Newbie 750 or 900 Element Help

bradleyincleveland · November 23, 2015, 05:10:21 PM

Thanks again, habs but it does not appear to be zeroing in properly. Been an hour set at 250 and going back and forth from 230-245, goes back down then up. The raptor will cycle on for 3 seconds or so then shut off. Keeps doing this over and over. I set to 225, then it undershoots again by 15-20 degree. Set to 260, settles in around 250.I know the elements are not the issue. With the door open for awhile then closed it overshoots all the way to 260. Not sure what the problem is, could it be surge protector? Raptor not working properly? Damper all the way open, weather about 35 degrees with some wind. Also I was cooking 7 or 8 chicken drumsticks on second rack. Temperature probe was clipped onto second rack from bottom.

Habanero Smoker · November 24, 2015, 02:26:09 AM

I use a power strip without a surge protector, because when I used a surge protector it would frequently trip my GFI. Surge protectors do interfere with some electronics, but I don't think this is the case. If you have a power strip, you could swap out the surge protector.

I usually don't use temperatures over 225°F; but when I used temperatures such as 250°F, the DigiQ would "stall" about 10°F, before getting to the set temperature, then very slowly creep up. I could never figure this out. The going back and forth is not how mine operated. It may be a feature to prevent wood or charcoal fires getting too big; but it is not useful for an electric smoker. When I called BBQ Guru, they basically stated that is normal, without giving me an explanation. That was many years back, maybe a call to them now, they may provide more useful information.

It sounds like the Raptor is working properly, but if the switch in the SSR is malfunctioning, that may cause improper temperature. If you give BBQ Guru a call, you may want to check on that also.

Make sure the probe is in an area where no juices from the chicken can drip on it. I clip my probe on the bottom rack, in the front left corner.

I forgot what the feature is called; there is a setting for how tight you want the overshoot to be. What is that set for?

Did it only overshoot during preheating and recovery? If so that is normal. If it overshoots a lot during recovery, opening the door again to let out excessive heat will bring the cabinet temperature down; but close the door when you are about 5°F above the set point. If it overshoots more than 5°F during "undisturbed" cooking, that would not be normal.

When it overshoots, is the Raptor light still cycling on/off? If it overshoots the Raptor light should remain off until the cabinet temperature drops below the set temperature. When the Raptor is maintaining the temperature, you will see the light cycle on and off. The light cycle will vary, depending on how hard it had to work to maintain the set temperature.

Do you have the "open lid" feature on or off? Which every way you have it set, choose the other setting and see if that improves the overshoots during temperature recovery.

I would do a little more trouble shooting then give BBQ Guru a call. They have made so many changes in their firmware since I purchased mine it may be just a matter of changing a few settings.

bradleyincleveland · November 24, 2015, 06:03:37 AM

I am going to try with a power strip instead and see what happens. Yesterday I tried it with both the open lid feature on and off with same result. I would be OK with the slowly creeping up if in fact it would hit the target and stay. After two and half hours it never reached the target. If I increased the temperature it would rise, but still 10-20 below target.

As for the raptor light I was watching this myself yesterday and it did shut off when it overshoots. However when it was 20-30 degrees below it seemed to not cycle on long enough. Seems to me it should have stayed constant on until being within 10 degrees of the target and that did not happen. It seemed to cycle for six or seven seconds and then shut off. With the cabinet door shut for an extended period of time it did not overshoot, came within five degrees of the target and then drop to as much as 20 below, and restart this process all over again. Sorry for my ignorance but what is "the switch to the SSR?"

I will be trying a variety of troubleshooting methods today (moving probe placement, power strip, damper adjustment, temperature adjustment, different socket etc.). Calling Guru will be my next step unless someone here (Habs thanks again!) has other suggestions.

Habanero Smoker · November 24, 2015, 01:13:21 PM

The SSR stands for Solid State Relay. If you look though the air vents of the Raptor (you may need a light), you will see a black box; that is the SSR. That is the only thing in that box, other than the wiring. It is the electronic switch that responds to the DC signal from the DigiQ, and sends the appropriate signal to the AC unit. The signal being sent from the DigiQ will be either switch on or switch off. It is possible the SSR is not responding appropriately, but that is rare.

Mine would hold the temps to within +/-2°F. Not even during the auto tune would mine be as far off as yours.

I would call BBQ Guru. Like I mention earlier, since I've had my model they have changed the firmware numerous times, and I know they have changed the algorithm at least once since I purchased mine.

The only other thing I can think of is to double check to make sure your temperature probes are solidly connected to the DigiQ.

bradleyincleveland · November 25, 2015, 03:00:09 AM

Thank you for the SSR information. So I had full intentions on doing some testing yesterday and the wife was complaining that the ribs she bought were going to spoil. I tried to explain to her about the fluctuations in temperature problem, but was accused of being anal about my smoking process! Anyways I changed out the temperature probe as I had a spare, pushed in all te connections again, and fired her up to 230. Rised quickly and only deviated 5 degress throughout the cook. I'm more perplexed now as it operated as expected, not perfect but it held for most of the cook. Ribs were tremendous. Woke up early so I can experiment a bit now with everyone in bed still. Checking on a few more things before calling Guru.

bradleyincleveland · November 25, 2015, 04:28:35 AM

Interesting....it held 250 for an hour without fluctuating. Could the smoker not being completely seasoned on the first cook have anything to do with it? Moisture release from chicken? Excessive wind? Or just an unsolved mystery?

Salmonsmoker · November 25, 2015, 07:12:24 AM

I think you probably have a faulty probe.

Habanero Smoker · November 25, 2015, 12:54:55 PM

Glad to see you are zeroing in on the problem. With your latest results, I'm also leaning towards a bad probe, or it wasn't seated in all the way. When you get a chance you can double check by using that probe again, making sure it is seated properly, and running another test. If the temperature control starts acting wacky again, you know it was the probe. You must be tired of testing by now. :) Most of my problems when the temperatures weren't registering correctly was due to the probe not being pushed in all the way. For some reason I find it hard to seat the probes in the DigiQ properly.

I don't believe you had enough chicken in the smoker for it to effect the temperatures of a dual element modified Bradley. I don't believe seasoning would have anything to do with the temperature control, and what you described didn't sound like the DigiQ was autotuning.

bradleyincleveland · November 25, 2015, 01:41:55 PM

So if I wasn't confused enough I replicated the problem again using both sets of probes, one new set and one old. Large fluctuations again starting off setting the DigiQ to 250 from cold start. Why it worked yesterday and earlier today I do not know. Although yesterday I was only running 225. So now I let it cool all the way down, made sure everything was seated properly and plugged the raptor directly into the wall rather thsn the surge protector. I will reverse then if this does not work and plug digiq directly in the wall. Frustrating yes to say the least. Guru is closed until, Monday so it gives me time to trouble shoot if anyone else has suggestions.

Habanero Smoker · November 26, 2015, 01:59:35 AM

If nothing is dripping on the probe, then it's beginning to seem like there is a faulty piece of equipment; either the probe, or the Raptor, or even the DigiQ itself. Hopefully BBQ Guru will help. It may be a matter of the right settings.

Are there anything appliances on that same circuit that may be preventing the DigiQ and Raptor from providing enough power for the approximate 1,200 watts you need?

bradleyincleveland · November 26, 2015, 09:34:02 AM

Nothing is dripping on the probe. There are other appliances on the same circuit, although none of them were on. I don't believe the Digiq is faulty, as I had it hooked up to the weber and was working perfectly. One set of probes was new right out of the box, the other set were used but I know work.

So at this point I have to believe it is eithier some type of electrical issue, or the raptor is faulty. I may try running an extension cord to another section of the house.

TedEbear · November 26, 2015, 02:52:54 PM

Does that thing have an autotune feature that you can manually initiate? I had to run autotune with my Auber PID controller when I added a second element so the controller could learn the new parameters and better control the chamber temp.

Habanero Smoker · November 27, 2015, 01:56:47 AM

If BBQ Guru hasn't changed the autotune feature, since I purchased mine; all Guru temperature controllers initiates an autotune each time you turn it on.

Although you haven't gotten the zeroed in, I have to agree with your wife, that at least in the meantime it is functioning well enough to cook ribs. You may have to adjust your cooking times.

bradleyincleveland · December 05, 2015, 07:11:27 AM

Well tried everything, including tech help from bbq guru. I recalibrated tge unit with the same results. They agreed to check the digiq2 along with the raptor. I may request a refund if they tell me it is working as designed. So what PID is the most popular here? I hate to spend the money on another unit but I need to have one that keeps the temp at least within 5 degrees of my set point. 15-20 degree fluctuations are unacceptable. I will be giving them the benefit of the doubt to fix the problem. They did tell me tge digiq2 was designed with charcoal grills in mind, which may attribute to the delay in getting the temperature back up to the set point sonit does not overshoot
So did they not develop the raptor to address this? They also said sometimes people assembling the raptor units make mistakes.....well we will see what happens. I cannot recommend the raptor at this point to anyone.

TedEbear · December 05, 2015, 07:38:58 AM

Quote from: bradleyincleveland on December 05, 2015, 07:11:27 AMSo what PID is the most popular here? I hate to spend the money on another unit but I need to have one that keeps the temp at least within 5 degrees of my set point.

For a plug and play unit, the two below are popular ones on the forum.

Programmable PID Controller for Bradley Smoker

Dual-Probe PID Controller for Bradley Smoker

This tells how they work with the Bradley: Auber Plug & Play PIDs - Single/Dual Probes

Also: Auber PID Step Programming