temp swings

[fisherman1]

i recently purchased a bds....first time used i had big temperature swings,now on my second use with 15 degree temp swings and i have had to shut it down twice to reset it due to absolutely no heat being generated.i bought this smoker due to its suppossed ease of operation but am now having second thoughts......i'm up and down every 15 min to make sure i am getting heat.any info would be of help.....outside temperature is consistent and temp swings arent due to cold product being in the smoker or opening/closing smoker door,thnx in advance

[GusRobin]

without more detail on the no heat I can't help you on that. The temp swings are normal. Set your oven to 350 and monitor with a remote temp probe and you will see swings just as wide.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi fisherman1;
Welcome to the forum. Hopefully your problems are just user error.

As Gus pointed out 15 degree swing is not unusual, even you kitchen oven has swings.

The below link may help you narrow down what the problem is; and help you with what follow up questions to ask:
Bradley FAQ's

First concentrate on the section for the Digital Smoker, then the section for All Smokers.

[Caneyscud]

As already stated - there is absolutely nothing wrong with temperature swings.  It is very normal - especially at the beginning of a smoke.  It is not going to make one iota of a difference in almost all of what you are going to smoke.   The element is simply 100% on or 100% off.  I assume the algorithms within the digital controller analyzes the temperature changes and tells the element to be on or off.  Quick cycling is probably not conducive to long life for the element.  So some compromise was probably established with longer cycle times.  Sometimes temperature swings are indicative of where the temperature is being measured.  If you desire to have less temperature swing, then that is possible, but just like anything else in life more=$$$$.  I have had a DB4 for 3 years now and have never felt the need to spend the money for less temperature swings.  I also have a cadre of other smokers - only one of which is contolled - a Traeger.  My woodburners do have control - but it is Caney control. 

You post is a little confusing in that in one part you say are getting temp swings, then another part is that you are not getting any heat.  It is normal for the element to cycle on an off even for relatively long periods of time.  It is not normal for the element to just shut down completely  A little more information would be helpful.  The problems could be from plugs not seated all the way to hardware defects.

[muebe]

The DBS does not use fuzzy logic like a PID. In other words it is not smart. It cannot anticipate the carry-over heat from the element and this causes temp swings. It is just the way it works. A PID controller can anticipate the carry-over temps and adjust it's algorithm to instantly adapt to any temp changes. My PID keeps the cabinet temps on my OBS within 2 degrees +/- even with a convection fan running.

The most important thing is the average temp reading. Take the highest and lowest reading you get. Add those two numbers together and then divide by two. The number you get should be right around what you have it set at...

Example: Low(204F) + high(236F) = 440/2 = 220F Average Temperature