I finally smoke my beef ribs today. I'm not sure how they turned out as I just put them in the oven to keep warm. I had an awful time with temp control. I have a Backwoods smoker and use a Fireboard with a Pit Viper fan to maintain temperature. Normally this does an excellent job and I don't even have to pay attention to temperature fluctuations. Today was different. I set the program to hold at 250 F and it did fine for the first hour and a half. Today I went for lunch with my daughter about an hour from home and when I checked the app, the temp was down to 213 F and the fan was not running. By the time we go home, the temp was down to 187 F. I opened all of the vents and added some charcoal. Eventually the temp got to about 260 F until the water pan went dry. Then it spiked to about 300 F. The meat read 205 F at this point so I pulled it. I don't know why the controller did not energize the fan to maintain a steady temp. Any thoughts on how to do a differential diagnosis. I would like to determine if it's the fan or the controller before I start spending money. I do have a call into Fireboard.
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Set it up to keep a temp without a fire. If the Fireboard says the fan is supposed to be running and it's not, then it's probably the fan. If the Fireboard never tries to kick the fan on, then it's probably the Fireboard. Another possibility is that the cord between the fan and the Fireboard has gone bad. Also take a look at the connectors where the fan plugs in and make sure they look good and feel tight.
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Problem Solved: Fireboard returned my call and the tech immediately saw that my app was set to Channel 2 rather than Channel 1. Maybe I accidently changed it putting my phone in my pocket. Once I changed back to Channel 1, everything started working fine. I can't say enough good about Fireboard support, they have been extremely responsive the few times I've needed them over the years.
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Glad to hear it worked out for you. I used my Fireboard today with my pork butt cook, unfortunately got a good amount of rain on it but kept working.
BTW my wife and I are currently enjoying bbq pork quesadillas, very good.Comment
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