Problems

[viper125]

Well Heated up the smoker to 235 for my cordon bleu today. Did fine for a while then the maverick dropped to 137degrees, then it started swing from 240 down to 146 up to179 down to 146 until the smoke was done. Then I pulled and put in oven. At first I thought I was having element problem. Then walked out it was fine then after I close the door it shot back up. Kind of lost. Thinking it would have to be my Auber Pid. Any one ever hear of them losing tune and needing retuned? Don't ever remember reading about it. Since the smoker seemed to be working I would think it is the PID.

[ArnieM]

Never heard of that one before.

Sounds like the temp swing is too large for an "out of tune" condition.  If it isn't the PID it may be a loose/intermittent connection.

[GusRobin]

sure it wasn't the maverick probe?

[viper125]

No not the maverick. But last week one probe started reading real weird. Like 200 when really 40. Figured it was the probe. Bot I believe they just quit reading when bad. So I was using one to control smoker. Thinking either refund or return. Not a happy camper. But I will work thru it. Lol.

[devo]

So what was your Auber Pid doing through all this? Was it a steady temp? The maverick seems to be having a lot of problems with their probes lately. Is there a way you can test it in an oven to see if still jumps all over the place.

[viper125]

Ok well the maverick works fine replaced both probes. When they act up they completely quit working. Also I used it when I pulled the meat and put it in the oven and it worked great.
Now as I said I had a issue a few smokes back with the Auber PID. The Meat probe started reading way high. Other probe worked fine. But tonight the Pid was set right display didnt show a problem. Just wouldn't hold to what it was set for.
  But if I had been thinking(the old mind is slipping) I have a spare PID and Smoke Generator. I should have just changed it out. I have two butts to do Wednesday. I'll start with this one if I have a problem i'll swap out the pids and see what happens. Nice having spares would really be great to remember you do. LOL

[devo]

Viper
I just remembered I had something going on like you. What it turned out to be was the connection of the probe to the back of the Auber PID. I had to jiggle it to make it stop jumping around. Think maybe moisture or something was causing a bad connection. Like you said the old mind is slipping or else I would have remembered that

[toadsyd]

hello i got a 4 rack bradley smoker for christmas, i have only smoked it once on a pork roast, my pucks weren't burning right , they were staying solid after burned, sould they just go to a pile of ashes?

thanks

[GusRobin]

no they due not burn all the way into ashes. They will remain intact.

[toadsyd]

hi thanks l didn't know because my pork loin was dry and the pucks seemed to be absorbing my water or did l just over cook it it tasted great should l heat my generator for a while before l press the wood botton.

[devo]

Heat the generator at least 20 min. In cold weather I would even go longer with the preheat. Most importantly make sure you have a good extension cord if your using one as the cheap ones you will loose power to the heating element.

[Habanero Smoker]

hi thanks l didn't know because my pork loin was dry and the pucks seemed to be absorbing my water or did l just over cook it it tasted great should l heat my generator for a while before l press the wood botton.

It sounds like you did overcook it. If you don't have a meat probe, you should invest in one. The water in the bowl needs to be periodically emptied and refreshed. I generally do this after the smoke cycle is completede, then approximately every four hours. The water bowl is to extinguish the bisquettes, and to prevent grease and drippings from catching on fire.