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Very Disappointed in My DigiQ DX

GeorgiaBorn
GeorgiaBorn Posts: 178
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I'm using my DigiQ DX for the first time today and it seems I am having to watch my Egg more with this than without it.

I am doing a brisket at 225 pit temp. Got the pit probe clipped to the meat probe, but not touching the meat of course. During the last 4+ hours I have had to adjust the fan damper and the daisy wheel about 12 times. I started with the fan damper on 1/4 and the daisy wheel completely closed. It was taking forever to get the Egg to 225, so I opened the fan damper to 1/2 and opened the daisy wheel petals just a sliver. It got up to 225 in no time at all and held that temp for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes the pit temp had risen to 240, so I put the fan damper on 1/4 and closed the daisy wheel petals. It held 225 for about 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, the pit temp was 217. So, I opened up the fan damper back to 1/2 and within 30 minutes the temp spiked again to 230, so back to 1/4. This has been going on now for nearly 5 hours. Up and down, up and down. I have adjusted the fan damper and the daisy wheel about 12 times. Very frustrating to say the least. I have been back and forth to the Egg more times than without the DigiQ.

Comments

  • rzrrob
    rzrrob Posts: 162
    What I find is the same thing until I just let it be and it will settle in let it do it's work and you will be fine

    I bring the egg up to temp then put the fan on I leave the DW closed and the damper about on half with a XL egg

    Hope this helps as I love mine once I figured this out
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    I think you're making too many adjustments, chasing the temp as we call it. Just have your daisy barely cracked open and don't worry about the damper. Personally I would set the controller for 250, but set it where you want it and walk away. You'll be just fine, good luck. -RP
  • My method is to let the Egg come close to temp before installing my DigiQ. Mine has a 10cfm blower and I have a large BGE. The damper on the fan is set to a eighth opening and my petals are open a sliver.
    I would let the egg come up a little higher to maybe 200 before putting in the blower. See if that helps.
    It should be hands free.
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    I guess its just the laziness in me, but I light my coals, put in the platesetter, drip pan, and grid then turn on the guru and let it take me to temp. About 40 minutes later or when the smoke is burning clean I put in my food and go to bed. -RP
  • Mflyer
    Mflyer Posts: 59
    I know I am a newbie, but I bought mine a week after getting my egg and haven't had a single problem with mine! With the low and slow cooks (215-275) I light the BGE, let it burn with everything wide open for about 20min, then put my fan on and close the top. The Daisy wheel is BARELY open and I always leave the bottom vent closed. I also turned the "ramp" feature off! Just my 2 cents, I hope I didn't confuse you.
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 11,452
    Just wondering if that's the cause of your problem ... I thought the pit probe should be clipped to the grid or dome therm, but I could be wrong :blush: . Also make sure the pit probe is not directly above one of the three cavities around the platesetter.
    Gary
    canuckland
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    AZRP wrote:
    I think you're making too many adjustments, chasing the temp as we call it. Just have your daisy barely cracked open and don't worry about the damper. Personally I would set the controller for 250, but set it where you want it and walk away. You'll be just fine, good luck. -RP

    I do it just about like AZRP. I have a Lg and a 10 cfm fan.

    I light the egg, put in the plate setter and drip pan and have the damper on the fan open to half and the DW wide open, with the setting for 250. When I put the meat on, I close the DW completely and close the damper to 1/4. I have never had a problem.

    I clip the temp probe to the stem of the thermometer in the BGE.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    GeorgiaBorn,

    Something wrong if you can't get to 225* with the damper 1/4 open. I would bet that the pit probe is being cooled from the meat probe.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Gary,

    I started my response and went outside for a coffee. :laugh:

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Finally got the temp stable at 225 for the past few hours. Perhaps some of you are right that I should just set it and forget it, but the spikes up to 240 were a littler bothersome.

    I read a lot of posts here about where to clip the pit probe and it seems to me that I want to know the temp of the pit at the level the meat is cooking. That is 225 right now and the BGE thermometer shows 200, so if I clipped the pit probe to the BGE therm, then the grate temp would be considerably higher (around 25+ degrees). This might explain why my briskets have always cooked so fast in the past. While my BGE therm said 225, my grate temp was probably 250 or above.

    Thanks for the input fellas. This is my first attempt with the DigiQ. Like the BGE, I am sure there is a learning curve.
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    GeorgiaBorn wrote:
    Finally got the temp stable at 225 for the past few hours. Perhaps some of you are right that I should just set it and forget it, but the spikes up to 240 were a littler bothersome.

    I read a lot of posts here about where to clip the pit probe and it seems to me that I want to know the temp of the pit at the level the meat is cooking. That is 225 right now and the BGE thermometer shows 200, so if I clipped the pit probe to the BGE therm, then the grate temp would be considerably higher (around 25+ degrees). This might explain why my briskets have always cooked so fast in the past. While my BGE therm said 225, my grate temp was probably 250 or above.

    Thanks for the input fellas. This is my first attempt with the DigiQ. Like the BGE, I am sure there is a learning curve.

    Almost everything I cook is based on the BGE temp reading, so that is what I want to see when the Guru is controlling the temp too.

    To each his own, there is no obvious value for cooking below 250, on the dome, IMHO.

    The idea of a lo-n-slo is to let the fat and connective tissue slowly turn to liquid, around 160. If you blow by that temp with a hot cook, the meat will be tough, but going lower is just goig slower.
  • Well this is the most annoying cook I have ever done. I am just cooking a brisket point because I just want to make burnt ends. The point weighed 5lbs and has now been in the smoker for 8 hours. The temp in the last 3.5 hours has gone from 157 to 163. 6 degrees in 3.5 hours???? Really??

    I now moved the pit probe clip to the stem of the BGE therm and the DigiQ says 230 but the BGE says 200. Both have been calibrated.

    Sometimes technology is not a good thing. Smoked a lot of meats without the DigiQ and did fine. ARRRRGH!
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 11,452
    Steve, haha, fools seldom differ or great minds think alike :whistle:
    Gary
    canuckland
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    I think the others have covered it...but my $.02 would be to try to get the egg pretty stable manually before you even hook up the controller. This will help the controller dial in faster.


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    I wouldn't worry too terribly much. My DX did the same thing the first time I used it, and it's been fine since. It may have an autotune routine it's running to "learn" your pit's characteristics. Others here have noted the same thing.
  • I use the Stoker, but I think it should be close to the same with the Digi Q

    I start a very small fire in the center of the charcoal with my fan on and when a couple of the coals catch, I put in the plate setter and close the lid

    The temp will rise to my cooking temp in a few minutes.

    I raise the lid, put in the meat, close the lid, and the rest is history, good food in a few hours

    For briskets and pork shoulders and butts, I never raise the lid until the internal temp hits my target
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    It is just as easy to chase temperatures with a powered vent system as it is to chase temperatures with the egg running by the vents only. It seems if one keeps changing the vents, and or blower slider on the a2, they will always be fighting the temperature.

    Got to learn to leave vents, and blower slider settings, and let the egg stabilize. Once that happens the egg is close to Rock Solid.

    GG
  • Thanks for all the input guys. I did get the DigiQ stable finally but I think my main problem is that the DigiQ was NOT calibrated before it was sent to me as it says in the instructions. About 5 hours into my cook, I moved the pit probe of the DigiQ to the stem of the BGE thermometer. The DigiQ was set at 225 but the BGE therm read about 190. I bumped the DigiQ up to 260 and the BGE therm then read 220. During the entire rest of the cook after moving the pit probe to the BGE stem, the DigiQ read about 40-45 degrees higher than the BGE with the probes in the same place. That tells me that one of the probes is not calibrated and since I have calibrated the BGE therm, I have to say it's the DigiQ.

    It definitely should not have taken me 11 hours to do a 5lb brisket point. So, that tells me I was actually cooking well below 225, which is what the DigiQ was set at for the first 7 hours.

    BTW, the end result was amazing. First time I have ever made just burnt ends. Unfortunately, they were supposed to be eaten during the UGA game but instead ended up being a late dinner.

    Thanks again guys.
  • Hatch
    Hatch Posts: 149
    Just a thought; Your BGE thermometer could also have been out of calibration. We calibrate all of our controls using a Thermocouple Calibrator before they leave the shop. Typically you will see a grid temp that is in fact lower than your dome temp..

    just an idea

    Kenny
  • Calibrated my BGE thermometer last night. It was 41 degrees too low!!!! Ouch!
  • Calibrated my BGE thermometer last night. It was 41 degrees too low!!!! Ouch!