WSM 22.5 IQue vs BBQ Guru


 
Michael BB said:
I'm new to the site and read 10 pages back, but want opinion on the best ATC out of the IQue, PartyQ and DigiQ.
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I imagine that's going to be very subjective. Each user will come to individual conclusions on which product is best. You probably can't go wrong.
 
Michael, I'll start the ball rolling by saying I've had the DigiQ DX for several years now - used exclusively with my 22.5 WSM - and have had great success with it. I can't offer anything with respect to the other devices you mention.

Regards,

Rooster
 
The Ique 110 works great for me. I use on both a 22 & 18. However, now they've come out with the 120 which has a higher price point. I have not used the 120 yet so I can't offer an opinion about that.

BTW one advantage the Ique has is it's variable speed fan (5 CFM, 10 CFM, 15 CFM). This is rarely written about when people are comparing ATCs. I imagine the 120 will also have a variable speed fan.
 
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I use an IQ110 with my Webers. I don't have any experience with other temp controllers (other than watching a friend of mine use the stoker at a comp), so I can't say anything about them. But here are my thoughts on the IQ110.

Pros: cheap, easy to use (once you learn how to use it), holds temps fairly well (within ten degrees either way) when it gets set

Cons: you need to become familiar with your particular controller

When I first got mine, I read the instructions and fired it up for a dry test run on my smoker. I had my Mavericks reading temps as well to see how accurate the IQ was. What I found was that the IQ110 is not calibrated particularly well. I followed all the instructions and had set the unit to 250 degrees. When the light indicated that the smoker was "at temp," I checked my Mavericks and found that the smoker was only at 215 degrees. The IQ110 temp probe and the Maverick temp probe were placed on the same grate about two inches apart. I waited about thirty minutes checking temps every five minutes or so, and the Maverick showed that the smoker's temp stayed around 215 to 220 degrees. I had to adjust the IQue to about 275 in order to reach the desired temp of 250 on the smoker's grate.

I checked my Mavericks for accuracy afterwards wondering if, perhaps, they were at fault, but they passed the boiling water test.

I then asked a couple friends of mine who bought their IQ110s a long time ago, and they both said that they had the same issues.

I guess the IQ110s are either using chips that are incorrectly calibrated or there are problems with the temperature probes. But for mine to exhibit such issues brand new out of the box (as well as confirmation by others) leads me to believe that the fault may lie with the controller unit rather than the probe itself.

Like I said, once I learned that I had to adjust the controller to reach my desired temp, it held it there fairly well. I've used it for a few cooks afterwards when I needed to do overnights or whatnot, and it does its job. Just be forewarned that you should test it and check the unit against other thermometers to be sure. Even with the new IQ120, I would still check it against other reliable thermometers like the Mavericks.
 
Did you check the Ique probe with the boiling water test like you did the Maverick? One possible reason for the Ique showing a higher temp than your maverick is the that the probe might be reacting to the heat retained by the cooking grate. The metal cooking grate will absorb and retain heat; thus it will be hotter than the air in the cooker. The Maverick is raised away from the grate and there is less surface area of the probe connecting to the clip which is attached to the grate. I know that Stokers use silicon tubing between their probes and their probe trees/clips to reduce the heat conduction from the cooking grate.

I use a clothes pin or I stick a snipped bamboo skewer into the meat and then I clip the Ique probe with the aligator clip to the wood which does not retain much heat. This gives a more accurate pit temp and could be the reason your Ique was showing that your pit was hotter than it really was.
 
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I used my new Party Q for the first time yesterday. It was awesome. Works as advertised. I cooked a brisket and the temps stayed steady the entire cook. Instead of using the high heat tape that came with the Q, I bought three hole plugs from Home Depot to plug up with damper that I installed the Party Q on. I used the IGrill that I was given for the meat probe and also as another pit temp probe. The iGrill and Party Q were never more than a few degrees apart once everything settled in.
 
An update on my experience with the IQ110. I tested both the Maverick grill probe and the IQ110 probe in boiling water today. The Maverick was right on, and the IQ110 kept running and showing "low" (flashing green light). I waited about ten minutes, and the IQ just kept blowing air with the flashing green light. I'm planning on using the IQ110 for my cook tomorrow, but I will definitely be running it with the Maverick to make sure I get the right temp.

The IQ110 definitely has issues. But you can work around it, I guess.
 
I've had a few issues with my IQ-110 lately.

Last two cooks I set it at 225 and the light turned green. Then shortly after I got the RED light flashing and it wouldn't stop. I unplugged it and after getting up to speed the flashing red light stuck again.

My next cook with be just the Weber and the adjustable vents. I did recently buy a new heat probe for my IQ-110, so maybe i'll try that.
 
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