Anyone have any experience with either of these pit controllers? Just spent another night with too little sleep smoking a brisket. The reviews on Amazon are mixed, especially for the CyberQ. Or, does anyone know of a good one? I am so done with this. It is either a pit controller, or I am going to drop 3k on a MAK 2. Any help would be appreciated.
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I have a digiq that i picked up from Spinaker and its been great. Use it with pit viper and i have no complaints. If you have specific questions i can do my best to answer.
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grantgallagher No I haven't looked at the fireboard. I will check that out, thanks.
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Spinaker almost constant use. i actually barely break out my smoke anymore since im usually only cooking one big piece of meat, lol.
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Charter Member
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I used a digiq and fan on a WSM18 with no issues. Did overnight cooks.
I now use a Fireboard and Viper on a Chubby G2. Bought the Fireboard for the additional probe capability. Recently did a smoke with all 6 probes:
1 - a temp probe
2 - brisket point
3 - brisket flat
4 - another brisket flat
5 - pork butt
6 - pork butt
Last edited by jlazar; July 27, 2019, 05:21 PM.
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Charter Member
- Nov 2014
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Big Green Egg, Brinkman Bullet, Jenn Aire gasser, BBQ Guru, Maverick with remote module.
I've had a DigiQ DX2 "BBQ Guru" that I've used on my Big Green Egg for years now. It is a must for overnight cooks. It will hold my cooker at 225 all night long. I pair it with a Maverick remote read so I can make sure all is ok with the cooker and the internal meat temp with a quick glance from bedside. At first I was reluctant about the $300+ price, but my wife, God Bless her, just said "if you want it get it." I've forgotten the price a long time ago, but never regret the sleep filled nights I am getting.
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Now thermoworks has a fan to connect to the smoke temp controller . Under 300 for both and 4 probes. The fireboard brand wants 55 I think for the fan attachment wire plus the fan cost. Hope this helps.
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kranknhank. I looked at the thermoworks unit, it is tempting since I have a smoke and have been using their products for years. However, you have to buy a signals controller to use their fan, it doesn't work with the smoke. Both are new products. I am always hesitant to jump on new products until they have been out for a while. Been burned too many times.
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Club Member
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I own a couple of DigiQ Dx2’s for a few years now. My older one (going on over 5 years now) is still working great. Dropped it once and the glass plate came loose, but still works without a hitch. In fact used one today, but just to record the temp. The Fireboard looks interesting.
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- Jan 2017
- 205
- KC MO
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Tryin' not to light my beard on fire east of KC MO. Pit Barrel Cooker for smokin', Char-Griller for grillin' and the cutest little no-name instant read thermometer you've ever seen to keep me from screwin' up!
Oh man, am I about to do you a SOLID my friend!!!
Recently started my thermostatic controller journey, and tried the PitmasterIQ IQ110 model... here is how THAT disasterpiece turned out!
https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-iq110-for-pbc
After that debacle, I went with the FireBoard setup with the Pit Viper fan that so many others here have had success with, and here’s the results I’m getting with that setup (in darn near real time no less):
I’ll let you be the judge lol. The FireBoard / Pit Viper setup is pricey, but worth every penny for the product and performance in my experience. And it’s much cheaper than the $3K you’re considering for the MAK 2.
Hey, everything is relative right? 😇
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@jdsim1 Looks like you did the leg work for me! I didn't know you could use a Pit Viper on the fireboard. Do you need to buy the fan control cable from fireboard to make it work? And yes it would be a lot cheaper than the MAK 2
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You still need the fireboard fan cable (sold separately, and expensive), but it’s still worth it
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I have the cybercue cloud. Works great. I have the older pit viper fan and the newer one. The newer design is an improvement.
As a controller I don’t think either the bbq guru stuff or fireboard work any better or worse. The digi-q, cybercue, and fireboard will ALL work exactly as they say. Turn almost any grill into a mostly "set and forget" system. The convenience of a pellet cooker in your charcoal cooker.
That said, there ARE a few things.
1. I really don’t like BBQ guru interface. You MUST use their "share your cook" website for the cybercue cloud. You can use third party apps, but setup is complicated (you need to screw with port forwarding on your Wi-Fi router to fool the device into operating as an ac-hock device on your network), and in doing so you lose push alerts. So if you don’t check constantly a temperature crash or spike could go unnoticed. Apparently cybercue used to work with third party apps....but a firmware update "fixed" that. They want you using their website. And that means having to log back in if you aren’t connected all the time.
2. BBQ guru lacks an internal battery. If the power quits, so does your controller. it is easy enough to rig a battery backup, just need a large 12v battery and an automatic charger. With utility power on the charger keeps the battery full, if power quits you are on a battery. But that’s something else to do.
3. BBQ Guru only has 3 food probe inputs plus one pit input. Not really a big deal, but a fact.
Given all that, I am going to trade my cybercue cloud to a friend and get the fireboard with the fan cable. Really just for the app interface, and battery backup. I already have a backup power supply for my modem and Wi-Fi, I have fiber to my house and the fiber to Ethernet box has a battery backup as well. So I shouldn’t lose internet, my fiber stayed lit for Irma (lost internet only because power quit and the modem/Wi-Fi quit with it). But during an overnight cook a power blip would go unnoticed on the fireboard. The internal battery would keep things going, and if the fan was off too long I would get a push alert (power backup will power my Wi-Fi for 4 hours at least).
Its not that the guru doesn’t work. It does. It’s just that as a device of convenience, fireboard has advantages. Not having to constantly log in to a website (at 3 AM when my eyes aren’t working properly and I have to enter a password into a phone because the website doesn’t remember me), and having the internal battery AND the easier option to use a USB battery pack to really back it up.
but that’s just me.
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SmokeyGator Thanks for the info. That helps a lot. Seems like I am getting a number of people mentioning the fireboard and using it to run the pit viper. Not sure if it is because it is a better fan than the one fireboard sells, or they just already have one.
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HandsomeDave the pit viper is a good fan. And the adaptors bbq guru sells are also great. If you get their adaptor, their fans fit perfectly. I don’t like that fireboard requires a fan cable, and the cost is just silly. On the gurus the fan plugs in, no adaptor needed. And the output is variable from 1% to 100%, and if that isn’t enough the fan has a baffle built in. It’s just that the guru interface is lacking. Make an app! No reason not to at this point. That is the ONLY thing.
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You nailed it. The cyberQ works great but set up is a pain and their website sometimes wonky.
I’ve used several controllers and the control logic is fine in all of them. It’s the Wi-Fi and remote control features that differ.
The Wi-Fi connection may flake out a bit during a cook but if so the controller keeps doing whatever it was told to do.
They pretty much all work. Having used several, I like the pit viper fan and the fireboard
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Club Member
- Jan 2017
- 205
- KC MO
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Tryin' not to light my beard on fire east of KC MO. Pit Barrel Cooker for smokin', Char-Griller for grillin' and the cutest little no-name instant read thermometer you've ever seen to keep me from screwin' up!
HandsomeDave - "Looks like you did the leg work for me! I didn't know you could use a Pit Viper on the fireboard. Do you need to buy the fan control cable from fireboard to make it work? And yes it would be a lot cheaper than the MAK 2"
I did SOME of the leg work for you brother lol... let’s do the rest now so you can get to ordering! 😃
Yes, you need the fan control cable from FireBoard to make it work. Pricey for a silly cable but no way around it, and again worth it.
Here’s what you’ll need to order up (and from whom) if you decide to go this route:
Fireboard Labs - The FireBoard thermometer itself, and the fan control cable. On the thermometer, they’ve got several different options (FireBoard unit by itself, FireBoard with a couple probes, FireBoard with ALL the probes, etc, etc). You may also want to consider the weatherproof case... not that much extra, especially compared to what a new FireBoard will cost you if it rains or you spill a beer on it. 😊
BBQ Guru - a fan, and an adapter for your cooker. They’ve got a couple different fans, and the basic difference between them is size / air output. I do my smoking in a Pit Barrel Cooker, and the Pit Viper XL fan is more than big enough for what I need. As for the adapter, choose the one that matches your cooker. They’ve got a very easy to navigate drop-down menu, and they make adapters to fit just about any cooker or smoker on God’s green earth. 👍
Let me know if you have any more questions or if you need any help.
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When ordering the fireboard, if you have or want to add the option of their "professional" meat probes, get those. They are much thinner and measure just as well.
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Polarbear777 is correct; thank you for catching that sir. 👍
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