Just why ThermoWorks?

[WI Bubba]

//: Begin rant

I had nothing but bad luck with the wireless portion of the Smoke, but after reading all the good things people had to say about the RFX, I went ahead and asked for one for Father's Day.

My oldest boy dropped it off last night right before I was getting ready to drop some chicken in the deep fryer and I spent a quick 10 minutes trying to get it setup. I wasn't expecting to be able to use it that night, so I wasn't disappointed when I couldn't get it going, and the chicken turned out fine without it.

This morning I gave it another go. After another half a dozen tries to get the transmitter connected to the WiFi, I ended up turning on the guest network on my router and for some reason it took that just fine. Why it works on the guest network and not the regular, I have no clue.

Then it was time to get the 4 probes connected to the gateway. After an hour and a half of fiddling I finally got the gateway, and I got three of the four probes connected. I gave up on the last one.

Then it was time to check the temps on the probes. Two of the three I got to connect to the gateway are fine, but the third runs a steady 5° hotter. Maybe it's just me, but a 50% failure rate on the probes out of the box doesn't seem like a good thing.

I know ThermoWorks is going to help, and will replace anything that doesn't work, but why? When I setup my Fireboard, it was 5 minutes tops from getting it out of the box to having temps on my phone. Why does ThermoWorks struggle so much with their wireless stuff when their wired equipment works so well?

And the real kick in the pants? My danged kid ate the jelly beans! Somebody should have taught that kid some manners!

//: End rant

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Apps are hard, and honestly Fireboard is the only device I have that has flawless hardware and a near perfect app. I don't have any Thermoworks app products but I did look at their setup and while it looked better than most on the market, the FB stuff looked way better.

That is a bummer about the probes though, I've bought quite a few TW probes and they've always been spot on out of the box. I haven't had a TW probe or Instantread die on me yet, but I have had a couple FB probes die on me.

[WI Bubba]

I actually buy the TW probes to use on my Fireboard. I love the quality of ThermoWorks wired stuff. It's just the wireless stuff that make me want to rip my hair out.

[Mister C]

Lol, thank you for adding some humor to my Sunday. Also sorry about all the mess with the RFX. I totally agree that shouldn't be the way, it's not that hard to get this stuff right. Between wanting to save 4 cents on cost and a little more on QC they are pissing customers off. Even though they're far from the only one doing it, it's still not a good way to run your business!

[Purc]

I think I want to be tech savvy and deal with my MCS and go wireless and especially when I use the roti on the Kettle. No probe used until I stop the roti and check the temps with my instant read. Then I read about the issues. I have a Maverick XR 50 with 4 wired probes that has no issues. So now I think I will still wait until......

[Richard Chrz]

While i’ve had my share of problems with the fireboard unit, i generally have been ok with the repairs, as iam hard on things I own it, and i know stuff is not made to last anymore.

I loved my thermoworks smoke unit, i love the thermopop, as soon as I went beyond that I had horrible luck with their products, especially their probes and billows, and yeah, they always fix them, but truly customer service is “not” needing things fixed.

I am quickly leaving the digital world in cooking outside my SV, i love that thing!

[Jerod Broussard]

I tried the Combustion wireless full setup to get all the range and it got throwed in the trash.

If I go wireless again I'll try the Fireboard since the app has been flawless on the LSG.

Love them jelly beans.

[WI Bubba]

The selling point that got me to go with TW over FB was the multiple sensors in each probe. I was hoping it would solve the issue of not getting the probe in just the right spot. But four sensors in a probe that doesn't work isn't very helpful.

[Sweaty Paul]

Jerod Broussard I had been kicking around the Combustion Wireless probe. An easier question might be what did you like, but, I'm curious why you disliked it so.

[Jerod Broussard]

Sweaty Paul connectivity, things staying charged...nothing liked

[yakima]

I went Combustion 3+ years ago. Would do it again. BUT, both the display and the probe have been replaced under warranty. App easy to use. Range not important to me. It gets thru the Big Green Egg and KBQ, and I am always close by. Their customer service is excellent.

For me, wireless is most important for rotisserie.

[realdocBBQ]

I tried the Combustion wireless full setup to get all the range and it got throwed in the trash.

If I go wireless again I'll try the Fireboard since the app has been flawless on the LSG.

Love them jelly beans.

I've had good luck with most all my Fireboard stuff. The 2 Pulse wireless units I've got have been good, though I've only used them maybe 3 or 4 times so far? Not done a lot of cooking lately... and they've had their share of complaints surface in the social media community, as well. But their app game has always been strong. I have been sorely tempted to try out the RFX, but can't really justify it when all my Fireboard stuff is doing well thus far...

[SheilaAnn]

The combustion ended up in the back of the drawer for me. I’m crushing pretty hard on RFX. It works like a champ. But I only use one probe.

[OC Sandy]

I don't blame you for being frustrated. I think many of us would be too. Of course Thermoworks will make it right, but until then... Out of curiosity, are your Guest wifi and your regular wifi both set to 2.4 ghz and not 5.0?

[OC Sandy]

dpearce Right, that's why I asked.

[WI Bubba]

My WiFi router has 2.4 ghz, and dual band 5 ghz. All with the same ssid. I went so far as to turn off both the 5 ghz bands to try and get the gateway to connect. It took the 2.4 ghz guest network with no problems.

[SheilaAnn]

Maybe this is why the combustion is a bust for me. I will check it out.

[LegoMySearwood]

My Thermoworks worked right out of the box. It’s been flawless with a second probe ordered as well. However, last night 6 hours into my rotisserie cook the RFX disconnected from WiFi and refused to reconnect. I could not figure it out and it still refused to connect. The blue tooth saved the day but why fail after nearly a year. I will probably have to uninstall and install again. It’s frustrating.

[Mosca]

I always had trouble with the Smoke wireless transmitter. But the ChefAlarm, the Square Dot, the Thermapen, and the IR Gun are workhorses in my house.

For remote monitoring, I use FireBoard. But I don’t understand the praise for the app. I haven’t seen an app from anyone that I thought was intuitive and easy to use.

I have a FB Pulse, which is wireless and has a predictive function, but I prefer the wired probes. I’m an idiot, I guess.

[SheilaAnn]

So not an idiot. I like wired better as well. Stupid internet is not reliable.

S.A.N.F.O.R.D. Period.

I only have a wired set up (sample from the butcher shop), combustion (it’s growing cobwebs) and TW RFX set up with one probe (winner winner). I have not tried any other system.

[WI Bubba]

I would be without my Thermapens, IR gun, and ChefAlarm. I've gotten many years of reliable service from all of them.

[Lynn Dollar]

I've got Smoke, Signals, Billows, and RFX ........... and not had trouble with any of them, except normal aggravation I'd have with any type of device.

I do wish I could get rid of the low temp alarm on the app, when I'm using Billows. Every time I'm into the cooker, it goes off and knocks off my music.

I've got a brisket on Franklin offset right now, and I had trouble deciding which Thermoworks device I would use. Ended up with Signals for the cook chamber temp and RFX for the probe in the brisket.

[WI Bubba]

I'm glad it's all working well for you. Maybe it's just my perpetual black cloud causing issues.

[fzxdoc]

I feel like a goof for buying the Combustion nearly two years ago. It's still in the box. In fairness we went through a major hurricane the week the Combustion was delivered, and yes I forgot to pack it in the car as we made a hasty evacuation.

Since then it has sat, neglected, because I seem to be always too busy to mess with it. The Fireboard is such a sure thing that I go for it right away. Everything about it works great. I love, love, love that I can document each cook and look back to cooks I did 3 or more years ago on their app with their search engine. I can see in a glance how many pork butt cooks I've done, which cooker I used, and all the deets about meat prep, cook times, charcoal used, where the meat was sourced, etc.And it works every single time I beam it up. I'm still using the probes I bought with the original set. That's a tough act to follow.

As soon as the whole family leave after the week of the 4th, and after some recovery time, I've decided to either use the Combustion or give it away. Given all that has been said about it, my hopes are high but my expectations are low.

For me, Thermoworks makes a great instant read thermometer and refrigerator/freezer thermometers, although those need more features IMO. That's all I need from them.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

I hate to hear of the troubles with Thermoworks products. I've never had issues with my Smoke Gateway (wifi box for the original Smoke) or the RFX with 2 probes that my Secret Santa sent me. I do know that almost all of that type of wireless equipment requires 2.4GHz, and a lot of times, if pairing using a phone app, if your phone is not also on 2.4Ghz, it may have issues with the pairing process. Truth be told, 5Ghz has a much shorter range, and is less likely to penetrate walls and make it out to where our grills live, compared to 2.4GHz.

I guess I was lucky that my probes all connected, and the wired and 2 wireless probes that I have all showed the same ambient temperature.

My biggest issues with Thermoworks are that I seem to be having bad luck with Thermapens that start failing to turn on when you open the probe. I've had one repaired, and I got a new Thermapen One last year, and now it won't turn on consistently, even after replacing the battery, and I am back to my 12 year old Thermapen Classic and its touchy turn on.

[fzxdoc]

I have the same problem with one of my 3 Thermapens. It's annoying. What's more annoying is that I can't find a good sale on them anymore. I need another one.

K.

[WI Bubba]

So it's not just me? I have one Thremapen that likes to do a half dozen jumping jacks with the probe before it turns on.
I thought the 5 ghz WiFi might be the problem, so I turned that off hoping to get everything connected on the main WiFi. I'm still convinced it is part of the problem, but it on the guest WiFi now, so I'm done troubleshooting it.