What's the average install time for a Digiq II?

[Guest]

Hey Guys!

Long time lurker, not quite first time poster (although my credentials from the pre-infopop discussion forum are long gone).

I decided to ante up and get a temp control system for the Super Bowl party this weekend, and I'm anxiously awaiting my Digiq II's arrival tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I've got a crazy weekend lined up. To get a jump on everything, I figured I'd try and get whatever I need ready to install that bad boy, and figure out what the time I'll need to set aside is.

Has anyone here installed it on their WSM? If so, how long should I expect it to take, and what kind of tools are we talking about (flux capacitor, impact hammer

Thanks in advance,
-John

 

[Amir]

I have no experience with your grill or the temp control system but this is the Internet and opinions can be offered without any experiene whatsoever

.

On my side, I got a stoker to go with my ceramic smoker and there was zero set-up time required. The blower slid in place of where the draft door was and that was it. No tools were required of any kind.

The thing you need to plan for is a bit of play time to learn to use the unit. So get something easy to cook and do a cook with that to get used to how the machine works, the impact of vents, etc. I did a chicken for my first test and that gave me the confidence to do anything after that.

 

[Guest]

Amir-

The techie side of me says go with something basic for the first run, to make sure the thing works without killing any good cuts of meat.

The hungry side of me is just sitting there with a pitchfork going 'do it! do it! make a brisket!'.

Alas, if only the hungry side of me would lose out every now and then, I wouldn't have to hit the gym so often

 

[r benash]

Hey John - DigiII setup and go is pretty simple. I would say 30 minutes or so. It has menu instructions etched on the back of the unit. Depends on how intuitive you are, but straight forward.

 

[Ed Cardoza]

John,
It takes about ten seconds to attach the fan blower assembly, the fan motor just plugs right into the bottom of your WSM. You'll need to close all of your bottom vents except the one that you are going to use for the DigiQII. You will then use the heat tape supplied with your order to cover the two vent holes that are opened on that particular vent.They really don't give very good instructions on how this thing sets up, but if you go to the following site; there is a breakdown of how things work and how you set them up. Once you get it set up and running, you will be amazed at how easy it is to operate and how slick this unit works. It's nice to be able to set it and forget it, that's for sure.
http://www.thebbqguru.com/kb/kbDownload/bbqDownloads/Di...0GUIDE%20rev0.96.pdf

 

[Guest]

Awesome stuff - thanks guys!

I took Friday and Monday off, and now, I'm chomping at the bit. Friday can't come soon enough.

 

[Thomas/Klamerus]

John,
I would play with the settings on the unit inside before you use it outside. On my first cook with my DigiQ II I tried to set the beeper intensity to 0 (turn the beeper off) while cooking and had trouble pressing the right key sequence to scrool thru the different options. I ended up finishing the cook and playing with the unit the next day.

 

[Ed Cardoza]

Albuquerque NM huh? I moved here in California back in 2005 after living in NM for 22 years. I worked at Sun Valley for 22 years before they let it go to *&^(%. Sure miss NM, it's a great state.

 

[Guest]

Well, I have to say it doesn't get much easier than that.

Installation took all of 10 minutes, and that only because it's raining like a ***** here in NYC.

I'm running empty with some lump and a water pan filled with sand. I did want to do something simple (like some potatoes), but as luck would have it there was nothing I could use in the house.

Even in the downpour right now, it's holding rock steady at 225. I know the unit is supposed to be water resistant, but I've got it in a ziploc bag just to be safe.

Question for you guys - how do you normally fire your unit? Do you still use the Minion method? I didn't put much care into how I started it up (filled the ring with one piece deep of lump, then fired up a half starter full of lump separately and poured it on), but that's not going to be the case when I throw some food on it tomorrow.