SmoBot Review ... in progress

Ozzie_Isaac

Received a SmoBot Beta yesterday.   I have been playing with it today.  Luckily I had a few extra NIB daisy wheels so the install took less than 5 minutes.

Ozzie_Isaac

I have opted for using the battery option.  Mostly for convenience (and curiosity).

EggNorth

Looks interesting...so will this automatically control the temperature from the top?

Ozzie_Isaac

EggNorth said:

Looks interesting...so will this automatically control the temperature from the top?

Yes.  Instead of using a fan on the inlet, it has an auto damper.  Inlet is just left about half open.

DaveRichardson

In theory, yes. It will control air flow out of the dome, opening and closing depending on the temp probe. 

Ozzie_Isaac

So far so good.  Set at 215 a few hours ago.  Been riding steady.  Even through the quick rain shower we had.  My eggs are completely exposed.  No shelter.

SoCalTim

I love Gizmo's, I wonder how this would work on a Mini .. 

Ozzie_Isaac

SoCalTim said:

I love Gizmo's, I wonder how this would work on a Mini .. 

I have a minimax with a collar for a smokeware cap.  I plan to see if it will work on that setup.

SoCalTim

Ozzie_Isaac said:

SoCalTim said:

I love Gizmo's, I wonder how this would work on a Mini .. 

I have a minimax with a collar for a smokeware cap.  I plan to see if it will work on that setup.

Gonna keep an eye on this post. Very fascinated. Great pictures.

LRW

Bump

Ozzie_Isaac

Looking forward to pastrami tomorrow.  Its still running smooth since 1045 this morning.

NPHuskerFL

Nice!!!

bgebrent

Waiting and watching.

ryantt

Hey @Ozzie_Isaac I found I my short cook today it worked pretty we as advertised.  Are you finding the same, this many hours in 

Ozzie_Isaac

ryantt said:

Hey @Ozzie_Isaac I found I my short cook today it worked pretty we as advertised.  Are you finding the same, this many hours in 

Yep.  Worked very smoothly.  I am impressed so far.  Looking forward to a real cook tomorrow.

I will also setup the wifi too.  I went simple today.

Ozzie_Isaac

11 hrs at 215 no problem.  Funny because I didn't add lump, just stirred lump I had left from some Carna Asada the night before.  I figured I had enough for 6hrs.  At the 11hr mark the temp started to drop even with the top fully open.

The beta unit has space for 2 9V batteries.  I measured the voltage of both batteries at the beginning of the cook.  They were both at 9.6V.  After 11 hrs both were down to 8.3V.  I am not sure what the cut off voltage is for the unit.

This is a beta unit, so the production units will have changes, but 12 hr cooks with batteries should be no problem maybe a lot longer depending on cutoff voltage. (wifi off)

stompbox

Nice!

SoCalTim

I see you run the controller with the lower vent door half open, do you keep the screen open or closed?

Ozzie_Isaac

SoCalTim said:

I see you run the controller with the lower vent door half open, do you keep the screen open or closed?

I kept the screen closed like I regularly do.

Ozzie_Isaac

Ozzie_Isaac said:

SoCalTim said:

I love Gizmo's, I wonder how this would work on a Mini .. 

I have a minimax with a collar for a smokeware cap.  I plan to see if it will work on that setup.

Here you go!  Used the smokeware adapter and a full size daisy wheel.  So far its working good.

Seems ideal with the option to use batteries.   Plus no noise from a fan!

Ozzie_Isaac

4hrs, MM has been rock steady.  Batteries with 12hrs on them still working fine.

OneNole03

Interesting concept. Im curious how often it will need to be cleaned to keep it opening and closing easily.

xiphoid007

I haven't had to clean my smobot yet. The 2 plates will stick a little, but they easily pop apart with gentle lifting. Once it heats up for 5 minutes the grease let's loose also. I love it and use it with practically every cook now.

Griffin

That is pretty cool and a very unique controller. Looks like a servo right off of an RC car.

Ozzie_Isaac

Griffin said:

That is pretty cool and a very unique controller. Looks like a servo right off of an RC car.

Yep, just a standard servo.  I'm impressed with how well it works.  I never thought you could control the temp so well by just adjusting the exhaust.

stompbox

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Griffin said:

That is pretty cool and a very unique controller. Looks like a servo right off of an RC car.

Yep, just a standard servo.  I'm impressed with how well it works.  I never thought you could control the temp so well by just adjusting the exhaust.

Yeah, I am definitely following with a lot of interest.  This is very interesting, because when cooking without an aide, you try to make as minimal adjustments on the vents.  I am surprised it comes back down in temp so well to moderate it.

HeavyG

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Griffin said:

That is pretty cool and a very unique controller. Looks like a servo right off of an RC car.

Yep, just a standard servo.  I'm impressed with how well it works.  I never thought you could control the temp so well by just adjusting the exhaust.

The Tip Top Temp works well by just adjusting a top vent using a simple bimetallic spring.

I would expect the SmoBot with an actual temp probe feedback loop to work even better at holding a specific temp.

Glad to see that SmoBot looks like it's getting closer to general release.

KiterTodd

Thanks for sharing your experience and pictures.

Curious what kind of delay it has between adjustments. Sometimes a small change in the dial, takes several minutes to settle on the internal temp.  They must have thought of that, though.

In any case, if it works well I may invest in one of these instead of the blower option.

Ragtop99

Glad to see the batteries last a long time.  Be interesting to see the change in battery life with wifi enabled.

Ozzie_Isaac

I have run into 1 issue with the SmoBot.

Everytime I use it, it rains.   Finally got my pastrami on and it is pouring down and lightning like crazy.

So far, no issue with exposed servo.  Simple ziploc for the controller and it is working like a champ.

Loving the batteries!  Third cook, same batteries. Pushing 20hrs now.

reinhart36

Ozzie_Isaac said:

The beta unit has space for 2 9V batteries.  I measured the voltage of both batteries at the beginning of the cook.  They were both at 9.6V.  After 11 hrs both were down to 8.3V.  I am not sure what the cut off voltage is for the unit.

This is a beta unit, so the production units will have changes, but 12 hr cooks with batteries should be no problem maybe a lot longer depending on cutoff voltage. (wifi off)

@Ozzie_Isaac - thank you for spending time on your review of smobot, and especially for checking out battery life.  I presume you're operating with the LCD backlight disabled?  I'm excited to hear of how long it lasted after you finally drain them.

I think the voltage regulator will be getting into sketchy territory when you get into the mid-high 6V range.

Somewhere in that neighborhood, if the backlight and WiFi aren't already disabled, smobot will automatically kill them to preserve life.  When battery voltage is approaching that territory, smobot will start displaying battery voltage % in the rotation of the Food1/2 temps, to be sure you can see that you're getting close.

I ran with WiFi on for about 15 hours before we'd implemented the auto power-save scheme, and it started seeming a little weird, and it got into trouble at 16hours.  I think if it were to have automatically shut WiFi off like it does now, there would have been several more hours left - but I'm guessing.

There are lots of rechargeable external battery packs out there too that a person could just plug into the DC barrel jack and get LOTS of life.  Something like this, for example: http://amzn.com/B00MF70BPU.  I bet that would last >100 hours with WiFi on with a single charge..

Anything above 7V is a good choice, not to exceed 20V.  The lower the voltage, as long as it's in that range, the more efficient it will be.

Thanks,
Eric