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Flameboss Battery Pack

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GWizBrewing
GWizBrewing Posts: 23
in EggHead Forum
I used my flameboss 200 for the first time last night, already noticed that I don't have an outlet near my grill set up.  Had to get the extension cord out...  I noticed that flameboss sells a rechargeable battery pack does anyone use this and care to comment?
Give a man a beer, he'll drink for the day. Teach a man to brew, he'll be drunk the rest of his life. - Anonymous.
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  • RedSkip
    RedSkip Posts: 1,400
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    I use an extension cord too, never knew of th battery pack.
    Large BGE - McDonald, PA
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 19,094
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    I use an extension cord.  The battery pack looks interesting.  I wonder how long you could cook with it?
    They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That's against their interests. - George Carlin
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,895
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    I use a car battery jumper to power my Guru. I'm no electrical whiz but I bet your AC power block converts the electricity to either 12v or 24v DC.

    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    I inquired about it awhile back, and the nice folks at FlameBoss said it typically will run 8-12 hours.  It's 12v, so a setup like Ron's would work too.
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,895
    edited March 2016
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    blind99 said:
    I inquired about it awhile back, and the nice folks at FlameBoss said it typically will run 8-12 hours.  It's 12v, so a setup like Ron's would work too.
    Just 8 to 12 isn't going the distance for many lo & slo cooks. The jumper has power to spare and barely drains in 20 hours. These jumpers are frequent sale items at big box stores and farm & fleet retailers.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,971
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    I wonder if smobot has less power draw since it's moving a servo and not spinning a fan?  @reinhart36 thoughts?
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • SoCalTim
    SoCalTim Posts: 2,158
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    Just throwing this out there, the battery on a BBQ Guru Party Q lasts between 15-18 hrs (for me). Plenty of time for low n' slow's ..
    I've slow smoked and eaten so much pork, I'm legally recognized as being part swine - Chatsworth Ca.
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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,350
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    blind99 said:
    I wonder if smobot has less power draw since it's moving a servo and not spinning a fan?  @reinhart36 thoughts?
    Good question.

    A fan only draws current when it is running whereas a servo will consume some current - typically a few milliamps - even when "doing nothing".

    A servo can draw a lot of current depending upon the voltage to it and the torque needed.

    I've measured various pc fans current draw at anywhere from 0.1 amps to 0.4 amps depending on RPM.

    I look forward to a response from Reinhart about this. I'm also curious about how often the servo tends to operate the shutter/vent while doing its thing.
    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • tjv
    tjv Posts: 3,830
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    the 12 volt jump pack that RRP shows is sweet to run.  Goes for many cooks without charging.  harbor freight usually has 'em on sale.

    Ron, that is one of the original guru competitors......going back many years.   brings back some memories. 

    t
    www.ceramicgrillstore.com ACGP, Inc.
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,895
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    tjv said:
    the 12 volt jump pack that RRP shows is sweet to run.  Goes for many cooks without charging.  harbor freight usually has 'em on sale.

    Ron, that is one of the original guru competitors......going back many years.   brings back some memories. 

    t
    Yes it is Tom, and it keeps on ticking! I did have to replace the original Teflon coated cables though. I'm just not one who needs to have the latest electronic gear - besides the new smart controllers probably couldn't keep up with my rotary dial phone.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
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    @RRP ... don't try to fool folks into thinking you only have a black rotary dial phone ... I saw you using your flip phone the other day!

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,895
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    Jeepster47 said:
    @RRP ... don't try to fool folks into thinking you only have a black rotary dial phone ... I saw you using your flip phone the other day!
    Oh boy, Tom, yes I dug out my flipper after I realized that that huge "cordless" phone that you had in your hip holster wasn't going to make contact over 12 feet much less the 15 miles to its base back in Washington! 
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • reinhart36
    reinhart36 Posts: 253
    edited March 2016
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    Howdy!

    @HeavyG, @blind99: Your suspicions are correct, regarding reduced power consumption by the robotic damper vs. the fan in a real cooking cycle.

    We have reason to believe the damper power consumption averaged over a typical cook cycle is fairly small compared to the power consumption of the WiFi module and/or LCD backlight.

    The damper pretty much sits idle most of the time, and when it does move, it's a tiny bit at a time and torque is very low.  Plus, it only attempts to update its position periodically, so it doesn't consume anything in between updates (80% of the time).  If it were full-time updating, then it would consume a tiny bit even when it wasn't moving, like HeavyG said.

    For development we're logging extremely high resolution data (in the context of slow-moving grills) by transmitting data every 5 seconds.  Even in that power-intensive configuration, we ran SMOBOT on basic 9V alkalines in cold winter weather for 14-15 hours.  By 16 the batteries faded.

    I haven't had time to test it yet, but operating time should be HUGELY increased by reducing data transmit frequency.

    We're implementing a power-saving mode too, that kicks in automatically when batteries start getting weak, and dials back wifi usage and turns off the LCD backlight, etc..

    Think of it this way - how long could you run a Guru CyberQ WiFi on two 9V batteries?  I bet not very long at all.  That's the most comparable system to SMOBOT in terms of features.

    I'm anticipating the Beta will be able to do >24 hours on typical batteries, with WiFi running, but I'll let you know for sure soon.

    Like people have said, you could always use rechargeable batteries, higher capacity batteries, or plug external battery packs into the DC jack.  Lots of options.

    For the forthcoming production SMOBOT, we're designing for low power consumption with an integral rechargeable Lion battery, which will be very cool!  ;-)

    Thanks,

    Eric

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