Flame Boss controler battery pack.

Photo Egg

Do any of you Flame Boss owners have  a good aftermarket rechargeable pack that you would recommend?
I purchased the FB model and I think it might be DOA. Only charges to about 30 percent overnight. Have an email to FB and I know they will help me out. Not bashing FB. Just looking for better alternatives.

RRP

Darian,
I've used this unit for 17 years to drive my BBQ Guru. Bot at Wally World for like $45.

Ozzie_Isaac

RRP said:

Darian,
I've used this unit for 17 years to drive my BBQ Guru. Bot at Wally World for like $45.

They had elucktricity 17 years ago!  

Btw, that is a good idea with many alternate uses.

Photo Egg

RRP said:

Darian,
I've used this unit for 17 years to drive my BBQ Guru. Bot at Wally World for like $45.

Thanks Ron.
I do have a similar pack and have used it with my Guru.
Really looking for a much smaller alternative this time.

RRP

I vaguely recall years ago an egger just used a small non-rechargeable battery of the proper voltage when he would go camping.

Photo Egg

RRP said:

I vaguely recall years ago an egger just used a small non-rechargeable battery of the proper voltage when he would go camping.

I do remember posts about people using the older "lantern" style batteries.
The Lithium rechargeable packs are normally so good. No reason not to take advantage of the rechargables. The FB labeled unit is about the size of a double thick iPhone. Very nice and portable.

SaintJohnsEgger

I have the battery pack from FlameBoss and it works well. The charging process is weird as the actual progress light is on the wall wart. Once I figured that out and was no longer under charging it things have been fine.

But call FlameBoss and they will get it al worked out. I've met them at 2 different Eggfests and they are good people. Very responsive to phone calls.

HeavyG

I have no idea what the power requirements are of a Flame Boss. All I could find in the manual was it just mentioning 12v but not how much current draw.

One of those small battery packs that supposedly will jump start a car output 12v. They would power your FB but for how long? You would have to do some calculations. So one of those packs might power an FB for just a few hours or all night.

You would also likely need to make up your own cable.

Anyway, those packs are about as small as you are going to get. Something like this one (and there are a gazillion flavors of these things):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JO40A7U?psc=1

Photo Egg

HeavyG said:

I have no idea what the power requirements are of a Flame Boss. All I could find in the manual was it just mentioning 12v but not how much current draw.

One of those small battery packs that supposedly will jump start a car output 12v. They would power your FB but for how long? You would have to do some calculations. So one of those packs might power an FB for just a few hours or all night.

You would also likely need to make up your own cable.

Anyway, those packs are about as small as you are going to get. Something like this one (and there are a gazillion flavors of these things):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JO40A7U?psc=1

Here is a shot of the specs on the unit. I'm not familiar enough with electrical power to make cords from scratch but this plug should be fairly common. Manufacturers web site. www.talentcell.com

Photo Egg

SaintJohnsEgger said:

I have the battery pack from FlameBoss and it works well. The charging process is weird as the actual progress light is on the wall wart. Once I figured that out and was no longer under charging it things have been fine.

But call FlameBoss and they will get it al worked out. I've met them at 2 different Eggfests and they are good people. Very responsive to phone calls.

I charged it for about 20 hours the first time. Only got me to 30%. I think it might have sat on the shelf to long. Agree, FB customer service is fantastic. They have helped me in the past. I have an email to them but this is NOT an urgent issue. Seems like I remember some recent  past posts about 3rd party battery info but it might not have been for the Flame Boss.

OhioEgger

HeavyG said:

I have no idea what the power requirements are of a Flame Boss. All I could find in the manual was it just mentioning 12v but not how much current draw.

One of those small battery packs that supposedly will jump start a car output 12v. They would power your FB but for how long? You would have to do some calculations. So one of those packs might power an FB for just a few hours or all night.

You would also likely need to make up your own cable.

According to their website, the FB unit has a 4500 mAh lithium battery and will power the controller for "up to 12-15 hours of cook time."

So it should be fairly simple to determine what your maximum length cook would be and then buy a rechargeable battery of the appropriate size. Making a cable would be very easy.

HeavyG

Here's a Talentcell 12v pack on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MF70BPU

It's a 6000Mah pack so a little more capacity than the one you have. The inlcuded plug is likely compatible with your FB (as you said it is a common sized plug - 5.5x2.1mm).

Photo Egg

HeavyG said:

Here's a Talentcell 12v pack on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MF70BPU

It's a 6000Mah pack so a little more capacity than the one you have. The inlcuded plug is likely compatible with your FB (as you said it is a common sized plug - 5.5x2.1mm).

I saw that. It also has led power indicators on the battery. And its cheaper than the one I bought. Thanks...

SaintJohnsEgger

OhioEgger said:

HeavyG said:

I have no idea what the power requirements are of a Flame Boss. All I could find in the manual was it just mentioning 12v but not how much current draw.

One of those small battery packs that supposedly will jump start a car output 12v. They would power your FB but for how long? You would have to do some calculations. So one of those packs might power an FB for just a few hours or all night.

You would also likely need to make up your own cable.

According to their website, the FB unit has a 4500 mAh lithium battery and will power the controller for "up to 12-15 hours of cook time."

So it should be fairly simple to determine what your maximum length cook would be and then buy a rechargeable battery of the appropriate size. Making a cable would be very easy.

It may be the same size but make sure you check the polarity on the plug. If its the wrong polarity you could mess up your FB.

SmyrnaGA

Did you turn the power switch on before you charge?  All talentcell battery packs seems to need it on for charging.  I thought about buying the FB battery pack, but, I was worried about how long the battery would last on an overnight cook.  So I got the talent cell 12V/6000 mAh.  I came with a Y cable. As you can see below, the lower polarity is correct.

I've used it once so far with my FB200(wifi).  I turned it on around 9am and around 11pm, the display said low battery, but, I still had 2 led lit.  Since I didn't want the power to go out, I plugged in the power supply into the Y cable.  Next time, I plan to start 9pm and check what happens 14 hours later after the low battery warning.

SmyrnaGA

BTW, I was cooking a brisket at 250 for 15 hours and kicked it up to 275 the last hour.  I had 1 red led and 1 green led lit after 14 hours with those settings.

Photo Egg

SmyrnaGA said:

BTW, I was cooking a brisket at 250 for 15 hours and kicked it up to 275 the last hour.  I had 1 red led and 1 green led lit after 14 hours with those settings.

Great information. Thank you for taking the time to post.

Photo Egg

The Customer Service at Flame Boss played out with no real help in the end.
I was emailed by Sabrina who asked several questions. We exchanged several emails. One question was how many power indicator lights were showing after I gave it full charge. My conclusion was I was sold an older model that will not hold a full charge as mine only has one indicator light for on or off.  Sabrina asked me to send photos of the power pack and I did. She would not confirm nor deny that mine was an older model. I told her I was getting text alerts within an hour of using the unit that my battery was low. 
She then asked me to plug the fully charged pack into the control box and time how long it stayed powered up. Really thought this was silly and honestly don't want to spend the time trying to time a power pack. I finally emailed and asked if my best option was to buy a pack directly from the manufacture , www.talentcell.com and return this pack. As the web site showes a better unit WITH the power indicator lights on the pack, as she was asking me about early on. And it's $10 cheaper than I paid for mine. Her answer was to return the pack and buy direct from the Amazon link on the manufacturers site. My first experience with FB customer service was stellar good. This time not so much.
If your in the market for a FB battery pack, check inside the box and make sure your getting a newer unit or as Sabrina from FB Customer Service advises, order it direct from the manufacture with the link from above site. It will take you to their Amazon store and save you 10 dollars.
Really like my FB controller but the small portable power pack option has not worked out very well so far. 

caliking

That's kind of a weird response from CS. Who actively redirects customers away from their company? Unless they actually own talentcell too.

Hopefully it's an aberration, because they usually do a great job of keeping their customers happy. And now I know where to get a battery pack if I'm ever in  the market for one.

six_egg

@Photo Egg If you did find what you want try this place. They have everything you could want. Link

Photo Egg

caliking said:

That's kind of a weird response from CS. Who actively redirects customers away from their company? Unless they actually own talentcell too.

Hopefully it's an aberration, because they usually do a great job of keeping their customers happy. And now I know where to get a battery pack if I'm ever in  the market for one.

They might be following this. Another email did say newer model now shipping.
And another email from Sabrina telling me they have no control over how long item sits on shelf at dealer. I agreed but said there is no way for me as a consider to know of a newer power pack because the  information on their web site about the batter is limited. Not to mention there should still be a warranty. It's only about a month old.
Another email said they are working on web updates and she only recommend ordering from Amazon to support their dealers who sell on Amazon.lol
The link is not to a Flame Boss dealer, it's direct to the power pack manufacturer. 
Agree, this is not the response I expected based on my past experience with them.
Think I'm just out $40 plus tax on this deal. At least it's not the controller.lol

Photo Egg

six_egg said:

@Photo Egg If you did find what you want try this place. They have everything you could want. Link

Wow...And more. Thanks.

SmyrnaGA

@Photo Egg did you flip the power switch to 'on' while charging?  The talentcell power packs doesn't work like other powerpacks where all you need to do is plug it.

Photo Egg

SmyrnaGA said:

@Photo Egg did you flip the power switch to 'on' while charging?  The talentcell power packs doesn't work like other powerpacks where all you need to do is plug it.

Thank you, yes I did. And it does the charge cycle correctly as wall plug light starts out red and changes to green when fully charged. It just doesn't appear to hold a full charge or discharges to fast.

Photo Egg

Happy ending...Just got another email from Sabrina at Flame Boss and a new battery pack is being mailed. 
Thank you Sabrina and Flame Boss.

SmyrnaGA

+1 for Flame Boss Customer Service!

Photo Egg

SmyrnaGA said:

+1 for Flame Boss Customer Service!

And the support from this forum!

chuckytheegghead

Does that talentcell from amazon need any adapters or is it good to go with the flameboss?

SmyrnaGA

I can only vouch for the 6000mAh one either the USB 5v socket.  The included y-cable is what you see in my picture near beginning of this thread.  I only get to do a long smoke at most once a month, so the USB lets me use it to recharge my phone if needed.

Photo Egg

chuckytheegghead said:

Does that talentcell from amazon need any adapters or is it good to go with the flameboss?

As poster above. This would be the one to buy.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MF70BPU
I believe this is the same model Flame Boss now sells on their site for $39.99.

DoubleEgger

Here's a basic 12v 3.4amp/hr battery that will work.