Rocks bbq

DoubleEgger

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Generally I agree no charge till delivery, however I checked out their website and they are giving 10% off till restocked.  Thats a pretty decent return for a few months wait.

Sounds like they have a serious cash flow issue. Give a discount to basically float them a loan 

Ozzie_Isaac

DoubleEgger said:

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Ozzie_Isaac said:

Generally I agree no charge till delivery, however I checked out their website and they are giving 10% off till restocked.  Thats a pretty decent return for a few months wait.

Sounds like they have a serious cash flow issue. Give a discount to basically float them a loan 

That was my thought too.  Good deal if you get the product.  Not good if your on the ship when it goes down.

Almost like their suppliers won't ship till payment is received.

Not saying its the case.  Seems to work for them.

I am very cautious though.  I have done business with a guy doing custom stabilzers for bows.  Pay first make and ship second.  I was one of the last to get a stab, tons of guys got burned.

On the opposite side I have done business with a small audio company selling custom high end gear.  They only charged after they shipped.  Just a few guys making great gear who know their business.

Scottborasjr

Big difference dealing with Amazon and dealing with a small business. It's worth every penny and the time waiting guys. I was frustrated to waiting nearly a month for mine but it sounds like @fusionhq and the rest of you that ordered mid to late February should be getting yours soon.

If you haven't ordered and are still considering now is the time as it sounds like they are catching up with demand and the discount won't last much longer.

DoubleEgger

I've got one on order so I hope I don't go down with a sinking ship. Ozark Oak was apparently a good product but that obviously wasn't enough to keep them in business

Fireman_Joe

The wifi modules were on back order to Rock's BBQ from their supplier, I deal with another company that uses the same modules in their weather stations and they were having same issue. I asked why they did not find another supplier and the weather station company said the are a super nice module and they don't want to down grade to cheaper quality.

Scottborasjr

@DoubleEgger it sounds more like Ozark oak didn't have anyone to take over the business and didn't want to ruin his name with an outside person taking over the name of his company.

jimithing

For anyone else that's placed an order recently - I ordered on March 2nd and got a notification today that it had shipped last night.  Scheduled delivery is tomorrow.  So looks like about a 10 day lead time at the moment.  Maybe they're getting caught up now.

Angus1978

Gratzi...we shall see

DoubleEgger

jimithing said:

For anyone else that's placed an order recently - I ordered on March 2nd and got a notification today that it had shipped last night.  Scheduled delivery is tomorrow.  So looks like about a 10 day lead time at the moment.  Maybe they're getting caught up now.

Thanks. Makes me feel better

fusionhq

Update...Sorry I've been away since posting, have had lot of other priorities lately.  I did receive my stoker late last week.  I didn't even unpack it until yesterday.  I followed the directions for initial bootup, and can't get the LED light on the blower plug to light up, the system never completes bootup.  Between these two issues (I Waited 15 minutes and no bootup) I unplugged it and left it laying on my work bench.  Irritated to say the least, but maybe it's something I did wrong.  Anyways, I have a call in to them just now, no answer.. I will try back shortly since they're PST.

On the topic of supply problems, I am fully aware of the process and how things get held up, especially with the port debacle in LA lately.  I am 100% OK with a delay, but the non-response was my issue.  We'll see how this hiccup I have now is handled.

Thanks for all the words of encouragement on this...I can't wait to use it!

DMW

The LED on the blower plug does not light up during boot up sequence like the probe LEDs. It only lights when the blower is actually running.

fusionhq

@DMW, maybe I misread the instructions...I thought it said all LED's would light up.  I'll go re-check it!  Thanks for the heads up.

mahenryak

Okay, this is totally from memory, but I believe there is definitely a handshake with the blower upon initial power up.  The fan will actually run for a couple of seconds, or so, when it gets through the cycle, as I recall.  For sure, though, you should see the blue light on the fan at least for a moment during this cycle.  I would recommend trying a different port as a troubleshooting step and also make sure the connection is snug.  (pretty basic, I know)

DMW

fusionhq said:

@DMW, maybe I misread the instructions...I thought it said all LED's would light up.  I'll go re-check it!  Thanks for the heads up.

Mine doesn't. Just get it online, web into it and set the target temp for something higher than ambient. If the fan doesn't start running, you have a problem.

mahenryak

@fusionhq another thing I would try is to power up the device with just a single probe and see if it boots all the way up.  Then power down and add each subsequent probe/fan in succession.  This may help identify a faulty probe/fan.  (again, just basic troubleshooting stuff).  Make sure you pay attention to all display messages, if any.

DoubleEgger

My stoker is being delivered tomorrow. Any other tips, suggestions, troubleshooting or recommendations to shorten the learning curve? Also is there a best app to use (iPhone)? I would like to use it on a brisket or a butt this weekend. Thanks. 

mahenryak

DoubleEgger said:

My stoker is being delivered tomorrow. Any other tips, suggestions, troubleshooting or recommendations to shorten the learning curve? Also is there a best app to use (iPhone)? I would like to use it on a brisket or a butt this weekend. Thanks. 

@DoubleEggerI have an iPhone with the BBQ Monitor app installed on it.  I find that I don't use this very much.  Instead, I use my laptop and the Stoker program to control my cooks (Windows 8.1 laptop).  This is just a personal choice.  One thing I can share, however, is that I have found that if I try to use both programs during the same cook I have run into communication issues.  Maybe this is just my issue, but I would recommend that at least for your first cook, just use one or the other (KISS rule).  Remember to plug all your probes/fans in before powering up.  Use your skills and prior experience to try to have your temperature dialed in reasonably close, manually, prior to relying on the fan.  I find sometimes that if I forget to 'stop' the program on my laptop before doing a power cycle on the stoker for whatever reason, the program gets into a 'not responding' mode.  So, my rule of thumb is to stop the application on my laptop prior to powering off the Stoker--then I can save the cook, or whatever.  This is not a big deal, obviously, you can always just restart the program.  Anyway, these are some of my candid thoughts/admissions. 

DoubleEgger

I appreciate the tips. I want to have a good experience from the start considering how much this two egg setup cost. 

mahenryak

DoubleEgger said:

I appreciate the tips. I want to have a good experience from the start considering how much this two egg setup cost. 

You're welcome.  Also, keep in mind that your Stoker remembers the last settings on next start up so if it seems to be in a funk, or loses wifi connectivity (very rare), or you're just not confident that things are as they should be then you can simply power cycle it as a simple troubleshooting step.  Caveat being that you may have to restart the Stoker program on your computer if you forget to stop it first.  Another thing I thought of is that I have a tendency to leave the console of the Stoker unit on the fan blower menu 'shut down for 5 minutes' so that I can just press the button when I want to tend to the protein and have to lift the lid (issue is that when you open the lid the temperature goes down and the fan starts blowing in excess--smoky.)

4Runner

DMW said:

The LED on the blower plug does not light up during boot up sequence like the probe LEDs. It only lights when the blower is actually running.

True, but on boot up, it turns the blower on for a second or two.  That is when I would think it would light up.  I'll test mine at the house later today.

mahenryak

4Runner said:

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DMW said:

The LED on the blower plug does not light up during boot up sequence like the probe LEDs. It only lights when the blower is actually running.

True, but on boot up, it turns the blower on for a second or two.  That is when I would think it would light up.  I'll test mine at the house later today.

@4Runner Agreed.  This is how I remember it.

Fireman_Joe

Just checked my new Stoker II, during the initial boot up only the food and grate probes light up, the fan does not cycle on at all during initial boot up. When the fan is running yes I get the blue light on the connector.

mahenryak

Fireman_Joe said:

Just checked my new Stoker II, during the initial boot up only the food and grate probes light up, the fan does not cycle on at all during initial boot up. When the fan is running yes I get the blue light on the connector.

Makes me wonder if they've updated their firmware, recently. 

DMW

Fireman_Joe said:

Just checked my new Stoker II, during the initial boot up only the food and grate probes light up, the fan does not cycle on at all during initial boot up. When the fan is running yes I get the blue light on the connector.

That is exactly what mine does. The fan does not cycle unless you have the target temp set above ambient.

mahenryak

DMW said:

show previous quotes

Fireman_Joe said:

Just checked my new Stoker II, during the initial boot up only the food and grate probes light up, the fan does not cycle on at all during initial boot up. When the fan is running yes I get the blue light on the connector.

That is exactly what mine does. The fan does not cycle unless you have the target temp set above ambient.

FIrmware version?  I will check this out when I get home tonight.  I looked at the website but it is kind of hard to tell on there if there has been a recent update.

DMW

mahenryak said:

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DMW said:

Fireman_Joe said:

Just checked my new Stoker II, during the initial boot up only the food and grate probes light up, the fan does not cycle on at all during initial boot up. When the fan is running yes I get the blue light on the connector.

That is exactly what mine does. The fan does not cycle unless you have the target temp set above ambient.

FIrmware version?  I will check this out when I get home tonight.  I looked at the website but it is kind of hard to tell on there if there has been a recent update.

Here you go:
Software by kaytat & K6JQ, Version 11.0.1.11

mahenryak

DMW said:

Here you go:
Software by kaytat & K6JQ, Version 11.0.1.11

Thanks @DMW.  Hmm... I will check this out but it doesn't look like this version number is anywhere's near the firmware number that I see posted on their website (2.7.0.332).

stompbox

I can't get their website to work right now... Anyone else having issues?

DMW

mahenryak said:

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DMW said:

Here you go:
Software by kaytat & K6JQ, Version 11.0.1.11

Thanks @DMW.  Hmm... I will check this out but it doesn't look like this version number is anywhere's near the firmware number that I see posted on their website (2.7.0.332).

I know, this is a copy/paste from the Web UI. Also, the most recent FW they have posted on their site is from 2013. They would have had to do a FW rev for the new 802.11n module in the Stoker II. I wonder if it is only applicable to the Stoker II so they didn't publish it. 

@stompbox - Yes, their website is working for me.

stompbox

 

@stompbox - Yes, their website is working for me.

Odd, wonder if it is now blocked at work.

I get this:

This page can’t be displayed

• Make sure the web address https://www.rocksbarbque.com is correct.