Tricking the Guru...

Firestarter21

From what I read the Digi q 2, collects data from your cooks and learns how your cooker works.... I think based on logarithms and such. So, hooking up the fan to get a really hot grill, while leaving the pit thermometer out of the egg, therefore fan runs constantly. Is this ok, any harm done to any of the components. I know there is a direct link you can buy to power the fan, but not having that on hand am I hurting anything?
Thanks,
Barrett
Woodstock, Ga

FlaPoolman

Think your over complicating it or confusing with the stoker which I know nothing about.
With the DIGIQII you set the temps then go play golf or get drunk or whatever blows your skirt up. It really is that simple. Even a dummy like me can use it.

Eggtucky

As Pat said..no harm done..I use my digi2 as much as a pit minder as I do a meat cooker... whatever blows your skirt up!...lol...

Grandpas Grub

Firestarter21,

Your question is a good one.

I have often wondered how 'logic' in the q2 is affected by full on fan or when the q2 is turned on and the egg is at full/correct temp. Or even when I start the egg with the Viper wide open then cut it back to 1/3 or 1/4 open when I get closer to temp.

I wonder it it leads to some overshoot of pit temp... It would be nice to better understand that part of the logic with the q2.

Nevertheless, like the others I just use it.

GG

Firestarter21

Right, I have used it for slow and low, but tonight I am searing steaks. I was thinking the advantage of the fan blowing on the fire would get me to a higher temp than usually obtained. The steaks are on now, I decided it didnt give me much of an advantage. I just didnt know if it was ok to give the guru a false reading by leaving the pit thermometer outside, giving it a reading 77 and it thinks it thinks it needs to heat the grill to desired temp set,ie 200,therefore the fan blows in the wide open mode. It never shuts off because the outside temp remains the same. I didnt know if I would damage my unit in anyway if anyone had any knowledge on this.
Barrett
Woodstock, Ga

Eggtucky

REALLY dont think it will damage the 'logic' in the unit..but I don't use the digi2 above about 400 or 450 max..I find that above that the natural draft vents do a better job and seems like I read somewhere about the temp exposure limitation of the standard pit probe being in the 500 range...maybe I dreamt this, but nevertheless i dont use it much above 450...

Fidel

I don't think it will affect the guru, but i also don't think you will get a substantially hotter fire.

You will get to temps faster, but i don't think you will get much higher than you would without the fan if the lump is given enough time to heat up without it.

That being said, I use the guru and fan to get up to temps quickly fairly often and have never had an issue with the digi on low cooks.

FlaPoolman

Dont think it would damage it but dont see why you need it for searing if you start the fire right. Even going from a slow cook at 250 It will go to 700 without the fan really quick if you let it. Big misconseption is 700 dome for the sear but really all you need is the flames. Lid open with TREX flames can be 400 when you close the dome if you sear early in the start.

Firestarter21

Thanks Fidel, I think that was my main concern. That it wouldnt effect anyhthing in the long cooks. I agree, I don't think it helped the intensity of the fire by much. I think it is more a matter of time allowing the fire to get the temperature desired. However, my girlfriend wanted the steaks on so we settled for a little under 700, not too shabby. We usually cook steaks around 650, but we like our steaks medium rare, I think if you get closer to 800 or 900 then you are going to end up with a nice rare steak. I hope to get the iron grate in the near future. I have a large, so I think these temps are obtainable it is a matter of giving it the time.

Barrett
Woodstock, Ga

The Naked Whiz

The "learning" part is reset on every cook, as I recall from speaking to Shotgun Fred, so whatever you do on this cook won't affect the next.

Celtic Wolf

There really is absolutely NO reason to sear a steak at 700+ degrees Doneness has nothing to do with the temp it cooked at. It is the time in the heat you have that determines doneness.

Sear the steaks at 500-600 degs for 90 second per side. and let them roast at 350-400. This is the process most of the major steak houses use and it is the process used in TRex Method we Eggers have become so fond of.

If you insist on higher heat sears get the meat close to the coals.

One more thought here. Above 600 degrees you risk fusing the two gaskets together...

Just because you can do a thing, doesn't mean you should.

Firestarter21

Thank you all for your input. I would like to make it clear that the only part of the guru hooked up to the egg was the viper, the pit probe sat on my table to "trick" the guru into thinking it needed to achieve a higher temp. I guess I was not clear in explaining this. I haven't had the guru long and mainly just wanted to see what kind of power/difference the 10cfm fan would make vs. leaving the bottom vent wide open. I think I plan to just use my vents in the future. I have probably cooked steaks 75+ times on the egg and typically "sear" each side around 600 for a min or two on each side, flip, then close up both vents for 3 or 4 mins. I just wanted to try something new tonight and thought I would ask for input before I possibly damaged the digi q. I think it was TNW that informed me that the unit resets its logic after every cook, I think that answered my main question. Thank you all for your input, sorry the question may have been a bit boggled to begin with. Oh, I never have cooked my egg shut that I recall, but I appreciate the heads up.

Barrett
Woodstock, Ga

Jeffersonian

It's most likely a standard PID (Proportional Integral Derviative) controller with an autotune routine in it that is invoked periodically. This means the Guru will deliberately "bump" the setpoint or fan to see what the Egg will do, then it adjusts its PID parameters accordingly to adapt the unit to the Egg.

It sounds high-tech, but PID controllers have been doing this for decades. Old-timers like me still know how to do it without the autotune, but we don't generally do it much better. :unsure:

At any rate, you're not going to harm the unit by doing what Firestarter suggested, but it might act weird for a bit, until it can retune itself to a valid Egg configuration.

Ar-Cee

Guru sells an adaptor plug to connect the power pack directly to the Viper fan to use it as a blower. Just my 2 cents. rc

Hungry Joe

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