Auber Difficult to Understand... HELP!!!!!

[Libohunden]

It's getting g stranger by the min. It has been going up to 250 and then back down to 225 almost continually now for the past 45 min or so.

I have the cabinet probe in the back center. I didn't move it from when I retuned it last night. Except for taking a long time to get to temp at 235, it seemed to work okay until these big fluctuations.

I have cabinet probe in probe 1 slot. I'll see if they are plugged in tight but I don't think that's the problem.

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds like you may have a bad probe.  Call Steve @ Smokin-It tomorrow, and see what he thinks.  Since it's not physically possible for the actual temp to swing that fast, it has to be a probe, or Auber issue.

 

[Libohunden]

Will do. Thanks again, Divot.

It's still swinging between 250 and 225. My internal temp is 169 and appears to be stalled. I'm wondering if I should unplug the Auber and just go stock again until they are finished.

 

[Libohunden]

Fyi, the temp swing from 225 to 250 and back is taking roughly 15 minutes or so each way...

 

[DivotMaker]

Any update?  How'd it turn out?

 

[Libohunden]

Nothing as of yet.  I haven't had a chance to call Auber. 

I think you were right though, I think it was a sensor that was bad or something wrong with the unit itself. 

To tell you the truth, it has unfortunately been kind of frustrating using the Auber.  For me personally, I can't see too many times when I would need it if it worked properly.  The best feature is that you can program it to basically turn it to warm when the internal temp hits where you need to to be... and that is only if you might not be around when you expect it to finish.  However, I'm pretty much always plan to be back around the time that I expect whatever I'm cooking to be done.  There are times that I could see this being valuable.  However, after my current issues, I don't really trust the auber now.  So, I doubt that I would rely on it.

As far as being able to program other steps, that's great but I also don't see too many times that I will need an auber for that.  Generally, if I'm going to say smoke at 175 for 30 min and then raise it up to 250, I hang around for 30 min until I'm ready to bump it up.  Mainly because I want to check to see when the temperature stabalizes (if I'm not running wide open). 

Anyway, I'm interested to hear how you guys are using your auber.  But, I'm thinking that I'm going to return mine and just go with my Maverick.  My model 3 and my Maverick have been very good to me so far!

Divot, has the Auber really improved your smoking that much?  I do like the idea of the permanent sensor... but I'm glad that I didn't install it on mine for the Auber (as then I would be stuck with the Auber) ... I do wish that I could do something like that with a Maverick or other fairly dependable thermometer.

If I am way off base, and you guys think I should really give the Auber another shot, let me know.  I may just replace the probe and give it another shot to see if I find programmable happiness.  But, I'm really starting to doubt if the Auber will make a significant difference at making lazy Q even lazy'er.

 

[DivotMaker]

Libo, sorry to hear you're getting discouraged with the Auber!  This is not normally the case, at all!  Btw, don't call Auber directly about it - call Steve first.  Nothing against Auber support, but they are techno guys that make these for lots of different applications, and are kind of hard to talk to about the smoker application.  Call Steve, and then Auber.

To answer your question to me:  I've used 2 different model Aubers for about the last year, and absolutely love them.  No, they have not "improved" the quality of the Q I make, but have taken the temp swings and variables out of the equation (living up to my mantra of Lazy Q).  I have no problem using the analog #1 to make anything, but I prefer to use the bypassed #2 with the Auber and permanent probe!  Although a few degrees, here and there, don't really matter in BBQ, I find it comforting to know that if I want to smoke at 235, I will consistently smoke AT 235! 

We have lots of happy Auber users on here, and I think your problem is going to be simple, and fixable.  I know your initial experience was less-than-favorable, but don't let it discourage you.  Steve will take care of you - call him.

 

[Libohunden]

Okay!  I finally had time to call Steve yesterday and talked with him concerning my Auber problems.  He did inform me so some software issues in the older models but that he understood that they had been corrected a while back.  He suggested that I call Auber and talk to them.  So, today I had a little time to call and basically here is what they told me.

They didn't think it was a probe issue and neither did I really since the probes seemed to be reading accurately.  However, they did tell me that autotuning sometimes doesn't work so good since their are so many variables at play.  Especially sensor location.  The first time I autotuned I had the sensor in the left back corner.  They said not to put the sensor in a corner because it takes longer for it to get hot in the corners.  The second time I autotuned, I put it in the back in the center (about where it would be if I had mounted the wall mount probe).  And, of course, the ambient temp (outside air temp) also has an effect on everything.  Not to mention how close the sensor is to meat or a wall or anything... in fact, if the sensor is in the clip and the tip is close to part of the metal clip, that will have an effect on it.

Anyway, they recommended manually setting the PID values, which they helped me with doing. 

After my second autotune, I had P = 80, I = 600, D = 178 (or so).

After telling them the Brand and Model that I have, they had me change the PID's to:

P = 18, I =600, D = 150

P should be the only value that needs to be changed on this setting.  P should range between 15 - 18, depending on the ambient temperature.  When it is colder out, the P value should decrease to as low at 15 (he did mention that in some places where it gets real cold, you may go down to as low as 12).  When it is warmer out, I should move the P value up to 18.  For right now, I will set it at 17 and see how it works.

They told me that I = 600 and D = 150 should not change for the Smokin-it Model 3.  The D value should always be 25% of whatever the I value is.  I don't know if the I value would change for a Model 2 or 1 but if you have one you might want to give them a call.

Anyway, I have changed my settings and will try to smoke something this weekend and let ya'll know how it turns out.

 

[DivotMaker]

That's some good info, Libo!  I learned something new today, so it's a good day!  I'll call them and ask about the 1 and 2.  Last time I talked to Auber, they were very new with the SI units, and really didn't know a lot to help.  Guess they have more experience now!

 

[Libohunden]

FYI - the first guy I spoke with didn't seem to know the Smokin-it Smokers very well.  But, when I finally kept asking more questions, he put me through to another guy (who spoke better English) who knew a lot more about them. 

 

[DivotMaker]

You probably ended up speaking with Suyi at Auber - he's very knowledgeable.

 

[Libohunden]

It appears that I spoke too soon yesterday (on another thread). 

My Auber seemed to work well on 2 short 2-3 hour smokes after I had manually tuned it. However, about 20 hours ago, I put a 9lb pork butt in and have been having the same wide temp swing issues again. 

I started the smoke around 6pm last night.  All seemed well until I went to bed around 10pm.  I had been observing it until then. When I woke up this morning and checked on it around 7am, the temperature was swinging from 235 down to 190 and back up to 235 again (I had it set at 235 for the step it was on). My internal temp was only at 170 after 13 hours, which is not anywhere near what I would have expected. So, I cranked up the temp to 250 for the step it is on.  She shot up to 250 with no problem and then proceeded to start swinging again.  This time it is swinging from 250 down to 230 and back up to 250, and repeat.  My meat has been in now for 20 hours and my internal temp is 192.  Almost there.  I think that these wide temperature swings have caused a huge delay in cook time and I am frustrated once again.

I am so glad that I haven't decided to install the wall probe yet.  I'm going to call Auber next week and see if they will replace my unit with a new unit and see if I have the same issues.  If the issues continue, I'll just ask for a refund.  My Auber has been a huge disappointment so far. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds like a bad unit, to me.  Odds of another one doing the same is pretty remote, as this is the first one I've heard of with that kind of problem.  Lots of Auber users out there, and this kind of problem is unusual, to say the least! 

 

[damnfingers]

Any update on this?

 

[Libohunden]

Long story but they are refunding my money. They said that it won't allow me to cook at 250 and possibly within 20-30 degrees of that without huge temp swings... Unless I bypass the smokers controller, which would void the smokers warranty.

Supposedly will work for a number 1 or 2 though.