It must be me...


 
G

G Force

TVWBB Member
Well, I tried an IQ 110 with no success at all and sent it back. Spent the additional money for the Digi DX2.

Three hours into my first smoke, and kind of struggling

With my WSM 22 and NO controller the cooking method I use is top vent wide open, bottom closed. With slight tweaking of the top vent that results in a rock solid 225 degrees all day long.

With my DigiQ I use the following set up: Two bottom vents closed, tape on remaining holes. Top vent just a slit. Both temperature cables are under the lid. I started with the damper 1/3 closed. That resulted in temperatures of around 255-260 when set at 225. I closed the fan damper to 1/3 open about a half hour ago. Temp was down to 248 within half an hour, and an hour later is down to 241.

This makes no sense. The WSM is almost 100% shut down. With all bottoms vents closed and top vent closed the fire goes out. It is that tight. I don't understand why under similar circumstances the temp is holding in the 250 range with the DIGI Q.

Other stuff: It is a cold windy day. Temps 26 degrees. I started the fire with about a half a chimney of coals. Using Kingsford.

I see that some don't turn on until within 25 degrees of temperature. I poured the half chimney on, buttoned up the smoker and turned on the DigiQ to let it do its thing. 30 minutes in the temp was getting rising slowly and I put the meat on, figuring it would stop at 225. But it went straight to 260ish.

And from my three hour experience so far I am surprised when folks say the top vent is wide open. Trying to get down to 225 I pretty much have the entire smoker shut down.

The sad part is, I always did better with no ATC. But based on all of the positive comments I am not going to give up yet. Plus I have a picnic roast on there, so I am not concerned about the slight overtemp that I am experiencing. It will forgive me.
 
I don't have a WSM, but here is how I get the best results with my UDS. The number 1 thing to remember about an ATC is that it cannot decrease the temperature, it can only increase temperature.

1. put the probes through the top vent, not under the lid. If under the lid air can get in beneath the lid as well.
2. set the smoker up like you would, if you wanted to run it without the ATC at 200
3. let the ATC give it the last 25F using the fan

For my smoker I leave the top vent fully open, then the bottom vent is only 20% open. For me, without a fan that would run about 200. I then add the fan to push it to 225. So if the smoker is set up where it is hotter than the target temp, with the fan always off, you won't get good results.

Hopefully this can help,
dave
 
I have a CyberQ WiFi, which is basically a WiFi version of the DigiQ DX2.
I have the 10 cfm Pit Viper fan. On both my WSMs, I set the damper 1/2 open.
I fully close the bottom 3 vents, except for the adapter, and leave the top vent fully open.
I run my probe wires though a grommet.
It works well.

D Peart said:
The number 1 thing to remember about an ATC is that it cannot decrease the temperature, it can only increase temperature.

1. put the probes through the top vent, not under the lid. If under the lid air can get in beneath the lid as well.
2. set the smoker up like you would, if you wanted to run it without the ATC at 200
3. let the ATC give it the last 25F using the fan
Click to expand...
Excellent advice Dave.

Bob
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys. I also wonder if I over fired it. I used only half a chimney of kingsford, but since I turned it on right away the fan started running from the get go. I tend to think that is why it spiked. At the same time though cant figure out why temp would not come down. It never got much lower than 235 so that is where I set the temp. It did stay relatively steady there but dropped to 220 once.
 
G Force, I tried to reply to you last night, but my phone is almost impossible to post with. Anyway, I'm doing a short cook now and I fill the grate about 3/4 full, got a full chimney and let them start for about 20 minutes until I could just see gray start on the top brickets, and then poured it over the coals and wood chunks. I let it set open for about 5 minutes, while I was fishing the wires and setting up the middle section, and then put everything together and closed the lid. I had all of the lower vents open, and the top vent open as well. I put the meat on, and just let it come up to about 10 degrees below my set temp of 275 and plugged in the DigiQ and closed the two bottom vents. Within 20-30 it ran over about 10, but settled back down to 275 right on the money. I will say that for your sake, I purposely adjusted up the temp to 300 for a few minutes then back down to 275, and when closing the dampner, the temps dropped down pretty quickly.
 
Wow. Thanks Scott. But that is not my experience at all. I will try again by:

1. Not picking a 25 degree day with gusty north west winds. That may have created fluctuations that were difficult for the controller.
2. Definitely not plugging the controller in until temps settle down.

My technique was similar to yours. But I think I will also use less charcoal next time. But I have always felt 30 minutes was a sufficient time once adding coal for the temps to stabilize and load the meat. With less it may take more time and that makes no sense.
 
Where are you located? I was thinking if you were local, we could swap units and see what happens?
 
Appreciate the offer Scott. But Jersey here. No problem though. I boxed it up and will wait till the weather breaks and give it a try again. I bought it for long overnight smokes to work unattended all night. I am not there yet.

Scott C. said:
Where are you located? I was thinking if you were local, we could swap units and see what happens?
Click to expand...
 
Scott C. said:
G Force, I tried to reply to you last night, but my phone is almost impossible to post with. Anyway, I'm doing a short cook now and I fill the grate about 3/4 full, got a full chimney and let them start for about 20 minutes until I could just see gray start on the top brickets, and then poured it over the coals and wood chunks. I let it set open for about 5 minutes, while I was fishing the wires and setting up the middle section, and then put everything together and closed the lid. I had all of the lower vents open, and the top vent open as well. I put the meat on, and just let it come up to about 10 degrees below my set temp of 275 and plugged in the DigiQ and closed the two bottom vents. Within 20-30 it ran over about 10, but settled back down to 275 right on the money. I will say that for your sake, I purposely adjusted up the temp to 300 for a few minutes then back down to 275, and when closing the dampner, the temps dropped down pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

I too had issues with my first test burn. Things you need to know is the ATC needs to be the only source (if possible) letting air into smoker.

I think you may have over fired it. Using the HeaterMeter rPi ATC, I literally lit 2-3 coals (Actually I used one weber fire cube starter and it worked like a charm) on the opposite side of where the fan connect like this pic:

39e59e28_howistartafireforusewiththepitmasteriQ110.jpeg


Every other BOTTOM vent was closed and the vent the fan was connected to was closed as far as I could with the screw holding it in place. Top vent is always open wide on my smokes. I dont like having to closed as that stale smoke can collect in the dome and leave soot on the meat. I used my ATC to bring it up to temp as well as it started at around 125 when I turned on the ATC. It took it to 225 and held it steady for 13 hours with a few spikes from me opening the door to peek and see how the coals were burning:

burn%20test.jpg


As other have said, the ATC can only bring up and maintain temps. It cannot lower temps. Start with less lit coals and let your atc do the work of bringing it up and stabilizing.
 
G Force. I also recently purchased from BBQ Guru. I got the digiQ Wifi and had similar problems with overshooting and not being able to bring my temps down at all on a test cook. I thought air was getting in somewhere. All bottom vents closed, tape over 2 hole on damper where the fan hooks in and top vent open. Couldn't find any air leaks on my WSM 22". What I finally found is that i did not tighten the fan adapter tight enough. i was tightening it from the screw inside the weber. What I ended up doing is just holding the screw with a screw driver from inside and hand tightening the adapter from the outside. It tightened down quite a bit more and I haven't had any issues with firing up, hitting and maintaining temps since.
 
Good tip. I recall having to do this twice as the first time I tightened it down, when I looked from the outside in through the adaptor, I could see the adpator wasn't centered. So, I took it a part, and did it again, making sure it was exactly centered and completely on the vent, and the vent was totally open. I then tightened it down pretty good, checking the center with every twist of the screw driver. I also ended up going with the snap in covers instead of the tape too, but it's definitely sealed well. I'm not sure if this is G Forces issue, but pretty good point to check.
 
I have been using a BBQ Guru ATC for around 10 years now without any issues. These things are supposed to simplify our cooks not complicate them. My method is simple. Fill the ring with charcoal, briquets or hardwood. Add several chunks of smokewood. Put 10-15 briquets in the chimney and place over a lit Weber starter cube. While chimney is working I rub the meat and put it on the grate. When briquets are grey I add them to the ring, put on the meat, put on the lid, done.

Always keep top vent wide open, never use water in the pan. Place several layers of crumpled and then uncrumpled foil in the pan and then cover with more foil. This is info I got from Bob the owner of the BBQ Guru company.
 
Al Silverman said:
I have been using a BBQ Guru ATC for around 10 years now without any issues. These things are supposed to simplify our cooks not complicate them. My method is simple. Fill the ring with charcoal, briquets or hardwood. Add several chunks of smokewood. Put 10-15 briquets in the chimney and place over a lit Weber starter cube. While chimney is working I rub the meat and put it on the grate. When briquets are grey I add them to the ring, put on the meat, put on the lid, done.

Always keep top vent wide open, never use water in the pan. Place several layers of crumpled and then uncrumpled foil in the pan and then cover with more foil. This is info I got from Bob the owner of the BBQ Guru company.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, what does a bunch of crumpled up foil have over a wrapped clay saucer?
 
The clay saucer acts as a heat sink which the ATC doesn't need. The layers of foil just act as a kind of radiator protecting the meat a bit. Especially if using the bottom grate.
 
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