Flameboss help - meat probe temp jumping all over the place

SmyrnaGA

Hi,

i sent an e-mail to fb, but, maybe someone here has experienced this already.

This is my first cook on the flameboss and the meat probe temp is jumping all over the place.  Did I put the probe in wrong?  Here's the link and a picture of the probe.

http://myflameboss.com/cooks/10527

SmyrnaGA

I just reposition the probe.  It stop saying 'LOW' now.  Still jumping between 70-100???

chrisc133

It's hard to make out exactly what you did with the foil on or what you're cooking. 

Take the foil off. Slide the probe in at an angle into the meat and make sure you aren't hitting a bone.  Just find a nice thick meaty area. 

If the meat was frozen before...it might not have thawed all the way and the probe will read low if it's in that spot. 

Also make sure the connection to the flame boss is good and pushed in all the way. 

byrne092

This happened to my grate probe. I tried a few tests to rule out the setup, my temps were jumping around by a few hundred degrees and stuck on HI. I ended up sending an email to flameboss explaining that I thought the probe went bad (only had it for a couple months). They sent me a replacement right away and that fixed the issue. Great customer service. 

Jeepster47

Like @byrne092 says, e-mail Flameboss with your cook number and concern so that @MichaelCollins can look at the graph.  Looks like it's settled out somewhat after 8:00am, but still has more dither than I'm used to seeing on my meat probe.  Please post Michael's answer ... @blind99 had some dither on his meat probe also, so others might be interested.

One suggestion is for you to close down the top vent a little more than it is right now.  Since about 6:30am your fan has only run occasionally and your temps are a little higher than target temp.  You're really cooking on manual control.  The FB can only increase the temp ... you have to set the top vent so that the pit temp will fall below target if the FB fan is not running.  The top vent is correctly set when the average fan running time is about 20 to 30%.

blind99

that's odd.  my current cook is http://myflameboss.com/cooks/105242 (which is also 2 pork butts, since Costco sold out of packer briskets ARGH) and the meat temp tracing looks smooth.

when you have a chance, put the probe in a glass of hot water and see how stable the reading is.  seems like the problem is isolated to your meat temp probe, the pit probe looks stable. 

Jeepster47

Here's a cook (not mine) that someone is working on right now:



Looks like they installed the FB at about 7:30am when the fire was just getting started.  The initial target temp was set at 195*, then bumped up to 275* when the fan started to ramp down at~7:45am.  A little overshoot (~9*) occurred right before the protein was put on at ~8:20am ... not a bad catch.  I would guess that this is an XL egg ... when started like this, my large will hit temp at about the 30 minute mark.

What I want to point out is how close the pit temp is following the target temp for this cook. The peak fan running data is at around the 50 to 60% level, thus the average run time is probably around 25 to 30%.  The FB is earning it's keep on this cook ... and controlling the temp very well.

blind99

@jeepster47 I think this PID controller stuff is pretty remarkable.  The unit knows nothing about the size of the fire, the size of the cooker, the outside temperature... yet it can "learn" it and lock in so accurately.  very cool!

SmyrnaGA

@Jeepster47 my top vent is totally closed and smoke has been escaping all around the gasket. (Needs to be replaced soon)  I have another thermometer on the second butt and the deviation is close.

I've been using my Kick Ash Basket with the charcoal grate.  I'll put it back for tomorrow's brisket cook to see if that'll help.

SmyrnaGA

@byrne092 my meat probe was bouncing around in the beginning, but, it's only floating a few degrees now 179-181.  It's comfortable to know that the flameboss customer support is good.

Jeepster47

@SmyrnaGA ... Smokeware cap or daisy wheel?  Gasket on the cap?

Ozzie_Isaac

I had my probe bouncing on a chicken.  Turns out I had pushed it through into the chest cavity.  

SmyrnaGA

@blind99 I'll try to do the water test after the cook.

SmyrnaGA

@Jeepster47Smokeware cap with gasket on cap.

blind99

I don't know if the probes are interchangeable but if so try swapping them after the cook. It the meat probe looks unstable and the pit probe is then stable then the problem may be in the unit and not with the probe. 

Jeepster47

@blind99 ... I was hooked on the electronics with the Bubba guru ... but, the ability to follow your (or a friend's cook) from afar is the real thing for me.

When I started working, hard wired instrumentation and CEC paper was high tech.  Now my son carries around more instrumentation capability in his laptop than we had in our entire instrument van fleet.

Jeepster47

Okay, you peeked in the egg at ~1:20pm and did something with/to the probe 'cuz the dithering disappeared.  What did you do?

SmyrnaGA

Around 1:20pm, I repositioned the probe to more "middle" of the meat closer to the other butt.  Before, I had it angled in from the other edge toward the middle.  Neither spot had "bone".  The only difference I can see was the part of the probe not in the meat is over the meat after 1:20pm.  Before, it was over the oval stone and the grate probe.

Jeepster47

Thanks ...

SmyrnaGA

They got back to me earlier but I missed the e-mail.  They suggested swapping the probes but it's working fine now in room temp and hot tap water.

Next test will be brisket tomorrow night...

Forgot to take pix of the butts off the grill.  It's all packed in the car to the party.  I'll post some pix later.

MichaelCollins

SmyrnaGA said:

They got back to me earlier but I missed the e-mail.  They suggested swapping the probes but it's working fine now in room temp and hot tap water.

Next test will be brisket tomorrow night...

Forgot to take pix of the butts off the grill.  It's all packed in the car to the party.  I'll post some pix later.

Hi SmyrnaGA, to be sure that you understand our request to switch the probes. We believe that you probably have a problem somewhere, either a bad probe or a loose connection in the controller. The problem is intermittent and a little harder to diagnose. Since you improved the connection when you moved the meat probe, it seems likely to be the probe. We asked you to switch the probes to see if the problem moved with the probe or stayed with the jack in the controller. Your Flame Boss 200 is covered by our one-year warranty and we will replace any defective item, but we do not want to waste your time or our money sending the wrong part. If you see the temperature jumping around again try switching the probes and let us know what you find.

Sorry for your inconvenience and thank you for choosing Flame Boss.

SmyrnaGA

Thanks @MichaelCollins , I did another cook yesterday and the flame boss worked like a charm!  I had to move the meat probe at 7am since I didn't have it in the center of the meat.

http://myflameboss.com/cooks/10854