New Thermometer Review from Meathead

whldch

lkapigian

At 189, that is cheap....if it had an output for a fan and is easy as it says.....I'd hit that

DMW

lkapigian said:

At 189, that is cheap....if it had an output for a fan and is easy as it says.....I'd hit that

It has an expansion port that is currently unused. Potential future use is for a blower output for a fan. It's an interesting bit of kit, and if I didn't already have a Maverick ET-732, ET-733, Thermoworks DOT, and a Stoker II WiFi, I would be interested for sure. As it is, I have enough wires and gadgets ... for now.

HeavyG

I was a Kickstarter backer and I've had my FireBoard for about a month now. It's very slick. The probes are good quality and waterproof. The probes also have 6 foot cables which I really like and you can buy extension cables if you need more length. That will be useful when I'm running a couple cookers at once.

The auxiliary port will have a variety of possible uses down the road. A few months ago they asked their Kickstarter backers what they would like to see first and most of us mentioned the ability to control a fan but it can control relays or whatever also.

The unit is very compact and I like that the internal rechargeable battery can also be supplemented/recharged by one of those small external USB battery packs.

I think that some folks that might be considering getting a Thermoworks Smoke and also wanting the WiFI gateway for the Smoke should give the FireBoard a good look. I know my Smoke will likely be "riding the pine" most of the time now.

Botch

HeavyG said:

I was a Kickstarter backer and I've had my FireBoard for about a month now. It's very slick. The probes are good quality and waterproof. 

Thanks, @HeavyG .
Is the transmitter also water/rain-proof?  If so, I'll probably buy one soon.  

HeavyG

Botch said:

HeavyG said:

I was a Kickstarter backer and I've had my FireBoard for about a month now. It's very slick. The probes are good quality and waterproof. 

Thanks, @HeavyG .
Is the transmitter also water/rain-proof?  If so, I'll probably buy one soon.  

No it is not but they are planning on making a case for it.

I just use those $1 Gladware disposable containers or the clear plastic clamshells that my salad greens come in for my remote thermos but if the case they come up with is really slick I might buy one.

nolaegghead

I just made a case to evaluate these to monitor refrigerators and freezers at work.  We have some connected to alarms but it's just for outlier notifications.  We still have people record the temps in books manually.  That's 20-30 manual readings a day.

HeavyG

nolaegghead said:

I just made a case to evaluate these to monitor refrigerators and freezers at work.  We have some connected to alarms but it's just for outlier notifications.  We still have people record the temps in books manually.  That's 20-30 manual readings a day.

For an extra fee they will provide you with an NIST calibrated unit if that may be of importance for your use.

Also, I don't remember the details (and I'm not sure they have worked out all the details themselves just yet) but there was a limit to how many hours of free use of the cloud each unit would get per month. Users over a certain amount would need to pay a monthly fee. I believe the Tappecue does the same thing.

You can connect to the unit and see the live data graph via Bluetooth now but they do plan to have a firmware update sometime that will allow you to download a data set directly from the unit via BlueTooth so you could just use it as a data logger. Currently you can only download a data set from their cloud. 

My one real concern with the Fireboard was the reliance on their cloud server to snag a data set. If they went out of business so does their cloud. I'll feel more comfortable when they upgrade and allow the Bluetooth data grab feature.

nolaegghead

@HeavyG - Good points.  We don't need but a measurement once an hour or so.  We have 40mL bottles of glycerin in the units that buffer the spikes from opening and closing the doors.

We would be willing to pay for the service, obviously I probably need to talk to them because this would be a bulk purchase with the option of increasing to other locations and we're a big company.

Also need to find out if there's anything else out there that's relatively cheap and wireless.   And if any of our other locations have something that's tested and they're happy with.

Heli_Guy

You should check out Thermaworks Smoke 
http://www.thermoworks.com/Smoke

I really wanted to buy this one, but as I live in Canada and the Smoke is only rated for an operating Range 32 to 122°F (0 to 50°C) I passed on it, as temps where I live in the winter can go down to -4°F (-20°C). So I got the ThermaQ instead, otherwise I would have gotten the Smoke for sure.

HofstraJet

I use this for my wine cellar and also have them near the AC air handlers and hot water heater for water sensing purposes: http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/temperature-and-humidity-monitor-and-alert-system-with-wet-temperature-probe/

Here's what the data logging output looks like:



Not NIST traceable, but I believe Thermoworks and Dickson make ones that are (for a price, of course).