First, let me start by saying that I only have 5 cooks under my belt using the Stoker and StokerLog. And I don't do comps....just personal use at home. But on a couple of cooks, I have had overshoot problems....both from coming up to the desired temp and also getting the temp down to the desired temp. Basically I am getting very big overshoots when the fan runs a long time getting the temp up, then shuts off once it reaches the setpoint. Big overshoot, then big undershoot since the fan doesn't come on until it goes below setpoint.
I have had very good success controlling the overshoot on the last cook by manually controlling the temp setpoints to gradually ease the temp up (or down) to the desired temp. For example, yesterday I did 2 chickens and wanted to achieve 350*. My initial temp was 400 and first set the pit temp to 385, let the fan come on a couple of times to stabilize the falling temp, then lowered the pit temp to 375. Let the fan cycle a couple of times, then lowered to 365, then to 350. This worked great. I have also done this when raising my temp since my temps usually start out around 200 when the food goes in and then I ramp up to 210, then 220, then 230 and settling in around 250. Going up I stop the fan from running for a couple of mintues before bumping up the temp.
Am I missing something in how the Stoker works to avoid these big overshoots? On one overnight cook where I just let the Stoker do its thing, there were a series of about 6 overshoots where the temp would overshoot by 20* and then undershoot by 20* for about 4 cycles, then on the last couple they got smaller until it finally settled into its normal 3-5* variance.
One thing that I was thinking to help was if there was a way to manually toggle the fan operation (turn on or turn off), so that you could manually control the air flow without keeping on changing the temp setpoint. What this will allow you to do is interrupt the big transient to feed some air (if temp is coming down too fast) or stop the fan (if temp is going to rise too fast). Basically being able to click a fan override button to cycle on or off.
BTW, these overshoot problems are using a 5cfm fan and my WSM is pretty well sealed so no extra air is causing this.
Anyone else seeing this? I know it is better to try to get my temp about right once it is assembled but with all the factors (like the wife not having the chickens ready in time) then the temps can easily get about 50* off and that is when the overshoots happen if I let the Stoker do its thing.
Thanks for any help and sorry for the long winded post.
Kg
I have had very good success controlling the overshoot on the last cook by manually controlling the temp setpoints to gradually ease the temp up (or down) to the desired temp. For example, yesterday I did 2 chickens and wanted to achieve 350*. My initial temp was 400 and first set the pit temp to 385, let the fan come on a couple of times to stabilize the falling temp, then lowered the pit temp to 375. Let the fan cycle a couple of times, then lowered to 365, then to 350. This worked great. I have also done this when raising my temp since my temps usually start out around 200 when the food goes in and then I ramp up to 210, then 220, then 230 and settling in around 250. Going up I stop the fan from running for a couple of mintues before bumping up the temp.
Am I missing something in how the Stoker works to avoid these big overshoots? On one overnight cook where I just let the Stoker do its thing, there were a series of about 6 overshoots where the temp would overshoot by 20* and then undershoot by 20* for about 4 cycles, then on the last couple they got smaller until it finally settled into its normal 3-5* variance.
One thing that I was thinking to help was if there was a way to manually toggle the fan operation (turn on or turn off), so that you could manually control the air flow without keeping on changing the temp setpoint. What this will allow you to do is interrupt the big transient to feed some air (if temp is coming down too fast) or stop the fan (if temp is going to rise too fast). Basically being able to click a fan override button to cycle on or off.
BTW, these overshoot problems are using a 5cfm fan and my WSM is pretty well sealed so no extra air is causing this.
Anyone else seeing this? I know it is better to try to get my temp about right once it is assembled but with all the factors (like the wife not having the chickens ready in time) then the temps can easily get about 50* off and that is when the overshoots happen if I let the Stoker do its thing.
Thanks for any help and sorry for the long winded post.
Kg