Smobot Q&A with the guys behind it

[tom_streeter]

If you have a Kamado and you're wondering about pulling the trigger on the Smobot damper controller, Eric and Curtis are going to be doing a Q&A on Kickstarter on March 15 at 9pm EDT.

https://live.kickstarter.com/iot-controls-llc/live/one-week-in-meet-the-founders-q-and-a

[scottranda]

Interesting idea. I think having a fan blower at the bottom air intake will do a better job of controlling temp. I'd like to see the data they have that it will truly maintain temps.

[tom_streeter]

I'm a beta unit user on an iPad at this moment. I can post some of my data later this evening. (spoiler alert: it works great)

[scottranda]

tom_streeter excellent, I look fwd to the results.

[Mosca]

In mid summer I usually have both upper and lower vents on my BGE open just a crack, like 1/16" or less. That will give me between 225 and 250. The only reason I use a Digiq is for peace of mind on overnight cooks, and even then I had a fire crater on me once.

[EdF]

That pretty much matches my experience, Mosca !

[SMOBOT]

Interesting idea. I think having a fan blower at the bottom air intake will do a better job of controlling temp. I'd like to see the data they have that it will truly maintain temps.

Greetings,

Have a look at the attached test data plot. I ran this automated test cycle on the latest firmware on my large BGE while I was sleeping on February 18th. I generated it for use with a recent promo, and since it'd been a while since I ran a test like that, I wanted to make sure I was showing off real up-to-date performance for peace of mind. This sort of performance hinges upon having a good gasket seal, and having the inlet open far enough to give the damper authority over the pit. My inlet was 1/3 open for this test.

While this data is real and unadulterated, I'd understand why you might be skeptical of the source. I'm sure some others around have some plots they'd be willing to share, if you're curious.

Please let me know of any questions or comments. Thanks for your compliments and interest.

Kind regards,
Eric

[Mosca]

Good science, thanks!

[scottranda]

Cool! Thanks for the graph! Looking forward to where this is going!

[tom_streeter]

My life is never one where I get things done when I think I will. Sorry for the delay. Here is a graph (off the current version of mySmobot the Beta users have been using) of a cook I did last October. I chose this one over others because (a) I didn't do anything stupid for once like forget to attach a grid probe and (b) most of my recent cooks have been in the 4-5 hour range because ... life. I use the Smobot even then, but the graphs aren't particularly revealing. This was for a 9lb port butt. It was good.

Here's a second one. It's actually the last cook I did. Something that needs to be made crystal clear: this was done on a very, very windy day with a fire built on old lump that had been sitting in the Egg since the last cook. There were sustained winds of 18 gusting to 30, and the direction happened to be directly into the bottom vent. The Smobot was working hard. it was like randomly sticking a blow dryer into the lower intake then taking it out. It's not the super-smooth graph from above, but my notes on that cook say the wind was only 4mph that day. I stayed inside for this cook. Who knows how much I would have been jacking with it had I been on full-manual?

And yes. I log wind, temperature, and humidity on all my cooks on mySmobot. Is that weird?

[Spinaker]

These are growing on me. The data helps! I am not really into controllers. I have one that I never use. (BBQ Guru) However, I might consider this once I get my Big Joe. (I am looking for a pre 2017 on CL) I'd like to do some overnight cooks, where I can actually sleep sound!

[tbob4]

Has any testing been done with this on a large diameter stick burner chimney?

[RonB]

tbob4 - I don't think I would want to use one on a stickburner. My understanding is that in order to get great results, you need to have a small hot fire with unrestricted airflow, and that is how the Smobot works - restricting the airflow.

[tbob4]

RonB - There are two elements with stick burners that control the temp in the cooker. A lot of folks like a wide open top vent and restrict the side damper. Depending on my cook, even with my old COS offsets, I would use both to control temps and flow. It would be interesting to see its effects.

[SMOBOT]

tbob4 - Good question, but no, we haven't tested on a system like that. It would be fun to try! If you're interested in experimenting, we could probably scrape up some hardware and an adapter scheme sometime.

[tbob4]

I would be interested in trying it out. I have a couple of cabinet smokers with square vents. I think it would be really interesting. I can imagine a plethora of outcomes from the system.