Temp all over the map

[LeishmanCh]

I bought the "Digital" smoker to replace an older propane one I used for years. It was a pain to keep on temperature.

I was under the impression that it had a thermostat to keep the temp constant. I was wondering if ion fact that was a reasonable assumption.

When I set it at 210 F it wanders all over the place and the oven temp readout is not even close. I used an internal temp sensor to check it. It varies from 150 - 255 so not just a little variation.

Any info would be apprecaited
Chris

[KyNola]

The digital smoker has temp swings but then again so does your house oven.  The temp control of the digital is full on or off.  Typically it will cruise up to around 10 degrees above the set point, shut off, allow the temp to fall to around 10 degrees under the set point, cycle back on and repeat.  As the meat comes up to temperature you will the temp swings lessen.

Your example of a 100 degree swing sounds excessive.

The folks who run PID's on their Bradleys will be along shortly to explain to you the addition of an accessory that helps lessen the temp swings.

[pensrock]

100 degree variation is not normal. If under warranty or even if out of warranty I would contact Bradley customer service for some advice. Maybe the varistor is bad? That would explain it if that is the case. When I ran my digital itself, not using my own temperature controller, I seen temp swings 20-30 degrees F at lower temps while the meat was heating up. Once it was getting hot then the swings got less, but not as good as my temperature controller which I can get +-1 or 2 degrees F.  On here people call temperature controllers PID's. There are a couple ways to control temperature. The digital smoker is like most home ovens, it is ON/OFF control and will vary some because it is turning on or off somewhere around the set point temperature, so it will overshoot when heating and undershoot when turning back on. A PID controller is much different, it uses the set point but has an algorithm built in so it see how quickly the temp is rising and anticipates when to shut off, same as when the temp starts dropping, it sees how fast it is dropping and figures when to turn back on thus preventing big swings in temp. A properly tuned PID temperature controller should control +-1 to 2 degrees F. But even if not quite controlling perfectly a +-5 degree swing is pretty good. Now do you need a PID controller? For most BBQ it is not necessary but for certain things like fish, smoking sausages the temp swings are a little more critical. Hope this helps some, I would contact Bradley about the large temp swings it seems excessive to me but they would be better to discuss it with you.

[LeishmanCh]

 I dd call Bradley and they are sending me a part for it. I am going to be looking into a PID to control the temp. 20 degree swing still seems a little crazy to me. I bought the "Digital" smoker because I was under the impression the temp would stay constant.

Thanks

[pensrock]

When I bought mine I also expected the temp to remain fairly steady. I found out that was not the case. But depending on what you are doing it works pretty good as is. I ended up repairing an older industrial temperature controller and use it to control my smoker now. It works great.

[LeishmanCh]

Okay now  I have the sensor but have no idea where it goes. I see the sensor in the smoker on the inside on the back.

I'm  guessing I  just remove the back panel and replace thesensor.

Correct?

[tskeeter]

I assume the sensor you are talking about is a round sensor about the diameter of a dime and about 3/16ths of an inch thick with a black pigtail on it.

Yes, you remove the back panel to replace the sensor.  The connector on the pigtail goes to a small connector mounted in the back panel of the smoker.  And the round, metal sensor attaches to the back wall of the smoker cabinet.

If you have easy access to the back of your smoker, replacing the sensor should be about a 15 - 20 minute job.  When I remove the back from my smoker, I leave one screw in an upper corner, loosely holding the back to the smoker.  This keeps the panel from falling or getting dropped and tearing up wiring that is attached to the back on one end of the wire and to the smoker cabinet on the other end, until you've been able to disconnect the wiring from the connectors mounted in the back panel.