Ironic Flame Boss upgrade offer

MN-Egger

So I deep cleaned the egg and had one five hour rib cook a couple weeks ago and today wanted to do another baby back rib cook. There was still a lot of BGE lump left in the egg but added just a little along with my usual smoking woods. After the second hour the temp began raising from the set temp of 250 and got higher every time I looked at it. Not uncommon using the Flame Boss controller and it always corrects itself but today it just wouldn't. When it got to 285 and the controller was alerting me, I pulled the ribs and finished in the oven!  

So after finishing up with the egg cleanup, I returned to my desk and an email comes in and it is from Flame Boss offering me a loyalty discount on their FB500 kit with $100 off and free shipping. Of all days for this to show up when I am frustrated with the days cook. I do not think the controller is responsible for the flare up as it showed zero fan when the flare began. Also, I was not in the market to replace my current controller but I am wondering if anyone else upgraded from a FB200 to the 500 and if the cook experience was any different or basically the same program patterns? Mine is getting old and hasn't had a software upgrade in a long time so I wonder if they are still supporting it or not. 

Thanks you.

lkapigian

Curious, was the fan ramping or was it off? If it was off FB Will recommend closing the top vent when it issues the alarm

stlcharcoal

It's a larger screen (double the size), plus you can monitor up to three meats at once.

Photo Egg

I went from the 200 to the 500 for the reasons @stlcharcoal
mentioned above.
No difference in how it cooks/adjusts in my opinion.

caliking

If the fan really wasn't kicking on to ramp up the temp, maybe you have an air leak somewhere?

Photo Egg

caliking said:

If the fan really wasn't kicking on to ramp up the temp, maybe you have an air leak somewhere?

Just having the top vent open to much can cause this.

WeberWho

Two cooks ago my Flame Boss 500 pit probe went dead in the middle of a cook. The bbq pit probe had maybe seen 12 cooks. Nothing over 300 degrees as it was only used in my gravity feed smoker. So no direct heat. That was disappointing. My PartyQ controller ended up saving the cook. My last cook the Flame Boss app stopped working for about 2-3 hours during the cook. Fortunately I was home and able to monitor temps from the controller. All relatively minor in the grand scheme of things but more of an annoyance.

MN-Egger

The FB fan basically quit when the flareup began. I do know I could close the top vent that was open a tiny bit and has been for years in that same position but was sick of it and the smoke was already in so moved to the oven for last 2 hours. Ribs were great btw.  Air getting in was mentioned and I am now suspecting the gasket as it is the original and does look tired, also it was a bit windy so perhaps it is time to replace. 

Photo Egg

MN-Egger said:

The FB fan basically quit when the flareup began. I do know I could close the top vent that was open a tiny bit and has been for years in that same position but was sick of it and the smoke was already in so moved to the oven for last 2 hours. Ribs were great btw.  Air getting in was mentioned and I am now suspecting the gasket as it is the original and does look tired, also it was a bit windy so perhaps it is time to replace. 

If I’m cooking with fairly lows temps, my top vent is completely closed after target temp is reached. I know my gaskets are not perfect and the Flame Boss fan will push the air out somewhere. Or you can replace your gaskets and chase air leaks so you can run with top vent open a little.

4TheGrillOfIt

WeberWho said:

Two cooks ago my Flame Boss 500 pit probe went dead in the middle of a cook. The bbq pit probe had maybe seen 12 cooks. Nothing over 300 degrees as it was only used in my gravity feed smoker. So no direct heat. That was disappointing. My PartyQ controller ended up saving the cook. My last cook the Flame Boss app stopped working for about 2-3 hours during the cook. Fortunately I was home and able to monitor temps from the controller. All relatively minor in the grand scheme of things but more of an annoyance.

I had two FB probes fail and replaced under warranty and have purchased two more over a three year period.  I use the FB only for long cooks and make sure to keep direct heat from the probes.  In contrast, I have never had a failure of a Thermoworks probe and have one for my Smoke that has to be six or more years old.