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DigiQue problem

Fulan
Fulan Posts: 4
in Off Topic
My brother and his wife gave me a DigiCue and all the accouterments. Great Xmas gift and I am psyched! So, to break it in last night I did the MadMax turkey, intending to cook it (13lb) at 325° for whatever, using the DQ. Got it going, set the pit temp and food temp, all well. So, a couple of issues here: It was cold—in the teens F°. And MadMax evidently lives in some place warm, because he has you opening the top and basting every twenty minutes! So I got it up to temp, basted and left. My wife basted a couple of times, maybe once per 75 minutes. I returned, basted it. About 4 hours in, I noticed that the pit temp was way low—275 or so, and the fan, despite all this, wasn't running at all and nothing would make it go. When I puled it out, some condensation came out of the connector. This morning I tested it, and it works ok. So what happened? There was a lot less lump than I expected; could it be I just ran out of charcoal? When I disconnected the fan, I could coax the pit up to 375. Did the fan freeze? Did it just give up because it had to pump all the time? Did I do something wrong? Can I compensate? I have to say, I was looking forward to 'low and slow' this winter the the DQ letting me stay inside. Advice from the veterans and experts welcome!
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Comments

  • bigalsworth
    bigalsworth Posts: 685
    I would give it another try or two and be dilegent watching it. There are a lot of factors there and it is hard to diagnose from the outside. Maybe after another cook or two you can narrow it down and it would be easier to give advice.

    I can talk to the cold, I just cooked in -35 deg with the digiQ and it worked flawlessly, I also had some condensation around the lower vent and never had any problems.
    Large BGE
    BBQ Guru DigiQ II

    Martensville, Saskatchewan Canada
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    If it happens again, reach in through the air intake hole and see if the fan spins freely.  If the DigiQ was reading a pit temp of 275 and you had it set for 375, then a frozen fan is a good possibility.  Position the fan so that moisture can't collect around the fan.

    Also, double check your connections ... they could have been borderline at the beginning and lost continuity during your last basting.

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

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  • Fulan
    Fulan Posts: 4
    Many thanks to both of you. I suspected the frozen fan, but the way it attaches, it seems it is always tilted down and below the lower door, so condensation natrually flows downwards into the fan. I'll try and do something about that. Encouraged that @bigglesworth is workin' in at -35. Thanks.
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  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
    I use mine often and have never run into this problem even at cold temperatures.

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
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  • dstearn
    dstearn Posts: 1,702
    The only time the fan did not work for me was when I had the fan plug connected in the wrong port. I would test it again and if the fan is not working I would contact BBQ Guru for a replacement.
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