New 6 Rack and tweaks

Mitchell N · November 10, 2019, 12:18:17 PM

I love the flavor I get with these, and have never tasted the creosote I used to with a SFB, which makes me willing to endure the problems they seem not interested in correcting. The workmanship is almost embarrassing. The back was bowed in from too much insulation and the drip pan wouldn't seat, the vent on top is bent upward and doesn't even seat against the top, and the screws holding the back panel are all leaning in different directions. But it's a fun project so I bought a new 6 rack and started from scratch, with it clean.

My first OBS had a power connector that was weak and wasn't making good contact, so I hardwired the power in.

Second element:

Rails. Whoever came up with this, thank you. It's a good idea. The rails look off, but they are within 1\16"

I bypassed the thermal sensor, and installed a sensor for the PID at that level, in the side. I wanted the tube on the generator to protect the probe from the cover. I'll probably drill other holes for sensor mounting. I don't know why the heating element has a metal band around it, but I duplicated it with material from a heat deflector I was expecting to use but didn't.

I'll probably add a switch to the second element later. The work and irritation was all worth it when I smelled that smoke. Now I'm going to rebuild my old 4 rack. At least now, I have a second smoke generator for emergencies.

Special thanks to Image Flip for the bandwidth.

Mitchell N · November 10, 2019, 12:18:49 PM

I have it running and the windows open. That smell is wonderful. It's good to be back in bidness again.

Habanero Smoker · November 11, 2019, 03:22:55 AM

Hi Mitchell

Welcome to the forum. You did a great job on the mods.

I purchased my OBS in 2004, and at that time the power cord from the cabinet was hard wired. Shortly after 2004 they switched to the computer power cord (NEMA5-15P to C13) connection.

Mitchell N · November 11, 2019, 01:51:33 PM

Thanks HS. That was a fun project. I kept taking it back to the bench. I couldn't find any pictures or detailed instructions while I was planning it, so I thought I would add some.

Edward176 · November 11, 2019, 02:08:57 PM

Welcome to the Forum Mitchell, I love the idea of drilling a hole in the side and installing your PID temperature sensor right into the smoker. I've been toying with that idea all summer and was wondering if it'll work. I guess you've answered my question (with a pic) for me, Thanks.

Gafala · November 11, 2019, 03:26:23 PM

When I added the 900watt and PID I drilled a hole in the back and installed the PID's sensor. I will be moving it off to the side at the same height so I have clearance for the rotisserie.

Mitchell N · November 11, 2019, 06:23:29 PM

Quote from: Gafala on November 11, 2019, 03:26:23 PM
When I added the 900watt and PID I drilled a hole in the back and installed the PID's sensor. I will be moving it off to the side at the same height so I have clearance for the rotisserie.

My smoker stays outside on my deck exposed to the elements. I use the Bradley cover, which works well. My smoker is magic in that it attracts rain. So many times I wait as long as I can for it to cool, then I have to run out and throw the cover over it just before the rain starts. I like that the biscuit tube protects the wiring coming out of the box. My concern was it if was on the back, the cover would eventually damage the sensor. The hardest consideration was the vertical location. I decided the engineers must know something, so I put it at the level of the temp sensor that I took out of the circuit. I still have a drop in sensor if the wall mount is too close to meat.

If not for using the cover, I would have a lot more options for placement.

Getting back to the magic of my Bradley. There can be <10% chance of rain in my area. When I look at the weather radar, clouds and moisture literally boil up from my area. They don't push in from the south, west, or north. They literally magically appear bringing unexpected precip with them.

Mitchell N · November 11, 2019, 06:30:54 PM

Quote from: Edward176 on November 11, 2019, 02:08:57 PM
Welcome to the Forum Mitchell, I love the idea of drilling a hole in the side and installing your PID temperature sensor right into the smoker. I've been toying with that idea all summer and was wondering if it'll work. I guess you've answered my question (with a pic) for me, Thanks.

I've been toying with the idea of additional holes for my meat and air thermometer probes. If I could come up with a way to plug a hole when not in use, I would probably do it. I haven't spent a lot of time looking, but I'm sure there is some kind of snap on cover. One of the thing's I've always found most impressive about these smokers is the finish. It's not easy, from the cosmetic perspective, drilling holes in it.

Mitchell N · November 16, 2019, 08:56:49 AM

I'm doing a pork shoulder today. This thing is rocking. It sits outside and was 36 degrees when I started this morning, and the box got up to temp in just a few minutes. I don't know exactly how fast because I was getting the meat ready, but it couldn't have been 15 minutes. With the Auber PID, it's absolutely amazing. When I remove used pucks or mop, the temp gets back up in just a few minutes.

This is the way it should work out of the box, and I hope the new model does work this way. I really enjoy projects like this, and this was a fun one.

One odd bug with the PID. From time to time, it stops working. The display is normal, and the led blinks indicating heat, but the the temp drops. I cycle the power, and it comes right back up, which means the problem I thought was the thermal sensor in my 4 rack, was actually the PID brain farting. I have a Meat\Air thermometer I use that alerts me to the drop, so it's only a minor irritation.

ETA: 55 degrees outside, running steady at 220. I opened it to mop the meat and the temp dropped down to ~125. It was back at 217 in 4 minutes, and back to 220 in 7.

Habanero Smoker · November 17, 2019, 02:01:05 AM

I'm glad mostly everything is working properly. If the PID is still under warranty, you should contact Auber to see if they have any ideas what can be causing the problem.

Talking about brain farts. I smoked some nuts the other day, and realized my the cabinet was not hardwired, it was my original generator that was hardwired.

Mitchell N · November 18, 2019, 05:14:33 AM

I'm going to try the factory reset, and see if that clears it up.

I realized with the 6 rack model, there is a lot more space. I'm going to measure actual temp at every rack level to see how much variance there is. Even though I had the PID set to 225, the temp at the meat level was more around 200.

Mitchell N · October 28, 2020, 02:54:36 PM

Following up: My PID needed a setting change to properly work with the second element. Now it's working well.

The bottom door trim broke a few months ago when it wasn't even 6 months old. The Covid virus limited my smoking this summer, but now I'm firing it up again doing turkey breasts, so I have to find a fix for the door.

I can't get the bottom door trim, and don't want to spend another $100 on another door, so I'm going to rig it with a hinge. The new door wouldn't be so bad if I knew it would last, but it's less than a year old and I don't know the replacement would last any longer.

These things can get frustrating, and I didn't know Canadian workmanship and quality was so poor.