Anyone got an idea on price of a Yoder Fireboard control panel?

[realdocBBQ]

The controller on my YS480 is getting wonky. It's coming up on a 10-year birthday. The other night it wouldn't shut off, had to unplug it. It's had some episodes of not starting properly - turning on the fan, but not starting the auger or displaying set temp, etc. Have to turn it off and back on to reset, or even sometimes unplug it and restart. It usually works after 1-2 attempts.

I sent an email to Yoder, though I'll probably have to call them. A few years ago, I couldn't get a response to email request and had to call them to get a quote and order a new thermocouple. $67.50 for a damned thermometer probe, and that was 4 years ago.


I hate to think what a new controller will cost me - prolly $300-400 I'm guessing. I don't believe they use the old controller at all anymore, they're all FB controllers. I like the idea, since I already use the FB FBX11 and the Fireboard 2 Drive, having a 3rd one would be nice, though it's not a necessity. Adding in WiFi capability for monitoring and control would be pretty sweet.

Just curious if anyone's replaced theirs and has any idea what I'm looking at, pricewise?

Love the Yoder, but their parts and accessories are premium price. <sigh> Could almost buy a new cheap pellet for that, albeit not with the Yoder build quality. I'd love to put my YS480 on a competition cart, as well, since my wheels have all but fallen apart, but that would likely be another $500 too.

[realdocBBQ]

Oh cripes. Ok, I got off of Yoder's site and went to ATBBQ and found this.

https://www.atbbq.com/products/ys480-640-acs-conversion

$439.

Dang.

[Jerod Broussard]

Make sure to include pics.

[realdocBBQ]

This may just wait a while... <sigh>.

[captainlee]

There is an assembly procedure too. There is an insulation blanket that has to be mounted between the hopper and smoker body. Also a ceramic igniter needs to be installed and the WiFi antenna. Not complicated to do and it doesn't take too long to convert. You'll like the new controller.

[realdocBBQ]

There is an assembly procedure too. There is an insulation blanket that has to be mounted between the hopper and smoker body. Also a ceramic igniter needs to be installed and the WiFi antenna. Not complicated to do and it doesn't take too long to convert. You'll like the new controller.

I'd thought about the conversion in the past, but never really looked into it. Now I see you use the "YS Drive App" - so does this mean it doesn't integrate with the regular Fireboard app? That would be a downside for me, I'd prefer for it to just work as a regular Fireboard with their app and log your cooks as usual in your FB history, etc., but I'm guessing it doesn't?

[captainlee]

It has all the features but does it cross integrate I don't know. Contact FB or Yoder.

[captainlee]

Also on your unit confirm that both fans are working, thermocouple wires are firmly attached to your controller and a clean sensing bulb in the smoker.

[Sweaty Paul]

I put the first FB panel in on my YS-640. It works well and keeps temps very well. I haven’t tried the WiFi system on my phone. I did find that it keeps the temp even more controlled than the initial control panel. When I got the panel it also came with new fans (don’t know if they are still doing that). Hopefully they are and that it will come with the new fans with ceramic bearings to decrease the amount of noise on startup in cold weather.

Putting the new controller in was a bit of a challenge for me, however, I’m not particularly mechanically inclined and have had ittle experience. That said, I was able to get it done. Ultimately I’ve been very happy with the switch.

Sweaty