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Charcoal burn time with DigiQ

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CanuckBBQKing
CanuckBBQKing Posts: 6
in EggHead Forum
Howdy all,

  A bit of a disappointing cook last night. I tried out my DigiQ  DX2  for the first time last night while cooking a Pork shoulder; however, when I came to check up on the pork this morning all my charcoal had been used and the shoulder was cold. I had filled the egg up a bit past the fire ring (i've done this a couple of times and if worked fine for 15-20 hr cooks). I was using maple leaf hardwood charcoal and some apple wood chips. My DigiQ was hooked up on the bottom vent and on the top I had about 1/8th of an inch. 

Any thoughts on what may have happened?
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  • jhl192
    jhl192 Posts: 1,006
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    What size egg? What were the start time and the time you found it cold? What were the grill temp limits set at? Was it windy?
    XL BGE; Medium BGE; L BGE 
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    If your temp stayed solid it was probably the lump. Did you check the temp and regulations before turning in?
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • CanuckBBQKing
    CanuckBBQKing Posts: 6
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    Lets see:

     Its a large egg:

    it was an 11Ibs shoulder. I started cooking it around 7 Pm. I set the food temp to 195/ pit to 265. It was slightly windy(small gusts). Had the viper fan gate set to half way. At midnight things were fine temp was a stable 265; however when I checked it out at around 6h30 AM it was dead very little residual heat left in the egg, the charcoal was almost completely ashed. So I'm guessing it had been out for around an hour or more.
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  • CanuckBBQKing
    CanuckBBQKing Posts: 6
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    I think the lump may be the culprit. I just wanted to check to see if anyone had their lump burn quicker using a digiQ.

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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    I've gone 16 with mine overnight at 230...still enough left for two cooks. Sounds like a bad bag.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • CanuckBBQKing
    CanuckBBQKing Posts: 6
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    henapple said:
    I've gone 16 with mine overnight at 230...still enough left for two cooks. Sounds like a bad bag.
    I think so. I had the same amount of Charcoal perhaps slightly more.
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  • jhl192
    jhl192 Posts: 1,006
    edited April 2014
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    Did you have a Maverick with an alarm set? Is there a low temp alarm on the Digi Q?
    XL BGE; Medium BGE; L BGE 
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  • plumbfir01
    plumbfir01 Posts: 725
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    yes there is a low temp alarm on digiQ...its not a temp you can set, its a margin difference from you desired pit temp i believe...or at least mine is. 
    Beaufort, SC
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
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    I'm not sure if you can adjust the alarm on the digi-Q or not, but for pit temp, I know it alarms too hot and too cold as I've had mine alarm both ways.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    I'm supposed to be a few bags of Maple Leaf this week...If @Fred19Flintstone‌ remembers. I look forward to trying it. I've heard good things.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • CAT Seller
    CAT Seller Posts: 208
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    Did you have a power outage? That would probably cause a reset on the Digi Q from the settings that you had programmed in the night before. I have gone 19 & 20 hrs before, and from the lump that was remaining, I could have gone a little longer.
    If it ain't a CAT, it's a dog!!! 2 LBGE's & BGE Backyard Chef Edition Cart
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  • Jaime_Doug
    Jaime_Doug Posts: 57
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    Not sure abt digi q , but their cyber q has EEPROM to retain settings, so pwr glitch would not hv done it if pwr was off for only a short period..
    Doug/Jaime in Tucker, GA   Could almost walk to BGE Mothership  LBGE
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  • jmarbs21
    jmarbs21 Posts: 139
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    I have the DigiQ dx2 as well and did two 8lb pork butts this weekend for about 18 hours at 225 and still had some charcoal left over after. I have a large egg as well, I was using BGE charcoal.
    Durham, NC
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  • rosros
    rosros Posts: 408
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    I would also set the fan gate to less than  1/4 mark. 
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  • duchunter
    duchunter Posts: 110
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    I have always left my fan gates closed when using the Digi Q2  and have never had any trouble, I usually have enough lump left over for at least 2 cooks, when I do my shoulders I set the pit at 225 and meat at 195,

    Depending on the outside air temp my cooks last from 16 to 20 hours

    Egg Family: Large and Medium Eggs and a Bradley Smoker

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  • cssmd27
    cssmd27 Posts: 345
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    Something just doesn't make sense here.  You put tons of charcoal in there and had a low temp cook going and it wouldn't make it 12 hours.  The only way I could explain it would be that the temp went much higher for a while and burned out all your fuel.  I just don't understand how it could have been all used up that quickly on a low and slow cook.

    Sorry, not much help.  Just commenting.
    Dallas (University Park), Texas
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  • CanuckBBQKing
    CanuckBBQKing Posts: 6
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    I think I'm going to chalk this one up as a mystery. Did another cook with some new charcoal and it seemed to do the trick. Burned a good 15 hours. I think the previous charcoal may have had a higher moister content after the winter thaw. I keep my lump in a green recycling bin out doors. While there isn't dirrect contact with any water I think maybe the ambient moisture in the coal might have lead to if burning quicker. or as cssmd27 suggested perhaps there was a spike in the temp during the night.
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  • CanuckBBQKing
    CanuckBBQKing Posts: 6
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    Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

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  • Miked125
    Miked125 Posts: 481
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    I bought some Maple Leaf stuff from lowes, White bag with red writng? I found it got very hot but didn't last long. The price was also outragous.
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    CAT Seller said:
    Did you have a power outage? That would probably cause a reset on the Digi Q from the settings that you had programmed in the night before. I have gone 19 & 20 hrs before, and from the lump that was remaining, I could have gone a little longer.
    The DigiQ's all remember the settings across a power outage. 

    DigiQ Power Interruption Feature
    The Naked Whiz
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