcoal capacity for me it seems is not how many briquets I can get in, but the ash it creates. There is no way I think I could ever do long cooks on cold days with Kingsford. I stumbled on a Canadian product, link below. It seems to be quite natural based on their ingredients list and there is significantly less ash than the others. It works really well but is a bit more expensive, like everything else up here.

http://www.mapleleafcharcoal.com/charbon/briquette_english.html

Thanks for the tips on sizing and sources, etc, greatly appreciated!
 
I love Maple Leaf charcoal. It's the only stuff I use on my Primo. It burns cleanly, produces little amounts of ash and has been very consistent for me over the last 4 years or so. On the Primo a ¼ (8kg) bag will easily handle a 10+ hour brisket cook.
 
I seldom use briquettes. I pretty much exclusively use lump charcoal. Currently here in Australia, I use a brand called Tru-Flame, and after a 16 hour cook, I may have a little more than a handful of ash, and never have issues with "ash over" during a cook.
 
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